Τα ***** αστέρια ως ανώτερη κλίμακα αξιολόγησης γι αυτό το βιβλίο τα δίνω αποκλειστικά και μόνο για την αφήγηση σε πρώτο πρόσωπο της πρόωρα ώριμης οκταχρονης ηρωίδας και ένα άρωμα τρυφερότητας,αθωότητας,φαντασίας και ηθικής πίστης που σου μεταδίδει η συγγραφέας απο την αρχή ως το τέλος και σε κάνει να αφοσιωθεις άνευ όρων.

Δυο παιδάκια μεγαλώνουν στο Μέικομπ μια μικρή πόλη της Αλαμπάμα,γεμάτη ρατσισμό,σκληρότητα,αδικία και εμπάθεια ανάμεσα στους διαφορετικούς χαρακτηρες της.
Μπαμπάς τους ειναι μάλλον ο καλύτερος πατέρας που θα μπορούσε να σταθεί σε λογοτεχνικό έργο εποχής. Ο Άττικους ειναι χήρος, δικηγόρος στο επάγγελμα, προσπαθεί να μεγαλώσει δυο παιδιά με αξίες και ιδεώδη με ευαισθησία και συμπόνια και με απόλυτη δικαιοσύνη. Ειναι ένας μπαμπάς γλυκός και αυστηρός με απόλυτη ελευθερία και μέτρο διδάσκει στα παιδιά του να αγαπούν και να σέβονται όλους τους ανθρώπους ανεξαιρέτως χρώματος ή κοινωνικής θέσης.

‘’Σκοτώστε όσες κίσσες θέλετε, αν μπορείτε να τις πετύχετε, αλλά να θυμάστε, είναι αμαρτία να σκοτώνεις τα κοτσύφια’’. Αυτή ειναι η συμβολική συμβουλή του προς τα παιδιά του.

Αυτός ο μπαμπάς λοιπόν αναλαμβάνει να υπερασπιστεί στο δικαστήριο - παρά τις άσχημες αντιδράσεις της κοινωνίας- έναν νεγρο εργάτη που κατηγορείται πως βίασε μια λευκή περιθωριακή κοπέλα. Παρα τις μεγάλες εντάσεις και ολες τις αποδείξεις αθωότητας του κατηγορουμένου,το δικαστήριο τον καταδικάζει και στην προσπάθεια του να δραπετεύσει σκοτώνεται.

Παει το πρώτο κοτσυφακι.....

Το δεύτερο κοτσυφακι ....της ιστορίας μας ειναι ο Μπού ένας ερημίτης γείτονας που ζει κλεισμένος στην μοναχικότητα του χρονια ολόκληρα και παίρνει τρομακτικές διαστάσεις η παρουσία του στα μάτια των μικρών μας ηρώων. Ο ήσυχος και αθώος Μπού δέχεται το φόβο της κοινότητας όμως στο τέλος η πράξη του ειναι η σπουδαιότερη και η πιο σωτήρια.

Μια τρυφερή μάτια στον σκληρό κόσμο που μας θυμίζει πως η αλλαγή προς το καλό ξεκινάει απο τα φρέσκα μυαλά και τα αθώα μάτια των παιδιών.

«Δε θα καταλάβεις πραγματικά έναν άνθρωπο μέχρι να σκεφτείς τα πράγματα από τη δική του οπτική γωνία – μέχρι να βάλεις τα παπούτσια του και να περπατήσεις με αυτά»

✍

I knew this book first from the spectacular film from the 60s, but read the book several times and found it incredibly moving. Harper Lee, who assisted her friend Truman Capote with his epic IIn Cold Blood, was from the south and found a way to contribute to the rising cause of Civil Rights by exposing the moral bankruptcy of racism through the eyes of her young protagonist Scout. besides the difficulties for being a woman writer at this time, she also managed to write this short masterpiece which is in parts utterly terrifying and totally endearing and absolutely unforgettable. One of my favorite characters was, of course, Boo Radley, for whom it was Robert Duvall's first on-screen performance (the same actor from the epic helicopter scene with Wagner blaring from the helicopters over the jungle in 'Nam.)

It has lost neither its power nor its relevance even over 60 years after it was first published. However, be warned, Go Set a Watchman does not light a candle next to its predecessor.

