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samnsu 's review for:
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit them, but remember it’s always a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Racism seems to be the one and only important theme of this novel, but I do sense that there are many more elements that are worth discussing as I think Harper Lee has illustrated the state of being of small towns in the States during the 50s and the 60s. If we think about Maycomb carefully, we can actually say that it is a very isolated town that kind of limits itself for diversity. It is in this context that Atticus’s morality shows its value because in this novel he probably is the representative of open-mindedness and perceptiveness. He always respects others and does not appear any higher in front of his children. Many times we have seen he can keep a cool head when his children have messed things up, then he will guide them in his own remarkable ways.
But Atticus is not a perfect man - in fact, he is far from perfection - he sometimes does make mistakes. I feel that he is not very confident of being a father though he always tries to think the best for his children, and that is why he invites Aunt Alexandra who upholds a totally different worldview to stay with them, just because he thinks that the children need more maternal love. It is not up for me to deduce whether it is a right move but it certainly has contrasted how people think of the black people, and how Atticus himself sees it. It is a joy to read about Cal and her position in the Finch’s family, as she does not appear low but in terms of her status I do think it is very nuanced - might take some research on that to make of it.
The narrator is of course one of the best setups of the novel. As we are listening to a story from the mouth of a 9 year-old kid Jean Louise, we tend to hear the child-like side from her, but in fact she is very mature based on her tone itself. I guess that could be a downside of this novel as well because it sounds more like a coming-of-age novel - of course I am not denouncing the value of that genre - rather than a serious novel that will induce many deep and intense discussions. The voice, though, mediates well so that the story becomes more accessible and humorous as we can see how the adults interact with Scout and kids around her.
I want to end my remark on an issue that I have noticed: Atticus has identified that it is a Cunningham who delays the jury from making a final judgement and, throughout the novel, we can still see traces of stereotypes of all sorts, not limited to racism or sexism, that are applied to people from different backgrounds and places. We do see people like Cunninghams who behave like how Atticus describes them, and we can also see people like Arthur Radley who is vindicated at the end of the novel. How is this whole stereotypical thing played out in this novel?
Racism seems to be the one and only important theme of this novel, but I do sense that there are many more elements that are worth discussing as I think Harper Lee has illustrated the state of being of small towns in the States during the 50s and the 60s. If we think about Maycomb carefully, we can actually say that it is a very isolated town that kind of limits itself for diversity. It is in this context that Atticus’s morality shows its value because in this novel he probably is the representative of open-mindedness and perceptiveness. He always respects others and does not appear any higher in front of his children. Many times we have seen he can keep a cool head when his children have messed things up, then he will guide them in his own remarkable ways.
But Atticus is not a perfect man - in fact, he is far from perfection - he sometimes does make mistakes. I feel that he is not very confident of being a father though he always tries to think the best for his children, and that is why he invites Aunt Alexandra who upholds a totally different worldview to stay with them, just because he thinks that the children need more maternal love. It is not up for me to deduce whether it is a right move but it certainly has contrasted how people think of the black people, and how Atticus himself sees it. It is a joy to read about Cal and her position in the Finch’s family, as she does not appear low but in terms of her status I do think it is very nuanced - might take some research on that to make of it.
The narrator is of course one of the best setups of the novel. As we are listening to a story from the mouth of a 9 year-old kid Jean Louise, we tend to hear the child-like side from her, but in fact she is very mature based on her tone itself. I guess that could be a downside of this novel as well because it sounds more like a coming-of-age novel - of course I am not denouncing the value of that genre - rather than a serious novel that will induce many deep and intense discussions. The voice, though, mediates well so that the story becomes more accessible and humorous as we can see how the adults interact with Scout and kids around her.
I want to end my remark on an issue that I have noticed: Atticus has identified that it is a Cunningham who delays the jury from making a final judgement and, throughout the novel, we can still see traces of stereotypes of all sorts, not limited to racism or sexism, that are applied to people from different backgrounds and places. We do see people like Cunninghams who behave like how Atticus describes them, and we can also see people like Arthur Radley who is vindicated at the end of the novel. How is this whole stereotypical thing played out in this novel?