To Kill a Mocking Bird

To Kill a Mocking Bird

1.         To Kill a Mocking Bird has many different meanings that can be interpreted into a variety of ways. This book means a lot to me for more of the behavior the book resembles than the actually story. It shows me just how scary the real world is and that you should always do what’s right even if everything and everyone is against you. "The main one is, if I didn't 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” (Lee 18). Atticus, the father and lawyer, is representing an African American who is believed to be guilty of raping a white woman. People criticized and refused to believe that he wasn’t guilty just because of his race. This quote shows that even when everything is against you, you stand behind what you believe is right. The story was beautiful and brought me to tears, it sadden me how people can be so selfish and how they don’t see certain aspects as it should be seen. Tom, the African American Atticus was defending, was convicted and eventually gets shot, it was clear that he was innocent, but some people won’t change not even for the greater good. When I see the crazy acts people do to get their points heard is insane, like what happened in Charlottesville or all the hate groups starting to rise, it’s terrifying because people believe that strongly. This book shows me to always to do the right thing and stand strong no matter what (cheesy, which I am aware).
2.         In the novel, everyone within the community stays in the community and is persuaded to how they were raised. This book showed that people are raised to the creation of who they look up to. It shows the power of what some people have, no matter if it’s the right or wrong idea. The book shows a place where everyone, in this small society, have been living there for generations on end so they can’t go and see for themselves what is right and what is wrong. “Atticus told me one time that most of this Old Family stuff's foolishness because everybody's family's just as old as everybody else's” (Lee 41).  Due to this next generation believes and acts just as how their parents so it’s all very black and white or the community forces or pressures them so much that it’s so difficult for them to think on their own. This book shows that people especially the younger generations grow up to what they believe is right whether it is good or bad. They are persuaded into what they believe is right because they are pressured from many different leaders whether it’s the president or even your parents. It could be about racism, religion, etc. They do this because its familiar and it is how they are raised.
3.         Everyone deserves a fair chance to explain themselves or express how they feel, that’s what I believe. I think you should be able believe in whatever you think is right, but you must respect the other beliefs of people. To Kill a Mocking Bird can show one that this world that we live in isn’t perfect and that we have to face the reality that some people believe a lot in what they believe in. In this book, most of the community believes that just because of the color of your skin you’re different and wrong in every way. It reminds me of the presidential election that occurred last year. All anyone could hear is, is how wrong the other candidate was. It should’ve been more focused on how the country can be taken care of rather than trying to take down the other candidate. Another thing is that racism is still a thing to this day. "She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards" (Lee 57). This novel dates back a very long time ago when African Americans weren’t seen as human beings but as property. It saddens me that it still occurs today. How certain cops will treat African Americans makes me sick, of course some of them are innocent but the couple that are messed up in the mind still don’t see them as people. This world needs to see that we are all humans, we were all brought in this world the same way, we should all be respected in the same way and I think people forget that.
4.         Style and writing techniques used in this book was very straightforward and factual. The narration provided with facts, there weren’t too many details and not a lot of imagery but there were a lot of straight to the point facts. For example, you could hear in the narration that the main character was not happy with being a girl, she doesn’t defend her sex and believes it is an insult to be referred to it. You can also see the symbolism within the book. For example, the mockingbird (kind of obvious) symbolizes an innocent bird that doesn’t harm anyone and shouldn’t be harmed. In the beginning of the book, the kids were told not to shoot the mockingbirds because they don’t eat or harm anything of anyone. The mockingbirds can be seen as Tom, the African American everyone believes is guilty, because even though he didn’t harm anyone he was hurt by the community because of how he looks.