Book Review

To Kill A
Mockingbird
Nelle Harper Lee

Saurabh Mishra
11 H
Thank You! Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my
teacher, Ms. Livano Banerjee , who gave me the golden
opportunity to do a project on this beautiful book, To Kill a
Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which taught me to understand
things from a different perspective.
Secondly, I would like to thank my parents and my friends
who supported me and helped me finalize and complete this
project within the limited time frame.
I got to know more deeply about the discrimination about society
and am now more determined to eradicate this social evil, all
thank to my teacher.
About the Author
Nelle Harper Lee, born in April 1926, was an American novelist best known her novel ‘To
Kill a Mockingbird’. Lee had penned only two books , the other named as ‘Go Set a
Watchman’. Still her books were widely read and became best sellers instantly.
She was born in and brought up at Monroeville, Alabama. The novelist spent her
childhood with her father who practiced law. She published her first book, mockingbird,
in 1960 while she was living with her childhood friend Capote (who was the inspiration
for the character Dill in the Mockingbird). The author released her second book in year
2015 which contains the same characters as in Mockingbird and is considered its natural
sequel.
Harper Lee was honored with many awards for her work in literature addressing the
racial discrimination in America. On May 21, 2006, she accepted an honorary degree
from the University of Notre Dame. The novelist was honored with the Presidential
Medal of Freedom in 2007 for her contribution in literature. In 2010, President Barack
Introduction
The novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is based upon the childhood memories of
Harper Lee. The book was published during the initial period of Civil Rights
Movement in America. While the book describes a number of events in the life
of protagonist, its main emphasis is on how the dark skinned were
discriminated in state. Since the book has been written from the perspective of
a child, it was able to convey deep thoughts in very simple language while
maintaining the interest of the readers.
According to the rumours, the book was not accepted by the publisher
when it was first brought there in 1957 and the author spent another 2 years
refining her work. When the book was released, it was an instant and big
success and sold more than thirty million copies.
The novel won great critical acclaim including the Pulitzer Prize for
Fiction in 1961. It was awarded the “Best Novel of the Century” in a poll by
Library Journal in 1999. The book is still widely read and is popular amongst
Synopsis
The novel is a narration by a small girl, Jean Louise Finch, set in a hypothetical county of
Maycomb. Jean, nicknamed as Scout, lives with her elder brother Jem and father Atticus
Finch together with maid Calpurnia. The story revolves around the observation and
fantasies of the young girl. It begins with a brief description of Finch family and their
landings and introduction to a new friend named Dill who used to come to Maycomb to
spend his summers.

The initial chapters of the book go about how the three children, Scout, Jem and Dill,
explore a mysterious neighbour Arthur Radley. Arthur, also called Boo, was mysterious in
the way that he never came out of his house. The three playmates dared each other to go into
Boo’s yard and try to make him come out. They even made role playing games including
roles of all the neighbours. They had fantasised (from what they heard) that Boo was already
dead and his body was placed into a chimney. Scout was scared of the house and never
passed it alone until she was compelled to. The most interesting part was when Scout and
Jem start discovering chewing gums and other stuff in a knothole in a tree which belonged to
Synopsis (contd...)
Scout describes her school as any other first grader would, saying that she
hated it because the teacher didn’t understand her and she could learn better
at home. All along the story, she tries to convince her father that she should not
be sent to the school.
The main arc of the story begins when Scout gets to know that her father
is defending a Negro in the courthouse. She starts receiving unpleasant
comments from her schoolmates and other people, calling her father a ‘nigger
lover’. The negro, Tom Robinson, was accused to have raped a white girl. Even
though Atticus was completely able to prove that Tom was innocent, the jury
convicted him as guilty and he was sentenced for a crime he had not
committed.
Scout tries to find out the reason behind Tom’s verdict and she realises
that it is nothing more than people’s belief that black men are always wrong.
She gets to know that the so called white people only used the blacks using this
Synopsis (contd...)
Towards the end, Scout was able to realize that not all white people have the
mentality of black being wrong. But those who have the sense to right are very
few and are afraid to stand against the crowd. And those who stand, are not able
to prove them selves correct (like Atticus). But still Atticus remarks "simply
because we' re licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to
try to win“. He states that people are changing. Maybe the change is slow, but still
it is there and one day people will start making the correct decisions putting aside
their beliefs.
Even though the story does not have a happy ending where Robinson would
had got justice, but, it was able to pass on the message of how the black people
are discriminated in America. It was also able to say what should have happened
with Tom, with the help of narrator’s feelings, as described in the book.
Favourite Character
Calpurnia, the maid of the finch family, was my favorite character in the
novel. She was a strict lady who filled the place of mother for the children.
In the beginning Scout described Cal as a ruthless character who always
ordered around. She described her as “She was all angles and bones; she was
nearsighted; she squinted; her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard.
She was always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t
behave as well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling me home when
I wasn’t ready to come. Our battles were epic and one-sided. Calpurnia always
won, mainly because Atticus always took her side. She had been with us ever
since Jem was born, and I had felt her tyrannical presence as long as I could
remember” But when Jem and Dill didn’t let Scout play with them, the maid
was the only person she would go to.
Favourite Character
(contd...)
Calpurnia was a colored woman and it was engrossing how she could
handle two different personalities at to different places. It was evident from
the way she talked with other black people at the church. Still she was
diligent with Jem or Scout or at Atticus’ house. She gave very important
lessons in a very simple way to the children.
She scolded the children for their wrong deeds and also appreciated them
for the good. It could be seen that see was a trusted lady as Atticus left the
children in her care when he could not be around. The maid even helped
Scout in learning new things and became her friend in her lonesome hours.
Cal filled the place of a mother in the life of Finch's after her death.
Favourite Quote
“You’re not gonna change any of them by talkin‘
right, they’ve
got to want to learn themselves, and when they don’t
want to learn there’s nothing
you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their
language.”
- Calpurnia
Here, Calpurnia explains her understanding of different kinds of people. Cal
speaks proper English in the Finch home, proves that she is educated and cares
about how she is perceived. On the other hand, she also shows respect for the
people at her church and in her community by speaking the way they do.
The deeper meaning that can be seen in this quote is the is describes our
society. It explains the human nature of not being able to see the truth and
what is correct but believe that his thoughts are the most appropriate and
universal. When someone tries to correct him, he readily suggests that person
to be wrong in the society.
Relevance to the
Contemporary Times
Mockingbird talks about the discrimination faced by dark skinned people in
America and how they are used by the fair coloured. The books was published
just a few years before the Civil Right Movement began in the United States (by
Martin Luther King Jr.) As the book suggests, black people have always been
discriminated by the so called whites all around the world, may it be America or
Africa. They have been treated as slaves, if not as animals, by birth. Fair people
have always thought themselves as superior which has always led to not the
defeat of the blacks, but that of humanity. May that be the preference of Aryans
by Hitler or the Civil wars round the globe.
The situation had been worse in southern states of United States, where the Jim
Crow Law had been practiced in the early twentieth century. Dark people were
not allowed to share the public facilities may it be restrooms, cinema, or any
public building. African Americans were not placed at the white collar jobs and
were treated as inferiors.
Relevance to the
Contemporary Times
(contd...)
Even though the book was authored more than half a century ago, the
situation has not changed much. The blacks are still discriminated in the
country in the society. Actually, the feeling of alienation has grown around the
world, and not only for blacks but for every minor community. People are
discriminated on the basis of religion, gender, race and caste. Books like
Mockingbird give as an insight of our society not with the sole aim of
entertainment but ask us to change ourselves, change the society and make
world a better place for everyone.
Thank You!
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