One of the greatest works exposing the horrors of racism in the south, To Kill A Mockingbird was recently banned in a US state because it was deemed “too controversial (https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-c...). It is an epic novel by Harper Lee who was a close friend of Truman Capote and helped him during his work on In Cold Blood. There are truly few books that pack such a lucid and powerful punch as Mockingbird. Rather than being banned, it should, as it was in my high school in the 80s, be required reading along with the film. Little can better prepare teens for the harsh realities of racism and close-mindedness than Lee’s masterpiece. A critical and important classic.

atticus finch — the coolest dad in all of literature.

that’s the whole review.

YouTube kanalımda Bülbülü Öldürmek kitabını çizimlerimle yorumladım: https://youtu.be/q93UBZZMgYM

"Irkçılık ideolojik bir düşünce değil, aksine psikolojik bir hastalıktır." Malcolm X

Bülbülü öldürmek günahtır. Çünkü bülbül yaratılışından ötürü bülbüldür, kendisini bülbül olarak seçemez. Onun ızdırari kaderinde zaten bülbül olmak vardır ve bundan dolayı da suçlu olarak gösterilmemelidir.

Çocukların Boo Radley'in evine dokunmayı bile çok zor bir şeymiş gibi görmeleri, öğretmenlerinden itibaren başlayan bir Kuzey-Güney, laik-muhafazakar, gezici-çomar vs. küçümsemeleri ve insanları sınıflandırmaları, yok Cunningham'lar şöyle yok Ewell'lar böyle diye insanların sınıf sınıf ayrılmaları, onların kilisesi beyaz bizim kilisemiz siyah gibi dinde bile ayrımcılığa uğramaları, Atticus Finch'in kendi ailesini yükseklere koyma egosu, elbise konusunda ve kız olma konuları gibi konularda mahalle baskıları gibi konular bir çocuğun gözünden anlatıldığı için bu kitabı değerli bir hale getirmekte.

Edebi olarak değerlendirecek olursak kitabın dili epey sade fakat vermek istediği mesaj güçlü. Öyle Debbie Macomber, Sarah Jio gibi aşk öyküleri ya da ciltlerinde kocaman yazılar yazan klonlaşmış polisiye kitaplarını unutabilirsiniz. Amerika'nın Maycomb adlı küçücük bir mahallesindesiniz. Hayatınızda o mahalleden dışarı çıkmamışsınız ve size "Beyaz kızarsa zenci ölür" diyen insanların zihniyetiyle aynı yerde yaşıyorsunuz.

İşte tam da bu sebeple bu romanın örneklerini bizim ülkemizde de görmek mümkün. Birbirimizi ötekileştiriyoruz. Bir Türk olarak zenci de doğabilirdik fakat Allah bize böyle olmayı uygun gördü. Fakat şimdi de ülkemizde laik-muhafazakar, Atatürkçü-sağcı, ateist-teist-deist, iktidar-muhalefet gibi çok sayıda ötekileştirmeler görüyoruz. Onun için bu kitabı aslında ülkemizle de çok bağdaştırdım. Bu bakımdan Scout kızımızın da romanda dediği gibi bizim ülke için demiş olduğu bir şey var aslında :
"Bak ama, Jem, bana kalırsa tek bir tür insan var, insanların hepsi insan."

Bu romanda hayata Tom Robinson olarak gelmiş olmayı düşünmelisiniz. Öyle bir ailede, öyle bir baskıda, hiçbir zaman sizin haklı olmayacağınız gibi görüşler içinde büyüdüğünüzü düşünmelisiniz. Bunun örneklerini şu anki zamanımızda Amerika'da görüyoruz. Artık polisler siyahilerin yollarda bir şey yapmadıklarını görseler bile çekip vuruyorlar adamı. İstedikleri kadar siyahiler buna tepki koysun, beyaz kızarsa zenci ölüyor romanın da dediği gibi.

Ayrıca kitabın 309. sayfasında Bayan Gates'in rol aldığı bir paragraf var :
"Burada biz insanlara zulmetmeyiz. Zulüm önyargılı insanlardan kaynaklanır. Ön-yar-gı."
Kitabın sadece bu cümleleri bile o kadar mükemmel ve yerinde bir Amerikan kültürü eleştirisidir ki Harper Lee ironik bir dille o mahallede yaşayan insanların önyargısını kendi dedikleriyle çeliştirmeyi başarmış resmen.

