Review of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’ was an engrossing read, teaching me a lot about humanity through the deeds and plight of its memorable characters.

Atticus Finch, the protagonist who is a Maycomb lawyer, is appointed by court to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell.  The appointment makes Atticus and his children, Jem and Scout, fall prey to taunting in the neighbourhood.  The lawyer, astute and farsighted, constantly reminds his children to keep a cool head and never react.  During the trial, Atticus is able to wield his arguments with superior wit and strength, pointing out the ugly truth that Mayella was attempting to seduce Tom and that her father, Bob Ewell, is trying to protect his family name by filing a false lawsuit against Tom. Despite significance of Tom’s innocence, the court convicts the black man of the crime he does not commit and he is shot dead while trying to flee the prison.  

What Atticus has revealed in court has struck a raw nerve in Bob Ewell. Filled with rage, the drunkard decides to exact revenge on Atticus’s children. One foggy night after a Halloween, he attacks Jem and Scout while they are on their way home.  In an odd quirk of fate, Bob falls down unconscious while struggling with Jem.  Then, Boo Radley mysteriously appears and takes both children home.

When the police arrive at the scene, they find Bob dead. Sheriff Tate and Atticus eventually declare that he fell on his knife while trying to kill the children.

Although the novel is mainly about the mistreatment of Tom Robinson, there are also other stories which can stand alone on their own in the book, all told from the point of view of Scout, Atticus’s daughter, the child-self of the writer who drew on her childhood experiences to write the book. From time to time she brings up Atticus’s advice- it’s wrong to kill a mockingbird, which makes me confused.  

What does the bird embody? Some of my friends liken it to anyone who needs our care in society, the likes of Tom Robinson.  It may also include Mrs Dubous, a cantankerous neighbour who seems unkind but courageous in curbing her drug-relying habit.  Some assert that it refers to Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbour, who is suspected of killing Bob Ewell.  ‘At the end of the story, ‘explained a friend, ‘Sheriff Tate and Atticus’s decision to spare him provides a good testament to what is inferred in the title – stop prosecuting the underprivileged.’ 

The novel has taught me to be compassionate to those in need of our care, such as Tom Robinson, a black man victimized by racial prejudice, Boo Radley, a shy man who can hardly find his own footing in society, and Mrs Dubose, an old woman whose drug-related predicament is left unattended to.  People like them can be easily found among us and to let them know that they are part of society, we need to reach out to them.

To remind yourself of the importance of humanity, read Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’. Experience how it is trampled underfoot and a fiery urge to safeguard it will well up within you.