The only novel published by Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird, is nearly universally extolled for its adroit expressions and plot (Metress; Tubelle), especially the way it exhibits serious and weighty motifs. Despite criticisms that the main character�s voice is not that of a nine year old, or that Truman Capote had actually ghost written the majority of the novel (Wikipedia), this novel is still today on the world best seller list and Harper Lee is celebrated for its creation. Narrated through the innocent eyes of a nine-year-old girl, Jean Louise Finch, Lee pointed out some inequitable and abstruse aspects of the world, such as racial discrimination and immorality. Even though the title of the book seems irrelevant to the events taking place in Maycomb in the beginning, a quote in Chapter 10, embodies the connection between the title and the occurrences: �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.?(Lee, 90). In this book, a few mockingbirds are portrayed: one is a victim killed despite his innocence, Tom Robinson; another is saved and becomes able to fly, Arthur �Boo?Radley; and the last two are Jem and Scout, who experience loss of childhood innocence during their journey of becoming adults.
Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping Bob Ewell�s daughter, is regarded as one of the mockingbirds in the book, a significant representation of innocence injured by evil and prejudice. The novel takes place after the civil war, in Maycomb, an imaginary town based on Lee�s hometown, Monroeville, Alabama. It used to be a member of the Confederation, a union based primarily on the perceived legitimacy of keeping slaves. Thus, even after civil war, and some would argue even in the present (Meyer, 69) county people disregarded and neglected blacks, even going so far as to treat them like animals.
Lee drew the inspiration for the overall plot from her childhood life in Alabama. At the age of 5, Lee was confronted with the Scottsboro trials, which took place in northern Alabama in the 1930s. In Mockingbird, she strives to draw a parallel between the Scottsboro trials and Tom Robison�s trial to depict the racism in the early twentieth century (Scottsboro). First of all, both of them transpired in 1930s Alabama. Secondly, the cornerstone of both trials was the accusation of rape brought by white women of questionable background against black men. Thirdly, valiant judge James E. Horton and Atticus Finch, the central figures, went against public attitudes by defending blacks, and outraged the white-centered society. Lastly, despite the unambiguous evidence that indicated the innocence of the defendants, both trials failed to protect the rights of the African-Americans. All in all, Lee proficiently shows biased sentiment favoring Southern women and poor whites over justice for the black men throughout the complicated trials.
For a young person like Scout, this obvious injustice would have lasting repercussions on her view of the world. To illustrate, part two is almost entirely about the case undertaken by Atticus Finch, not only a good-hearted lawyer, but also Scout�s father. Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewell�s friendless, miserable, dejected daughter (Lee, 183), maintained that Robinson had attempted to rape her, which is proven as an apparent unconscionable falsehood after long-lasting discussion in court. (Lee, 187) However, even though the virtues of Tom Robinson become manifest, the jury came to a verdict of guilty in Robinson�s trial, and sent him to jail. Later on, while trying to escape, he was shot seventeen times, and dies unjustly. Despite the fact that he first acted civilly in helping Mayella, then acted virtuously by rejecting her advances, he was destroyed. Mr. Underwood compares Tom Robinson�s death to �the senseless slaughter of songbirds?(Lee, 241), the consequence of bigotry towards blacks in this era when most white people believed that whites were superior to blacks, and considered blacks?value to be that of living stock. When confronted with this example, a child�s innocence would forever be altered or lost. Thus, the trial and Tom Robinson�s subsequent are examples of one mockingbird being destroyed, and of another being forever scarred.
The second mockingbird in the story is Arthur �Boo?Radley. The description of the nickname �Boo?embodies the scary tactics of childhood ghosts; throughout the novel, Jem, Scout, and Dill portray him as a mysterious and fearful phantom. �Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that�s why his hands were bloodstained?(Lee, 13) Although Boo Radley did not harm any persons in Maycomb, he is represented as �a malevolent phantom?(Lee, 8) to the imaginative children, which could lead to resentment on the part of the spying Arthur. Moreover, all the mythologies surrounding him (Meyer, 69) such as �when people's azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them" (Lee, 9) further disabled him from socializing well with others.
