To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee

 To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee


Atticus Finch is one of the greatest and best known Heroes, who stands up tall for what he believes in- for moral principles, Justice for All and protecting the innocent, no matter what the color of their skin is…


The premise of this colossal book is wicked, but that may be the only flaw that I find for Harper’s masterpiece that has more than a million ratings on goodreads and is universally acclaimed.


Atticus Finch is the hero and he is right in saying:


-          You should not kill a singing bird!


-          But what about the others?


-          Well, it seems all right to blast them off…


This is what I do not like as a premise, even if back then it was all right to kill animals, for they were just…animals.


It was ok to kill people, especially if they were black.


And this is the main theme of the book: race relations, a subject which is still a hot potato even in our days- as I write this note, there are riots and tensions in America over the killing of black people, by policemen who seem to have acted wrongfully, but have still been acquitted- critics say because they are white and their victims have been black.


Harper lee based her book on her own childhood experience in Alabama. In the South Afro Americans (even if they never used this term back then) were lynched if they had been suspected of almost any wrongdoing.


Tom Robinson is a black man, who had been kind to the Ewell family and in particular to Mayella Ewell, the 19 years old daughter of Bob Ewell, known as the town drunk. In Gone with the Wind I remember I have read for the first time the term “white trash”.


But even if he is good for nothing, never helps his daughter with the chores of the house and drinks all the time, Bob Ewell is considered “superior „to Tom Robinson, because of the racism and prejudices of the day. Times have changed, America has elected an Afro American as president, but the recent police killings and the consequent tensions show that there are still things to be done.


Atticus is appointed to defend Tom Robinson, who is accused of having raped Mayella Robinson and this is a difficult job, in the South of that time who was quick to call Atticus “nigger-lover”.


Even his children, Jem and Scout have trouble in school, over their father’s decision to stand up tall for what he believes in for moral principles, Justice for All and protecting the innocent, no matter what the color of their skin is.


Atticus is not only principled and moral, but also clever and he manages to demonstrate that Tom Robinson could not have committed the rape and abuse. The victim is all knocked up on the side which Tom could not hit, because he had a handicap, or challenge as we call it today.


The truth was that Mayella, alone and in distress, was often helped by Tom and she wanted affection and embraced him, making advances which Tom rejected, knowing full well the dangers in the racist South. Ashamed and beaten badly by her father, Mayella then claims that Tom attacked and raped her, even if this is a lie that could sent the man to his death. Even worse, Bob Ewell, humiliated by the trial and the truths exposed there, promises revenge on Atticus.


The evil man attacks the children, and Jem’s arm is broken. However, they are saved by a mysterious man, who kills Bob Ewell.


This is where the situation gets somewhat complicated:


-          On the one hand, perhaps the reader is right to feel exhilarated by the escape of the two children, one of them with a rather serious injury and both with a possible trauma that will continue to affect them


-          But on the other hand, we should not be so glad to see the sheriff cover up the affair, even if Bob Ewell was not only acting in self defense, but protecting and saving the innocent…


But then, as I write this I understand that the unease I felt when reading about the “cover-up” was actually misplaced and Bob Ewell got what he deserved and not more.


Great book, even if it is not all right to kill any bird. It is wrong to kill a mocking bird and any creature.

Posted 7th December 2014 by realini

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