Hiç kimsenin dil, din, ırk, renk, milliyet gibi konularda ayrılmaması gerektiğini bir çocuğun gözünden harika bir şekilde anlatmayı başarmış kitaptır.

Kırdığım 1 puan ise kitabın başlarında olan sıkıcılıktan dolayı ve Radleyler'in esas mesajla pek bağlantısının bulunmamasından dolayıdır.

n  n
This is one of the most widely read books in the twentieth century. As most of us might have read this novel in high school, many emotions, including nostalgia, will come to our mind when we hear about the story of Maycomb and its denizens. This novel, set during the Great Depression, discusses a lot of vital topics like racism and sexual assault.
n  n

Atticus Finch is not just a hero for Scout, Jem, and the lawyers, but he is considered the hero of a whole generation. If you are someone who loves books, you might have already read this book. If you belong to the minority who haven't read it yet, I request you to try to include it in your reading list. This is one of the very few books about which I can confidently say that everyone should read.

n  n    "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."n  n

She only had one "at bat", but Harper Lee hit this one right out of the stadium!

Almost sixty years after its initial publication in 1960, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD has proven it deserves its place in anyone's list of the finest American classic literature ever written.

Written a scant three years before Martin Luther King awed the world with his magnificent "I have a dream" speech, Harper Lee also stunned the world with a poignant story centered on the unconscionable treatment accorded to the black man in USA's Deep South.

Tom Robinson, a productive, quietly proud and well-spoken black man who by today's standards might even be called an "Uncle Tom", is also cautiously subservient, withdrawn and all too aware of his underwhelming place in the society of Maycomb, Georgia, a sleepy white town in the heartland of America's confederate South.

Tom stands accused of the rape of Mayall Ewell, the 19 year old daughter of a boorish ne'er-do-well white trash family that, to the best recollection of everyone in the town, has never put in a day's work in its collective life. Jeremy Atticus Finch is a gentlemanly white lawyer who, despite the virulent hatred his own community is directing at him, has decided to hold firm to his own convictions about the equality of all men before God and to accept his assignment to the responsibility for Tom's defense at his capital trial for the rape of a white woman - a trial that is expected to be little more than a formality with scant necessity for reference to facts and truth.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is not a legal thriller, although it certainly could have been. Rather, it is a story about human behaviour - kindness and cruelty; bigotry, hatred and prejudice versus acceptance and friendship; humour and pathos in the presence of sadness and dejection. Told from the point of view of Atticus Finch's children, Scout and her older brother Jem, we are witness to their father's poignant heart-warming attempts to teach his children to become the kind of citizens that, fifty years later, are sadly still the exception rather than the rule.

There can be few people (like me) left who haven't had the privilege of either reading TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD or seeing the movie, but if you are among that small number, do yourself a favour. Read it sooner than later.

Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

Not that much has changed in 90 years

Except that the arguments aren´t direct racism anymore
Now it comes with much propaganda of right wing, neoconservative, and neoliberal politicians and news outlets to find ridiculous, unscientific, and sheer stupid and evil explanations of why the US is such a mess. Thereby the instances satirize themselves by trying to be politically correct, objective, and not too obviously hating, trolling, and warmongering against critical race theory, woke, and cancel culture. So the

Accepted racism transformed into things like
Not directly lynching black people without a fake trial, but instead giving them fair trials.
Black kids could go to each good private school if it wouldn´t be unaffordable.
No more redlining, everyone who can effort to live in a gated community, in the countryside, or in a suburb is free to do so
And so many other direct and indirect racist societal, governmental, and especially economic reasons. The neoliberal agenda is making it possible to