Despite the obvious reasons �Boo?might have for disliking the children, in actuality the opposite is true: �Boo?wanted to be their friend, and his reclusive traits do not stem from the children�s perceived mistreatment. The basis of his reclusive traits, in fact, traced back to his father�s merciless religious pressure, which demanded the avoidance of the pleasure or joy of life: �Food washers believe anything that�s pleasure is a sin. Did you know some of �em came out of the woods one Saturday and passed by this place and told me me and my flowers were going to hell??(Lee, 44) In chapter five, miss Maudie Atkinson strived to elucidate the concept of the religious pressure that exists in Radley�s house to Scout. Due to this statement by miss Maudie, readers can gauge the conditions in which Boo was brought up. When �Boo?was a prominent child, he engaged in wild behavior, and his father�s punishment ended up in the destruction of �Boo�s?young, fragile spirit through being confined to the house of Radley for many years.
Even though he never interacted or became personally familiar with Jem and Scout, he is strongly attached to them. He looks after them, and endows them with many gifts and hidden help. There are many examples, such as the gum (Lee, 33); the folded pants (Lee, 58); and the Indian head coins (Lee, 34), to name a few. The best and most extreme example of his help would be protecting the kids from Bob Ewell�s sneaky attack (Lee, 261-263). Since Atticus severely embarrassed Mayella, Bob Ewell�s daughter, at the court, Ewell sought revenge on Atticus through attempting to slay Atticus?children. He slowly tracked the children Halloween night, and attacked them. Fortunately, Boo impeded Ewell�s cruelty, and stabbed him. Even though Heck Tate and Atticus found out that Boo had stabbed and killed Ewell, they decided to veil the truth, and announced that Ewell stabbed himself by accident. Heck Tate said, �Let the dead bury the dead,?(Lee, 276) and then Scout mentioned, �It�d be sort of like shootin?a mockingbird, wouldn�t it??(Lee, 276), thus leaving �Boo?to continue his childlike reclusive existence without interruption.
Even though not as conspicuous as Tom Robinson or Boo Radley, Jem and Scout could be nominated as the third and forth mockingbirds, due to their loss of childhood innocence resulting in an abrupt change into adulthood. Finch�s children experience a number of events that influenced them to change their sight towards the whole world. From the start of the book, Scout pointed out that their only interest was in tracking Boo Radley and his mythologies, which she represented as the ingenuousness of children despite how the children at the time may have thought they were bring clever. However, as the book goes on, Scout pointed out that �Boo Radley was the least of our fears,?(Lee, 243) which means that they gradually lost their childhood imagination, and were forced to perhaps prematurely enter the world of adults.
Aunt Alexandra�s arrival changes the environment, which surrounded Jem and Scout, instilling one full of rigid norms, and played a pivotal role in damaging the children�s na?e visions and freedom. Aunt Alexandra�s advent and her endeavors to change Scout�s attitudes had considerable impact on destroying Scout�s childhood innocence. Atticus?liberal parenting style resulted in Scout developing into an unusual tomboy, participating in the tire-riding game (Lee, 37) and abhorring girl-like attire. On the other hand, Aunt Alexandra struggles to have Scout adopt typical 1930�s girls?behavior, learning appropriate social manners, such as tea party etiquette and wearing graceful dresses. At first, Scout resisted and avoided her aunt�s interferences (Lee, 127), however she eventually sacrifices her opinion and accepts social trends and norms by wearing the dress, joining the tea party, and socializing with the ladies (Chapter 24).
