To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Literary classic

Like so many people, I read this book in high school. Unlike most of the other books I read for assignments then, I liked this one and remember being able to understand the symbolism and themes better than I could in most of the others. This is the first time I’ve read it since then and the first time reading it for fun, rather than for an assignment, and I doubt that, as a teenager, I was as frustrated by the society presented in this book as I was when reading it this time.

Atticus Finch is shown to be a man who bucks society, making it clear to his children and community that he will do the right thing, no matter what others say, and that he does his best to love everyone, no matter the color of their skin. It’s clear that he doesn’t like things the way that they are and would change them if he could. But why he doesn’t stand up to his sister more, I don’t understand. Why it’s never addressed that she is the one who gave her grandson terrible things to say about Atticus, which were then repeated to Scout, causing Scout to react, I don’t know. I understand that Atticus is a single parent just trying to do the best he can to raise two kids and work a difficult job, and that might be enough reason to still allow is sister to move into his house and help with the kids. Perhaps he never fully understands that any of that is happening, since the kids try to protect him by not telling him everything, but on the other hand, it’s also clear that he knows more than they think he does.

That’s the extent of my rant for this book, and it’s not really a complaint about the book (much). It’s frustration at how slowly things change in a society. The book itself is beautifully written, though, and really immerses the reader in the 1930s south. While some of part 1 seems unnecessary at the time, it all goes into building the characters and the town (which is like a character itself), and much of it comes back up again in some way in part 2. I do wish that both Boo Radley’s arc and the aftermath of Tom Robinson’s outcome had been expanded on a bit more by the end, though.

If you haven’t read this book and aren’t sure if you should, I suggest you check it out. If you haven’t read it since high school, consider reading it again some time, without the assignments to go along with it.

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