Change from direct hate speech to subtle, economic terror
Because that´s perfectly fine, no matter how many million US citizens and billion people around the world in the Southern hemisphere have to suffer for economic growth. See, the mechanisms behind this are so complex, avoided by close to all news media except for the ones far left, eco social, aka leftist, and thereby stigmatized and unimportant in the US and more in more in the EU too. Instead of the elite friendly, unscientific, and very bad humanities creating pop psychology, sociology, philosophy, and voodoo economy authors like Stephen Pinker
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Hans Rosling
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
and all this other, ridiculous trash, one should try Chomsky, Paul Hawken, Silvia Federici, Bill McKibben, Colin Crouch, Klein, William McDonough, Jessica Valenti, Henry David Thoreau, John Perkins, Steward Brand, Rebecca Solnit, George Monbiot, Kendi Ibram X, Yanis Varoufakis, Shiva Vandana, Jonathan Safran Foer, Ziegler, Davis Angela Y, Rachel Carson, Brittney Cooper, Kristof Nicholas D, etc.
because that´s what´s really going on at the moment. They are what I love throwing into the faces of ignorant, brainwashed, hypocritical bigots. Because guess what,

The people trying to ban To kill a Mockingbird for decades are the same intolerant haters that truly believe in their emotions and faith instead of science, data, and progressive transformation

And that´s the most disturbing thing about this milestone of enlightening literature
One can look wherever one wants in the US and already the obvious problems like mass incarceration
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
Sexism and discrimination against black women
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
etc. are omnipresent.
But especially the Karens and other, pseudo democratic, wanna be progressive, and fringe mind opened people won´t ever touch such a topic with a pitchfork, they prefer to roll like:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Better do some demonstrative social work for social media or give a few dollars of the millions made thanks to exploitation. And avoid everything causing cognitive dissonances that could one let question ones´behaviour and its underlying psychopathological illogicality.
The suffering of so many people makes them very, very self righteously sad and they don´t like the elephant in the room behind that feeling. So better ignore it.

But, as I tend to say in my profile and to give myself some hope after this pretty downing review:
Collective intelligence, networking, and collaborative learning/researching lead to the unleashing of each one's full potential and the most sustainable and progressive transformation of human society. Be an enlightened, mindful, questioning, scrutinizing, emancipated part of it.

I don´t just believe in objective, hard science, but especially in using the amazing technology, we have to unite as freaking social justice warriors of the world.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—” “Sir?” “—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

With ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ comes a story of racial injustice. One man’s struggle to defend a black man accused of raping a white girl, while teaching his children the values and morals that are important in life. A coming-of-age story where the children are forced to witness the worst and ugly side of human nature as they try to make sense of the world amidst such racism, aggression, intolerance, and hatred.

An epic story of good versus evil. A story of suppression but also hope. A book that educates, ridicule’s and even inspires. A book everyone should read in their lifetime.

The Plot

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel told from the perspective of Jean Louise Finch (Scout), who lives with her father Atticus and brother, Jem, in the fictional sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama. Combine this with the era of the Great Depression of the 1930s, then you really have the perfect setting for such an epic story.

For all its simplicity and modest ways of living, the town folk harbour the worst of human traits that are exposed when Tom Robinson, a black man, is charged with raping a young white girl. Although innocent, Tom was guilty in the court of public opinion, even before the trial started, because when it came to colour “People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for”.

In the book, single father of two, Atticus Finch takes on the case and with it stirs up the anger and resentment from the ‘mob’, who at one point are prepared to lynch him for defending a black man. When questioned by his daughter why he is representing Tom, Atticus’ response is so poignant and commendable.

“they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions,” said Atticus, “but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”…. if I didn’t represent Tom. “… I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.”

How true is that… However, there is an inevitability about this story from the start because although Atticus had used every argument and tool available to save Tom Robinson in the courts, in the “secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case”. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed, and an innocent life was lost.

Yet there is an innocence, coming of age and sense of decency and hope in this story that I confess to not fully grasping in my teens. I was so overwhelmed by the racism, injustice, and corruption that I failed to embrace the true beauty of this masterpiece and all its messaging.

Review and Comments

Apart from some distressing and painful themes, of racial inequality and injustice, what makes this book so affecting and poignant is the story being told through the eyes of a young girl who is trying to make sense of the world she is living in. One of the innocent ones!!!. Which brings me to the book title that makes more sense to me now as the Mockingbird had come to signify ‘innocence’ of the young Scout, Jem, and the innocent man accused of a crime he did not commit. However, in a story of so much evil and injustice there is also hope, bravery, and kindness.