Moreover, the tribulations and hypocrisies hidden in Maycomb contributed to demolishing the innocence of Finch�s children, and adapting and accepting a mature adult�s outlook. Scout pays attention to the scene exhibiting the Maycomb ladies duplicities (Chapter 24). In fact, it becomes obvious to Scout that the ladies have no regard for the African-Americans in their own community, even though they enthusiastically support missionary work taking place in another continent. First, the ladies converse about the plight of poor African tribes and praise a devout white missionary who works with them. �Mrs. Merriweather�s large brown eyes always filled up with tears when she considered the oppressed (Lee, 230).? However, a few minutes later, Scout finds profound irony existing in the Maycomb Womanhood. Scout notices that the same woman, Merriweather, criticizes her black maid for being upset by the fate of Tom Robinson, and complains, �there�s nothing more distracting than a sulky darky (Lee, 232).? Another similar contradiction is also found in Miss Gates?attitude towards Hitler�s persecution of the Jews in Europe: Miss Gates censures and debases Hitler�s treatment of Jews, yet at the same time she is unconscious of the fact that African-Americans have been continuously persecuted in Alabama.
As time pass by, Scout and Jem are situated at the point that requires understanding of the concept of co-existence, yet due to their immaturity they struggle and remain un-willing to accept this concept. For example, firstly Jem and Scout experience the coexistence of good and evil within one person through Mrs. Dubose. Although she is racist and bad-tempered, the camellia that she presents to Jem before her death indicates her pure appreciation. In addition, Mrs. Dubose�s marvelous fight against morphine addiction reveals that she is the one who has �real courage.?(Lee, 111) Moreover, when Jem brings about the topic of Mr. Raymond�s biracial children, Scout undergoes unexpected confusion and puzzlement that the blood of blacks and whites can actually subsist within one person at the same time. (Lee, 162). All of these, including the experience with the trial and Tom Robinson�s death mentioned above, shows how the Finch children are faced with a continuous stream of events that forever alter their view of the world, culminating in Bob Ewell�s attempt to murder Jem and Scout which generates the most important climax in this process, the most drastic and final turning point to becoming adults.
To conclude, it was evident that good and evil both subsisted at the same time in the fictional town of Maycomb, and that the town is a microcosm of the world in general and the trials and tribulations encountered within. The lead characters have contact with evil, and are harshly damaged and changed through it; as such this story is a parable of the loss of innocence. Robinson and �Boo?Radley are the most conspicuous mockingbirds in this book, and their innocence is utterly destroyed in the former case and forever lost in the second. Jem and Scout also lose their innocence by the end of the novel when Bob Ewell attempts to kill them. However, regardless of the detrimental loss of innocence, hope is implied for �Boo?and the children: the children safely escape from the situation of being killed, and �Boo?is finally set free from his cage.
In a sense, this book is also a reflection of the growing up of the young American nation. America was founded on strong ideals, with the best hopes and intentions for freedom and individuality, yet when confronted with the problems of racial co-existence, America lost its innocence, just as Jem and Scout did.
Works Cited
Johnhnson, Claudia Durst. To Kill a Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994.
Kansas, Jane. "Mockingbird Q&A." Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird. 24 May 2004. Kansas at Chebucto.ca. 22 Apr. 2006
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Reissue ed. New York:Warner Books, 1988.
Metress, Christopher. �To Kill a Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries?Mississippi Quarterly Mar. 22 1995:397 BOOK REVIEW.
Meyer, Marilynn. �To Kill a Mockingbird: A Review?500 Great Books by Women:
A Reader�s Guide Ed. Bauermeister. et al. New York: Penguin, 1994.
Wikipedia. "To Kill a Mockingbird." The Free Encyclopedia. 26 April 2006, 02:23. Wikimedia Foundation. 20 Apr. 2006 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_kill_a_mockingbird>.
Tubelle, Larry. �To Kill a Mockingbird?Variety Dec. 12 1962.
�Scottsboro Trials.?To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Resource Guide Link.
26 Sep. 2001. Chicago Public Library. 20 Apr. 2006