Books transport us to places and eras we can never go to and introduce us to people we can only look up to. Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird is one such book. The book is set in Alabama during the 1930s, a time when racial discrimination was very pervasive. It is mainly about a six-year-old girl whose world takes on a whole new meaning when her father, an attorney, defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white girl. The book is full of memorable characters, heartwarming events as well as simple yet unforgettable lessons.
What endeared me most to the book is its main characters, particularly Scout Finch, the little girl at the center of the story. With her, the book takes on a multitude of emotions – from happiness to sadness, carelessness to fear, childishness to responsibility. As she stumbles from one experience to another, the reader is also led to discover valuable lessons. It truly is amazing how much one can learn even from a small child. Through her experience, she comes to terms with the fact that the world is far from the ever-happy and peaceful place she had come to know. She learns that not everybody is as privileged as she is – that chaos and suffering exist. However, seeing things through the innocent yet truthful eyes of a child makes everything simpler and uncomplicated as opposed to adults’ usually complex ways. What is black is black, and there is no room for silly excuses or rationalizations. We almost always regard children as helpless and none the wiser. Yet sometimes it is not so bad to think like a child.
Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, is also remarkable since it is through him that Scout’s young mind comprehends all the events surrounding her. Calpurnia, a black woman and the Finches’ housekeeper, serves as the instrument through which Scout learns that there is not much difference between blacks and whites. And Tim Robinson, the accused man, is just heartbreaking. It is very saddening to know how a good man like him could be placed in such circumstances.
The use of the mockingbird as a symbol for Tim Robinson is very apt. Mockingbirds are small, harmless animals that just sit on trees and hum songs. They do not harm crops or destroy people’s properties like other birds or animals do. To kill them would be senseless and would be a double transgression since they do not pose any threat. Thus, the act of executing Tim Robinson was like killing a mockingbird. He was an innocent man, a man who minded his own business and lived quietly. It would have been easier to accept his fate had he been a good-for-nothing guy who caused problems for everybody. The fact that he wasn’t made everything doubly painful. That’s not to say there are justifications or exemptions in what constitutes a wrong act but sometimes certain circumstances make a situation more unnerving and moving.
The novel, just like what is expected from books, delivers a number of significant life lessons.The importance of family was depicted in the Finches’ relationship with each other, how they supported and helped each other. Another thing that rings clear through the book is how it is ultimately rewarding to stand up for the right thing though it may not be the most popular opinion. Atticus Finch knew that by taking Robinson’s case, he was inviting the ire of his neighbors and the other townspeople. But he did what he knew in his heart to be right and in the end, taught his child a very important fact of life. It is quite easy to make a stand when it is what the majority believes in but it takes a whole lot of courage to stand by an unpopular view.
Paradoxically, the most important lesson I learned from this book is the simplest and one that is nothing new to me. All of us must have at one point or another in our lives mistreated people for the simple reason that they are different, different from our preconceived notions of what is right and wrong, ugly or beautiful. It might have seemed ordinary, normal even. But what we fail to realize is that every time we do this, we are no more different from the people who accused Tim Robinson. People can get so worked up with criteria, classifications and distinctions forgetting that the common denominator is more important. We are all human beings and no matter how different we may be, all of us still deserve respect and appreciation.
Indeed, the power that books wield over human beings is astounding. How words can influence or even change the life of a person is sometimes so unbelievable. One can never undermine the thrill that the seemingly mundane act of picking up a book and reading could bring. In these modern times, reading a book might seem like an irrelevant activity but when you think about it, it is now more than ever that we need the comfort, and more importantly, the magic of books.