To Kill A Mockingbird Book Review

Hello! So today I thought I should do a book review on one of my favorite books, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the greatest books taking place during the early 1930s. Overall I think this book has such a great hidden message. I have to be a bit biased and say that this is a great book because I grew up watching this movie with my dad and even though some of the topics were a little over my head my dad would explain to me why this book was so important for when it was written in time. But nonetheless I would watch Scout and laugh at how rambunctious and crazy she was on the television screen.
      For those of you who have not read this book I do not want to give away the ending for this book because I advise that you should read it for yourself. But I do want to explain what Harper Lee is trying to convey in this book and then you can find it for yourself. In the book, there is a brother and a sister. The older brother is Jem and the younger sister is Scout. Scout is only 6 so she does not understand everything clearly so Jem is the one who usually takes the events throughout the story the hardest. Their mother died when they were young and so they are raised by their father Atticus. Atticus is a lawyer who has more open minded ideas than many people do in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama.For example, may people there still have very racist opinions and enjoy starting gossip. Scout is a character who gets herself into trouble without meaning to but it's only because of her curiosity.
      Atticus at one point in the story says "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  sin to kill a mockingbird". These words will stick with Scout for the rest of her life. What Harper Lee is trying to show the reader is how society overall can treat people like mockingbirds. These people do nothing wrong they simply just exist and we punish them for stereotypical beliefs that we have been told. Harper Lee was kind of genius in a way with choosing this statement to encompass such a difficult topic.
      There are two important examples that the author gives us that relates back to this quote. I will try to not give away of what happens to these characters but I will introduce them and maybe you can see how society could beat them down internally and externally. One example is the example of the man who lives in a haunted house, Boo Radley. Boo Radley never comes out and there are many stories of him committing a murder or just being a dangerous man. In the end however, he is not scary at all and Scout owes her life to him. And the second example is Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is and African American man who as been accused of raping a Caucasian girl. This is the example that criticizes society the most. Atticus believes that Tom Robinson did not commit this crime, he believes Tom was set up by the racist father of the girl. The father of this girl symbolizes society's thoughts during this time period. Even though Atticus proved his case very well that Tom Robinson was innocent at court he still was proven guilty because the jury could not move past their racist ideas.
As you can see this was a very hard subject to bring about during this day in age however even though this book has very hard subjects, there is a pleasant comic relief from Scout and you can laugh at her silly mistakes during her childhood.
     This book has impacted my view on things greatly. I grew up watching this movie but it was not until 8th grade when we were assigned to read this book that I realized how important this book is to literature. This may not be everyone's cup of tea but I think it's important that they should know what the meaning behind it is. If you think I spoiled it for you, don't worry! I didn't there is so much more that happens that will shock you:).