Review by jezhuah - To Kill a Mockingbird

jezhuah 's review for:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

5.0

emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

racism is so ingrained and burrowed in our society that we had accepted something so normalized in our daily lives.

from atticus, jem, scout, to calpurnia, mrs. dubose, boo radley, and to all characters from this book, this is, what i can confidently say, one of the best classics i have read in my entire life. the characters in this novel were so well-thought of, i could talk about them in great appreciation.

atticus was no ordinary man. he was someone whose principles were so tightly hold on to, and the type of person who keeps his word plainly because it is not right if you do not. jem is a boy who is not yet mature, but is not naive of what the current events unfold in front of his life. scout—jean louise, that is—taught me that regardless of your age and despite being a child, they deserve to know what’s the truth in a world where sinful men lurk all around and injustice prevails. calpurnia is no exception; she is the epitome of ‘never judge a book by its cover’, as having to live a double life—being with the black folks while serving a white family—especially given the context and the timeframe this novel is set, was something to ponder and reflect on.

what had this book told me? that to open yourself to other people’s shoes—to be in their place and examine where they are coming from is one of the keys to unlock what it means to be humanistic, to be just, to sympathize, and to know what it’s like to connect to one another. we do not have to be them to know what their struggles are; we just have to be human—to lend our eyes, ears, and have open minds in things like these, because if we set ourselves to be those types of people who are so close-minded that they think only of themselves, how are we going to have a world where, for so long we ave dreamt of, of being in one where we can all just be happy and free? we have to remember that from their existence and experiences we are allowed to learn something truthful, something valuable, and if we are not doing something to gain, at the very least, awareness of the things that they are experiencing, are we really connecting with them? are we really building a society where we can all exist in unity? are we learning from the mistakes the generations before us had made? will we turn a blind eye on people we know deserve to live just as we do?

bob ewell reminded me that karma, no matter how swift nor slow, or how grave or forgiving it may be, will eventually come around and strike its way to you, oftentimes at times you least expect it to. it also tells us to be wary of things we should, especially people who hold grudges… but eventually (again) karma will get them. we just have to stay cautious.

this sits on the level of my bookshelf, on par with ‘a little life’ by hanya yanagihara and ‘sunrise on the reaping’ by suzanne collins as one of the best books i have enjoyed reading.

Content Warnings