To Kill a Mockingbird

There is no one who hasn't heard of this Pulitzer Prize-winning book. It was also chosen as the best novel of the century and has become a classic. I was afraid to read the book because I believed that it contained serious drama and that the narrative was heavy. Then I psyched myself up and said, "I can read a classic without falling asleep." When I read it, an exceptionally remarkable novel unfolded, and I was surprised that I had not read it before, and I forgot to blink with excitement while reading. Although I still have a prejudice against classics, To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the books worth mentioning because it manages to poke a small hole in the massive wall.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the Finch family is introduced. Atticus, a lawyer, is the father to Jem, a 13-year-old boy, and Scout, who is 4 years younger than Jem. They live together in a town called Maycomb. Scout, being the younger sibling, spends summers with Jem and their friend Dill. They find it perplexing that their reclusive neighbors never come out of their houses and often make fun of themselves. Maycomb is depicted as a place with a narrow-minded perspective, rife with discrimination, prejudice, and even racism towards people of different ethnic backgrounds. It is in this setting that a black man is accused of raping a white girl. No one believes in the man's innocence or the possibility of his acquittal due to the prevailing mindset in Maycomb. However, the paths of the black man and the Finch family intertwine when their father, Attorney Atticus, takes on the case as the defense attorney. This decision puts the family at odds with the close-minded townsfolk.

The book is told through the mouth of the little Scout, but this should not give you the impression that it is a children's book. Here, the author chooses a striking way to show us how, from the point of view of a small child, racism is an afterthought, that at first everyone grows up with innocent thoughts and is ignorant of the evils of the world. Another of my favorite characters in the book is Jem. We understand from the courtroom chapters that Jem evolves from the thoughts and actions he initially exhibits as a young child to the role and mentality of a principled individual, much like his father. Although not much emphasis is described on its development, we can clearly understand that this fact is conveyed to the readers in the background of the book.

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the 1,000 books that everyone should read and embody before they die. It exposes the gravity of racism in 1930s America and pushes you to participate in one side. In the novel, the fact that Scout refuses to wear a dress and does not want to be a lady and that other neighbors condemn her shows that she is trying to break out of the fixed male-female stereotypes. If you are a little bored with your rather monotonous outlook and want to look at your surroundings from a broader perspective, I am sure that this book will assist you.

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around it.

Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit them, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.