To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee > Reviews (38)

What is justice? That's the kind of question many of us ask from time to time, whenever we read or see something that offends us, whether we think someone who is innocent and they are found guilty, or vice versa, or even when someone else wrongs another and 'justice' isn't done, or seen to be done. It happens all the time, just take a look at any newspaper and there are stories of appeals or wronged relatives demanding 'justice' but what does it actually mean?

Well, back in the late 18th century the founding fathers of the US constitution decided to define 'justice' saying all people had the right to a fair trial, by their peers, and prohibited 'cruel and unusual punishments' to be given. In order to establish a 'more perfect union' 'all men have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'. So it went, then, that a new country was to be set up with principles of justice inherent and entrenched right from the very start. Amen.

Fast forward a hundred and fifty years or so. To a small town, Maycomb, in rural Alabama. A young black man is charged with the rape of a young white girl. The evidence is far from conclusive, under US law, as prescribed by the Constitution he is being tried in front of a full jury, he has a defence attorney present, and the evidence against him is clearly flawed. Under the lofty values of the United States we would expect Tom to be aquitted and sent back to his family without question. However it doesn't work exactly like that and the case is a lot more complicated than you might think. That, in short, is the main thrust of the book 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.

However, like all works of great literature, and this is, I think, the greatest of all twentieth century American fiction, To Kill a Mockingbird works on many different levels. The trial is the main event on which the book is based, but layered onto that are many different sub plots and time stoppingly beautiful vignettes in life in the post reconstruction American South. It is a tale about the nature of childhood, of innocence, of the importance of a father figure, as well as highlighting the black and white morality that underpins the book's message. There are no grey areas in this book, it is simply about right and wrong, which Harper Lee introduces brilliantly by narrating the book through the eyes of a child. Children are quite often the best arbiters of right and wrong, as, devoid of the complicated opinion forming influences of the grown up populace they are free to form their own value judgments.

The book's narrator, a six year old girl called Jean Louise Finch, or 'Scout' as she is better known is a tom boy, she likes playing with boys, rolling around in old tires, climbing trees and annoying elderly stuck up neighbours. Harper Lee paints an idyllic picture of a 1930s Alabaman childhood, the never ending summer days, the long shadows and cold lemonade, white washed houses and dusty streets. Maycomb, with its classically styled court house and clock tower is the typical small town, everyone knows one another and we are introduced to a social order which was endemic throughout the south until very recently.

There is the descendants of the plantation owners, like the Finches, the farmers, like the Cunninghams and the 'untouchable' work shy Ewells. On the other side there are simply the 'coloureds'. There is clear racism throughout, even though the Ewells are a thoroughly bad bunch, they are still held in higher esteem than the 'coloured folks' and to be called a 'nigger lover' ie one who befriends black people is to be seen as the lowest of the low. Maycomb appears to have side stepped the emancipation following the Civil War and still segregation and prejudice is endemic. It is the conflict between these attitudes and the high values for which the USA supposedly stands that runs through the book.

The hero of To Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch, here we have a man who seems to me to be the embodiment of kindness, decency and hard working family values. There is something of Abraham Lincoln about him I feel, from his physical description and the seemingly never ending pieces of advice and wisdom that he gives his children. One particular example that stick in my mind are early on in the book, Scout hosts Walter Cunningham, a poor farming boy to dinner and he is given a tasty sounding dinner which he then smothers in syrup. Scout admonishes him, but Atticus chastises her telling her that, as her guest, she has no right to judge him or to make fun of him. Atticus says 'In order to understand someone else you have to try and walk around in their shoes' brilliant advice for any person. Atticus takes on his burden of defending Robinson despite the lynch mob mentality of the town heroically.

One of the great things about To Kill a Mockingbird is the diversity of the plot and how Harper Lee strings together several stories at once. Famously the story of Boo Radley, a recluse who lives shut away near the Finch's house again shows how Lee outlines her morality, again and again Atticus explaining fairly to his children about how people are different and how everyone needs to be respected. The ending, bringing these sub plots together is neither happy or sad, it is just a commentary on the society in which the book is set.

This is an amazing book, I first read it when I was about thirteen and a very well worn copy sits on my bookshelf. It is for the most part a book for young adults but it can be read by anyone. The child like perspective on the issues of right and wrong, of tolerance and prejudice give valuable lessons which can be learned by all.

About the author

Harper Lee was born in Alabama in 1926, very little information exists about her. This is her first and only novel.

This book is widely available at all book stores, libraries and on amazon.