Atticus represents morality, courage, and reason, and through his character and others like Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, and Boo Radley, we know all is not lost. The three children in the story learn the most humane and moral lessons from these righteous characters, who also happen to deliver the best lines and most affecting quotes for the reader.

The mob, and the characters of Mayella Ewell, the girl who accused Tom of rape and her father represent evil, racism, ignorance, prejudice, and cruelty. Even the hypocrisy of the church going community is not lost to the reader. Yet for all their bigotry they do not allow Bob Ewell to become the hero in the story. He is cast aside as ‘white trash’ because there was just one thing worse in their eyes and that was a black man who had ‘some’ contact with a white girl. The fact that this was instigated by her didn’t matter. Knowing he did not rape her mattered not at all. The black man was guilty.

A book that is so heart-breaking because events like this are / were real. Injustices like this happen in certain countries and in different sections of too many communities, and like the story the law although improving does not always deliver justice.

Poignant, heart-breaking, and deeply moving but also a beautifully written story where intolerance, and prejudice is often overshadowed with kindness, hope and courage. Stunning.

A highly recommended book.

n  n    Book Reviewn  n
4+ of 5 stars for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, published in 1960 and winner of a Pulitzer prize. Almost every teenager is told to read this during high school, or at least they were when I attend about 25 years ago... I thought about doing a normal book review for this one, but ultimately I wouldn't be able to do it justice. Two key things I'd really like to say:

1. I couldn't give this a 5 because there were a few parts that I thought needed some clean-up, could have added additional emotions and might have been an even more stellar jump off the page. But it's a 4.4999999999999 and some days, I want to re-read it to see if I can absolutely push it up to that mighty 5 I've only given out about 15 times... less than 3% of my reads...

2. Forget what time period this was written in or written about. Ignore the color of a person's skin. Don't give any consideration to the parent / child relationship. Avoid focusing on it as a tale of an attorney with a case. This is a book about every single human being. About every decision we make in life. About all that matters when you are alive.

Each of us feels like someone in the book... Atticus Finch, Scout, Boo Radley, Jem, Aunt Alexandra, Calpurnia, Tom Robinson.... I could go on forever. Probably more than just 1 of them. And maybe different ones at different points in our lives. You cannot help but feel your mind moving all over the place in trying to decide where you heart falls in this story.

It's a collection of lessons we all need to learn and be careful to understand to the fullest extent. People don't raise themselves. They are raised by the influences around them. And then they make their own choices from all they've seen and heard.

We all have a choice. We may not know it. But we do. It doesn't mean you like the outcome. But there is always a choice.

The very basics of your character are laid out on the table in this book.

Honor and Respect are earned, not given.

Family is important. But so is trust and an open-mind.

In the beginning, I noted we all see ourselves in some number of these characters. What I really should have said, although that is true, is that we also -- every single one of us -- without a doubt in my mind -- IDENTIFIES with Scout. Everything she's been thru (to varying degrees, excluding the obvious big item that happens/almost happens to her) is something every one of us faces during the course of our life.

Identifying with someone is at our core. And I can think of no better way to read this book than to choose who you are as a person and how you want to identify yourself to the rest of the world.

n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.

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4.5*

Harper Lees's wonderful bildungsroman discusses a number of important themes such as class systems, race inequality, gender roles, Southern behavior and transmits messages of love, equality, kindness. Although the moral lessons are very important sometimes their delivery seems forced.

As I finished Harper Lee's remarkable classic To Kill a Mockingbird I saluted myself for not having read this before. Nothing like the first time for us to fully appreciate a story.
n  

I could not remember when the lines above Atticus's moving fingers separated into words, but I had stared at them all the evenings in my memory, listening to the news of the day, Bills to be Enacted into Law, the diaries of Lorenzo Dow--anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night. Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.

n
I have never walked in an Alabama small town, much less in the thirties when I wasn't even born, but reading it I felt like I was marching along with Scout and Jem as a child; or sharing with Atticus the need to do whatever it takes to be able to hold my head high.
n  

"Scout," said Atticus, "when summer comes you'll have to keep your head about far worse things...it's not fair for you and Jem, but sometimes we have to make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down--well, all I can say is, when you and Jem are grown up, maybe you'll look back on this with some compassion and some feeling that I didn't let you down."

