Nick Bradley

Mr. Decaprio

English I

11 August, 2014 “To Kill a Mockingbird”

“To Kill a Mockingbird”, what can be said about this novel that has not been said already? Written by author Harper Lee, the story is told through the eyes of a young “tom boy” nicknamed Scout Finch. It is interesting to see such a deep novel told through the eyes of such a young child. The story has conflicts at every corner, for example: the altercation with Boo Radley and his father. One of the major conflicts that really stood out to me was the tail of Tom Robinson and the Ewells. The book also shows that taking a stand for what you believe in is very important and is packet with symbolism.

As one might imagine, the culture of the time was significantly different; slavery had been abolished but the African Americans were still suffering from prejudice. Harper Lee does an excellent job of showing what it was like in this time. The character Tom Robinson was accused of raping a girl named Mayella Ewell, and even though most of the evidence pointed towards Tom being innocent, he was still convicted and charged for the crime. Of course this has happened many other times in history, and in fact one could argue that racial prejudice is still happening today. This just goes to show that prejudice is more of a serious matter than some may presently believe it is. The whole racism deal reminds me of another book I read previously; “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The story was written around the ordeal of racism, however in the end, Huck Finn learned that in reality, even though the people of different races may seem different on the outside, we are all humans. Out of all the books I have read that deal with the touchy topic of racism though, “To Kill a Mocking Bird” handles it very well. Unfortunately, things like this still happen in our society today. As sad as it is, there are still people who show prejudice, discrimination, and just hate others solely because of their race all together. Not to mention the fact that the civil rights movement was not “ just ancient history;” this was a big controversy less than fifty years ago. From just this, we can conclude that it is still evident in today’s society; but thankfully, it is not all bad, as the story also shows that people will stand up for what they believe in. Atticus, knowing he would be mocked, chose to help out Tom Robinson while he was on trial. This narrative shows that even in our messed up society, we still have good people. Such people show us that there is still good left in the world, and that we are not all bad.

In current days, this has become a bigger issue as well. America as a whole, is standing up for what they believe in. In days such as these, people are more bold and want equality. This is why feminists are becoming proud of what they believe in, for example. This is also why those who are homosexual are proud of who they are and are also becoming more and more publicly prominent in today’s society. People are not as fearful to stand up for what they believe in just like Atticus Finch was not afraid to stand up and testify for a black man. Now this isn't much of a problem, of course, but the prejudice still exists, it is just more subtle. I, myself as an individual, have not really experienced much prejudice or discrimination within the realm of race or beliefs. Thankfully, that has not been much of a problem to me within my culture. I would like to consider myself as a person who tries his best to treat everyone equally and with respect, however, there have been many times that I have had to stand up for what is