KidLit Forum

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird:is a book which deals with themes such as racism, discrimination, social class. The plot is set in the 1930’s in the small county of Maycomb, southern America. It was a period in which almost all the Americans agreed with the ideas and beliefs of most southern people. That is that black people are inferior to white people in every way. Most of the people were racist.
The book presents these ideas through the eyes of a child, Scout, a little girl whose points of view and way of perceiving things reflect the way society was and behaved during those times.
1. Racism
Scout's father, Atticus is a lawyer who defends a black man, Tom Robinson. Tom has been accused of rape and aggression towards Mayella, a white woman. Two crimes which he did not commit. The simple fact that he is black makes him less credible and guilty in the eyes of the whole people in Maycomb.
The novel centers around the trial of Tom Robinson. In this novel, Tom represents the entire black race in the American society of those times. Most of the people see him as an evil beast without even trying to learn the truth. Even though there seems to be more than sufficient proof which shows he did not commit the crime, Tom is a black man who will be denied justice. It is his lawyer, Atticus who explains to his son that unfortunately “in our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins.”
2. Discrimination
In my point of view, the way the character Boo Radley is shaped proves that this novel focuses on discrimination not only against balcks, but also against people who are "special".Throughout the novel, Scout, Jem, and Dill are curious about the “mysterious” Boo Radley because he never comes outside of his house.He is never seen. The children are afraid of him because of all the stories they hear about him from the people in Maycomb. They are warned not to come into contact with Boo, or with his whole family as a matter of fact. Nobody knows for sure what the real problem is, they just know he is different, which makes him a bad character, who should be isolated form the rest of them. During the summer the three kids create all kinds of stories around Boo.These stories are based on the gossip around their neighborhood. In realty, no one knows anything about Boo Radley. At the end of the book, Scout finally meets Boo Radley. He is the one who helps her and Jem escape Mr. Ewell. She finds that all the stories about him are not true.
3. Social class
I think that the social class problem is shown in the relation Atticus has with Mr Cunningham. He is poor but behaves honorably when helped by Atticus. He pays for his services in goods, not in money. He represents the poor, but presented in a different manner. We are told that even thought the family cannot afford lunches and shoes they have "a clean shirt and neatly mended overalls". They are also polite. When the son is invited to lunch by Scout, he behaves politely, like a grown-up. When Mr Cunningham goes to the prison along with the other folks in town, he is ashamed by the fact that Scout addresses him politely and talks to him about his son. He decides to leave.He sees the reality of the situation. He understands what he is about to do. He does not want anybody to get hurt, not Scout, nor Tom. And he is respected by the other people who follow him and his decision to leave.

Indeed there is an important part that Boo Redly plays in this book, even though we tend to not take him into consideration. Good that you brought this into our attention.