n
I saw the leaves scattered on the ground, felt the wind on my face, the heat and the cold and smelled the smoke of fireplaces. I felt also for Tim Robinson and despised Mr. Ewell. And was enthralled to recognize Boo Radley along with Scout.
n  

"...I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her view, she died beholden to nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew."

n
After a deep breath I realize that in the end everything was as well as it could be.
n  

Atticus sat looking at the floor for a long time. Finally he raised his head."Scout," he said, "Mr. Ewell fell on his knife. Can you possibly understand?"
Atticus looked liked he needed chearing up. I ran up to him and hugged him him and kissed with all my might. "Yes sir, I understand," I reassured him. "Mr. Tate was right."
Atticus disengaged himself and looked at me. "What do you mean?"
"Well, it'd be sort of like shooting a mockingbird, wouldn't it?"

n
And the innocence of the children was still intact, despite all the adults's effort to do away with it.
n  

The streets lights were fuzzy from the fine rain that was falling. As I made my way home, I felt very old, but when I looked at the tip of my nose I could see fine misty beads, but looking cross-eyed made me dizzy so I quit. As I made my way home, I thought what a thing to tell Jem tomorrow. He'd be so mad he missed it he wouldn't speak to me for days. As I made my way home, I thought Jem and I would get grown but there wasn't much left for us to learn, except possibly algebra.

n
A masterpiece and an absolute joy to read. A must read without a doubt.

Other quotes:

n  

"Do you defend niggers, Atticus?" I asked him that evening.
"Of course I do. Don't say nigger, Scout. That's common."
"'s what everybody at school says."
"From now on it'll be everybody less one-"
"Well if you don't want me to grow up talkin' that way, why do you send me to school?"
---
Atticus was right. One night he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radly porch was enough.
---
"Atticus--" said Jem bleakly.
He turned in the doorway. "What, son?"
"How could they do it, how could they?"
"I don't know, but they did it. They've done it before and they did it tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it--seems that only children weep."

n

This review was a real labor of love. I rewrote it countless times to really capture the heart of it - my absolute favorite classic. The book has grabbed readers around the world, snagged big awards like the Pulitzer Prize, and stays one of the most checked-out titles in American libraries. Back in 2006, the British Library even named it a must-read for every adult.

In this review, I dove into the book’s historical background and explored all the cool parts of the story: the plot, the Tom Robinson case, the quirky neighbors, family life, and even Scout’s growing feminist awareness.

The story kicks off in a tiny Southern town called Maycomb, Alabama, where the Finch family lives - a family of 3: Atticus Finch (the dad), Jem (the older kid), Scout (the narrator and youngest), and Calpurnia, their housekeeper. Scout’s perspective gives us a unique, kid’s-eye view of everything happening around her.

From Scout’s point of view, her neighbors are a pretty odd bunch. The Cunninghams would rather starve than leave their land for work. The Ewells hunt out of season and barely show up at school after the first day. And then there’s Bob Ewell, who’s trouble and ends up causing major problems later on. Miss Maudie even loses her house to a fire, but she just laughs it off, saying she’s done with big houses. And then there's Boo Radley - a reclusive neighbor with wild rumors about him, like that he once stabbed his dad with scissors and has been locked up ever since.

The first part of the book is all about the mystery of Boo Radley. Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill are insanely curious about him, doing everything they can to try and get a glimpse of this mysterious guy.

To really get the story, you have to look at its backdrop. To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960, but its events take place in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. After the stock market crash, the world was in a real tailspin - with 1 out of every 3 people out of work in the US. Tough times like these can really mess with people’s heads. The clash between old and new ways of thinking meant that anyone who dared to be different was often seen as an outsider.

Then there’s the racial backdrop of the Southern US. Even though the Civil War was over and slavery was abolished, Black folks in the 1930s South still faced harsh discrimination and were mostly stuck in low-status jobs. In the novel, Black characters are usually in roles like servants or laborers, facing all sorts of prejudice. Things only started to change later with the Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr.

Now, let’s get to the heart of the story - the case.

While Scout, Jem, and Dill were busy speculating about Boo Radley, Atticus, the family lawyer, took on a case that turned everything upside down. He ended up defending Tom Robinson, a Black man accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Even though Atticus knew the odds were stacked against him, he took the case because he believed in doing what was right.

