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To Kill A Mockingbird: More than a Small Town Story

            This novel by Harper Lee, is much more than the small town story she meant it to be. She has often said that she doesn't understand why it is so renowned as she never meant it to be. There are many reasons why this book means so much more than that to our society.
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             The story has 2 distinct parts to it. The first being the portrayal of the lazy small town in Alabama. Miss Lee portrays the town as being quiet and lazy almost sweet. The second part of the book shows that the town is ignorant and prejudiced. And although you can see the genuinely good and bad people in the story, every character is human. Atticus is the great one, but Miss Lee illustrates Atticus as being old and symbolically weak. Scout is the wise one but is young and innocent. Boo is the savior but he is initially feared. .
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             The most important theme in To Kill a Mockingbird is the one of good and evil.
             It explores whether people are either good or evil. In the beginning of the story the kids think everyone is good because they have never experienced evil. They then become more adult and lose their childhood innocence as they experience the sub-theme of the danger that hatred and prejudice causes to innocent people like Tom Robinson. Jem loses faith in the human race after witnessing what happens to Tom Robinson as a result of ignorance and racism. .
             Atticus Finch poses as the voice of reason in this novel as he has experienced the evils of human nature yet he still he keeps his faith of human goodness. He tries to teach his children the moral lesson of people possessing both good and bad qualities and to appreciate the good ones and try and understand the bad ones. Scout finally learns this lesson towards the end of the book when she finally sees Boo as a person and not a menace. .
             Another major theme of the story is education. The book stresses how important it is for children to understand moral education in order to move from childhood to adulthood.


Essays Related to To Kill A Mockingbird: More than a Small Town Story

1. To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbirn by Harper Lee The title of the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, has very little actual relation to the plot of the story, however, it carries a significant amount of symbolic weight in the book. ... Thus, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is to destroy innocence. ... The main mockingbirds of the novel are Tom Robinson and Boo Radley (Jem being a more minor "mockingbird"), being that they were both innocent and got destroyed. ... Tom Robinson is a Negro who lives just on the outskirts of town in a small Negro colony. ... This makes Boo more and more real to Jem and Sc...

  • Word Count: 1371
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

2. The Influence of To Kill a Mockingbird

When I initially heard that we were going to be reading "To Kill A Mockingbird" in my tenth grade English class, I didn't know what to expect. ... To Kill A Mockingbird has had an influence on me ever since I picked it up. To understand why this book influenced me, one must understand the book and know the underlying theme of "To Kill A Mockingbird." ... This books can teach us all a lesson about being more empathetic and understanding of people, especially when we don't know their story or how they came to be. ... After reading To Kill A Mockingbird, having a voice against racism, ...

  • Word Count: 615
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Overview of To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird has endured as a mainstay on high school and college reading lists. ... Plot and Major Characters To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the small, rural town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the early 1930s. ... Atticus Finch represents a strongly principled, liberal perspective that runs contrary to the ignorance and prejudice of the white, Southern, small-town community in which he lives. ... " The mockingbird represents victims of oppression in general, and the African-American community more specifically. ... To Kill a Mockingbird also can be read as a coming-of-age story...

  • Word Count: 2287
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel to kill a mockingbird, Scout learns valuable lessons on prejudice in the town Maycomb, on the nature of courage, and on the dangers of judging others "before climbing into their skin and walking around in it." ... Atticus is a small town lawyer and single parent. ... When Scout and Jem met Dill things became more exciting. ... Throughout the story Boo becomes more kind than that of which he was considered a freak. ... At the end of the story, both Jem and scout have better perspectives on racism and human dignity. ...

  • Word Count: 555
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Dill: To Kill a Mockingbird

Dill: To Kill a Mockingbird Dill, also known as Charles Baker Harris, gives To Kill a Mockingbird a contrast between Jem and Scout. ... When it comes to plot, Dill is one of the most integral characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. ... When Dill cries, this is showing he hadn't realized that blacks are treated much more poorly than whites, and that adults look more at the complexities of an issue past the point of whether it is right or wrong. ... His conflict is with his shattered family and the stress of being an outsider and being exposed to the prejudice and traditions of a small, so...

  • Word Count: 654
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Quiet Southern Town

Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a story of the coming of age of two children who begin to realize the cruelty of people in the world. ... A small town girl named Scout is subject to the savageness of the townspeople as her father Atticus Finch tries to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. ... In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird there are two discussed opinions of how to treat other people. ... The effects of the Great Depression are evident in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. ... The quiet southern town of Maycomb is torn apart by trial and events that occur over the co...

  • Word Count: 1479
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Portryal of Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird

The theme of fairness in To Kill a Mockingbird broadens to a further extent than just the situation of racial discrimination between the blacks and the whites. ... These blameless individuals were referred to as mockingbirds, since it was a sin to kill one as said by Atticus, "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (Lee 90). ... Being the main case in the story, it gives Lee a chance to really emphasize how fairness back in the 1930's is completely different than what it is today. ... In To Kill a Mockingbi...

  • Word Count: 1230
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

8. To Kill a Mockingbird

Critical Essay on "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a fictional story set in a small Southern town, Maycomb, in the early 1930. The story is told through the life of a little girl, Scout Finch, and her relationship with the main characters her brother, Jem, father, Atticus, friend, Dill housekeeper, Calpurnia, and her dealings with the township people and events that happen in her town. ... In, To Kill a Mockingbird, the socioeconomic status of the white community is depicted with the Finch family as the upper-class. ... For drug offenses, why are black c...

  • Word Count: 1892
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

9. To kill a mocking bird

To kill A Mockingbird The themes of racism and prejudice in 'to kill a mockingbird' by Harper Lee. A novel I have read recently and thoroughly enjoyed is 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. ... The theme of prejudice in "To Kill A Mockingbird" is much more than just a case of black and white. The entire novel is about prejudice in it's many forms, the most prominent case of prejudice is the racism and hate between the blacks and whites.The book is set in a small town in Alabama called "Maycomb", like most small southern towns in that time, has a problem with...

  • Word Count: 1400
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

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