FREE ESSAY ON TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

I've never been to Alabama, but novelist Harper Lee made me feel as if I had been there in
the long, hot summer of 1935, when a lawyer named Atticus Finch decided to defend an
innocent black man accused of a horrible crime. The story of how the whole town reacted
to the trial is told by the lawyer's daughter, Scout, who remembers exactly what it was
like to be eight years old in 1935, in Macomb, Alabama.
Scout is the reason I loved this book, because her voice rings so clear and true. Not
only does she make me see the things she sees, she makes me feel the things she feels.
There's a lot more going on than just the trial, and Scout tells you all about it. 
A man called Boo Radley lives next door. Very few people have ever seen Boo, but Scout
and her friends have a lot of fun telling scary stories about him. The mystery about Boo
Radley is just one of the reasons you want to keep turning the pages to find out what
happens in To Kill a Mockingbird. 
Scout and her big brother, Jem, run wild and play games and have a great time while their
father is busy with the trial. One of their friends is a strange boy called Dill.
Actually Dill isn't really so strange once you get to know him. He says things like I'm
little but I'm old, which is funny but also pretty sad, because some of the time Dill
acts more like a little old man than a seven-year-old boy.
To Kill a Mockingbird is filled with interesting characters like Dill, and Scout makes
them all seem just as real as the people in your own hometown. Here's how Scout describes
Miss Caroline, who wore a red-striped dress: She looked and smelled like a peppermint
drop.
Dill, Boo, and Jem are all fascinating, but the most important character in the book is
Scout's father, Atticus Finch. You get the idea that Scout is writing the story down
because she wants the world to know what a good man her dad was, and how hard he tried to
do the right thing, even though the deck was stacked against him. 
The larger theme of the story is about racial intolerance, but Scout never tries to make
it a lesson, it's simply part of the world she describes. That's why To Kill a
Mockingbird rings true, and why it all seems so real.
The trial of the wrongly accused Tom Robinson takes place during the time of segregation,
when black people were not allowed to socialize with white people. In that era, when a
white man said a black man committed a crime, the black man was presumed to be guilty.
The law required that they have a trial, but everybody knew the defendant was going to be
convicted. 
Atticus Finch, the quiet hero of the book, tries to persuade the jury that bigotry is
wrong. His words are eloquent and heartfelt. He demonstrates that Tom Robinson couldn't
possibly have assaulted the victim. Atticus even reveals the identity of the real
villain, which enrages a very dangerous enemy. This act of courage endangers not only
Atticus Finch but his family as well. They become the target of hate mongers and bigots.

Even though the story took place many years ago, you get the idea that parts of it could
happen today, in any town where people distrust and fear each other's differences.
In a just world an innocent man should be found not guilty. But if you want to know what
this particular jury finally decides and what happens to Scout, Jem, Dill, and Boo Radley
and the rest of the people who live and breathe in To Kill a Mockingbird, you'll have to
read the book!