After Atticus took on the case, Scout and Jem got picked on at school. Even some relatives started calling their dad a “nigger-pleaser.” Little Scout was furious - she couldn’t understand why everyone was turning against her family or why her dad would stand up for someone like Tom.

So, what was the case really about?

Bob Ewell, the guy we mentioned earlier, claimed his daughter was raped by Tom Robinson. He said he’d heard Mayella screaming when he came home from the woods, saw Tom attacking her from the back, and by the time he got to the front, Tom had fled. But Tom pointed out on the stand that his left hand was crippled - he couldn’t have done what Bob claimed. In reality, Mayella often had Tom over to help out, and on that day, things got out of hand. Bob’s bruised white pride wouldn’t allow for any other explanation, so he twisted the story to keep his own reputation intact.

Atticus’s defense was one of the strongest parts of the novel. He laid out all the evidence, and everyone in the courtroom could see the truth. Still, the all-white jury found Tom guilty. While waiting for an appeal, Tom - desperate and hopeless - tried to escape and ended up being shot 17 times. Atticus was heartbroken, and Jem was deeply shaken by the sheer injustice of it all.

Even though everyone in the courtroom knew Bob and Mayella had set Tom up, deep-seated racism kept the truth hidden. Outraged by the verdict, Bob decided to get his revenge on Atticus. One day, while Scout and Jem were walking home from school, Bob attacked them. Thanks to a twist of fate (and Scout’s costume), Jem survived with only a broken arm, while Bob met a deadly end.

When Scout woke up, she remembered seeing Boo Radley standing nearby. It turned out that Boo, the town’s mysterious recluse, had been watching over them all along, acting as their secret protector.

So, what’s the deal with Boo Radley?

Boo symbolizes justice in a time of deep racial and social tensions. While society demonized Black men to keep their own sense of superiority, Boo - despite being shunned and misunderstood - showed genuine kindness. His isolation and the wild rumors about him reflect a community that lacked true compassion. Ironically, a man everyone assumed was dangerous ended up saving two white kids, while an innocent Black man, Tom Robinson, was tragically condemned.

Harper Lee isn’t taking sides by favoring one race over another. Instead, she exposes how systemic injustice harms everyone. In a prejudiced society, everyone ends up a victim in some way, and sometimes even those in power use that status to oppress others.

Aside from its heavy themes on race, the novel is also a deep dive into family and education.

Atticus Finch isn’t just a character - he’s become a role model. In fact, there’s even a statue of him in Monroeville, Alabama, Harper Lee’s hometown. After taking on Tom Robinson’s case, Atticus faced the full brunt of the town’s hatred, even when his own life was at risk. When young Scout couldn’t understand why her dad was doing what many thought was “wrong,” Atticus said, "If I don't do this, I'll never have the right to educate you again." That idea - that standing up for what’s right is the only way to truly teach your kids- is a thread that runs throughout the book.

Atticus believed that true parental love was built on loyalty and justice. He led by example, reading the newspaper with Scout every night and encouraging her to think for herself. He never forced traditional gender roles on either Scout or Jem, even when others expected him to. Even when everyone else was against him for defending a Black man, he stayed true to his principles, teaching his kids valuable lessons about honesty, fairness, and courage.

Now, about Scout - since the story is told from her point of view, we see how she grows and evolves as a character. Harper Lee weaves feminist ideas into the narrative, challenging the notion that women can only write small, unimportant stories. Scout’s journey is all about finding her own identity in a world that tries to box her in with outdated ideas about what it means to be a girl.

At first, Scout isn’t even aware of what she’s missing without a mother’s influence. But as she grows up, dealing with pressure from her aunt to be “more ladylike” and hearing her brother and others talk about what girls should or shouldn’t do, she starts to question those old-school ideas. She even tries to act more like a boy, thinking that’s the only way to be taken seriously. Thanks to Atticus and strong women like Miss Maudie, Scout begins to see that the only person she really needs to impress is herself.

A few fun tidbits:

The title: The mockingbird stands for innocence - harming one is like harming something pure.
The sequel: There’s a follow-up called Go Set a Watchman, which was actually written before To Kill a Mockingbird but only published later.
The film: The 1962 movie adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird won three Academy Awards, and Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch is still iconic today.

5 / 5 stars