KidLit Forum

This is another book that illustrates differences caused by race and social status. Besides these, I think that the most important theme is that of moral education and the way we raise our children. I really liked Atticusʼ position throught the novel. He is the symbol of morality, committed to justice. He is a memorable character because remains consistent over the whole book. I think he has a major contribution to the moral development of his children. We can notice from the very beginning of the plot that Scout is an unusual girl (because of her intelligence, confidence, good nature); all due to the way Atticus has raised her. The father has a very original way to look at people. Even if he realizes that people are good and bad, he decides to admire only the good qualities and to understand and forgive the bad ones.This becomes a way of life which is transferred to the young innocents Jem and Scout.

Another important idea that Atticus suggests is willingness to see matters from various perspectives: ”you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. I really liked the fact that Scout, in her maturation, practiced sympathy and understanding towards the others, and in the end, her experience with the evil did not destroy her faith in human goodness: ”autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him. Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough”.
I really liked the symbol of the mockingbird. Even if it is not literally connected to the plot, the word is explicitly used several times in the novel. This episode is very illustrative: «“Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.
“Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird». Morover Tom Robinson death is associated to the ”senseless slaughter of songbirds”. So, the idea of mockingbird leads to the one of innocence. And the most memorable passage is that in which Scout sees Boo as a human being and is able to realize that hurting him would be like shooting a mockingbird.

I think that Atticus knew how to raise his children and there was no need of his sister Alexandra. Although Scout was not the perfect lady and her behaviour was similarly with a boy, she and her brother entered in Atticus world, in the law world with a surprisingly confidence, perseverence and conceive of everything was happening in Tom's process. They were not just curious, they took part at this event as all of these were happening to one member of their own family; they were raised by their father not to be discriminate, but to be fair and honest, to agree the multitude of differences that surrounded them. I loved to read the sequences in which Scout and Jem participated with their body and their entire soul to that process, they were so attentive to every move, question, replique, answear given by those who were implied in the judgement.
The curiosity of children to see their neighbour Boo Radley was satisfied to the end of the book, he was the one who saved the children's live. Since Dill came in Maycomb on summer vacation, they have many tentatives to aquaintance, but all of them ended with no result, except those presents that Boo Radley let for them in the tree's hollow. In that evening when Scout and Jem returned home from the Halloween play, they were attacked by Ewell, the one who promised that he will kill Atticus, he tryed to kill Atticus children, fortunatelly he did not managed, Jem got pretty hurt, but Scout had now the chance to meet Radley. The man that were looking for years, get out from his house now, with a single purpose, to save his neighbours.

Another major theme in "To kill a mocking Bird", beside the fact that you don't understand soneone until you put yourself in his shoes, and don't kill mockingbirds because they don't do any harm to you, is to keep fighting even when you know you'll lose. In this case Atticus as a lawyer tries to protect Tom Robinson, a black man thought to rape a white woman. He shows himself even braver when a group of men came to linch Tom, and Atticus standed in front of them as a protector. This way even when you know you can't win you should keep fighting for truth. I wonder how many lawers nowadays would do that for free without any interest...

Another major theme is that of the unfair world in which they live...When Bob threatens to get revenge on Atticus, he attacks the children at a Halloween,Bud kills Bob Yule to protect the children. But the unfair moment is when the sheriff and Atticus talk about what to do and refuses to make out of Bud a hero. Atticus is afraid that the children won't respect him anymore, but Scout says she understands the situation and says that making out of Boo a hero is like you'd kill a mockingbird. Then we have the moment in which she imagines herself from Radley's porch, trying to see through someone else's eyes...

[color=#404080]I agree that in 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee the way Atticus educates his children raises many opinions toward his family and the community. Education is a subject which is debated along many chapters of the book. At page 70, Mr. Avery said it was written on the Rosetta Stone that when children disobeyed their parents smoked cigarettes and made war on each other, the seasons would change: Jem and I were burdened with the guilt of contributing to the aberrations of nature, thereby causing unhappiness to our neighbours and discomfort to ourselves.' The children Jem and Scoutt were used to act independently sometimes contrary to what others would expect. Most of the time Calpurnia was the authorative figure in the house in Atticus' absence. As a lawyer most of his time was busy with the documents and cases.
Aunt Alexandra, Atticus' sister had some ideas about the way "a lady" reffering to Scoutt should be raised. At page 90 it is a discussion on this theme:'Sister I do the best I can with them! It has something to do with my going around in overalls. (...) Scoutt understands that the way she dresses and speaks doesn't make a lady of her. 'I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants.'[/color]Not only Education is a major theme, but social racism can be identified among children too. Scout' cousin, Francis said that Atticus is 'a nigger lover' . All of this because the society believed that Tom Robinson is guilty and should be charged without a lawyer to defend him. The discrimination in the South was massive. The community couldn't accept the fact that a black person could be innocent. The punishment for rape in the majority of cases dealing with the blacks was death. Even nowadays the society deals with discrimination more or less. The feeling I had after reading the book is that considering the circumstances of the time and the judicial system another lawyer in Atticus' place couldn't obtain more on the Tom Robinson' case. Despite the possibility of a new process in case of an appeal the sentence wouldn't change. The white supremacy was strong and despite the evidence which proved the innocence of Tom the result would remain the same.

It is obvious that moral education is very important in this novel. In this novel we see how children are educated and also we can notice how the adults teach them to move from the stage of innocence to the stage of adulthood. Scout is my favourite character because she is different from the other girls. Scout is the narrator and also the protagonist of this novel. She is also a tomboy because she dresses like boy, she hangs out with boys and sometimes she fights with them. I think that Scout is a tomboy because of her father. Atticus wanted to protect her from the hypocrisy of the society.Atticus has also taught her that there are good people and evil people.She understood that some people are good and others are evil. I could not say that a man or a woman is born evil. I think that we become evil because of the people who hurts us. Or perhaps there are cases in which a man or a woman is born evil. Scout is a good girl. Even if the people around her have harmed her , she does not hate them. Scout and Atticus admire the good people and forgives the evil people.

In my opinion the mockingbird represents innocence, like people who kill mockingbirs just for fun or just for sport, they kill innocence. Atticus defends innocence and determines his children not to shoot mockingbirds even if he gives Jem and Scout air guns for Christmas, he instructs them not to kill mockingbirds. And finaly Scout agrees with Atticus that prosecuting Boo for Ewell's murder would be like killing a mockingbird.
Education is very important for Atticus and his children, Scout knows to read even if she hasn't attended school yet. Atticus reads to the children from newspapers and magazines as if they are adults who can understand articles at his level. Education is the key to unlocking the ignorance that causes such prejudice as racism. Atticus urges his children to sympathise wit others and to "walk in their skin" before they judge or criticise others.

If we talk about themes, Appearance vs. Reality is also another theme in the book. Some examples are: Scout's misconception of her father being old, tired, and never having time to teach her as she told Miss Caroline. And also the misconception of Boo Radley never leaving his home. Another is Jem's judgement of Mrs Dubose. He thought she was just mean but she really had an addiction to morphine.

In conclusion this is a great book!