Many schools across the United States are dropping To Kill a Mockingbird from their curriculum in favor of more "modern" literature.
Seeing as we're reading this book RIGHT NOW, I think I'm pretty well qualified to respond to this. :)
To Kill a Mockingbird has been one of my favorite books that I have ever read as a school assignment. I think this book shows a lot of different lessons about human nature that we all could benefit from.
Something I especially love about this book is the childish themes that are shown throughout, mostly because the narrator herself is a child. It makes me so happy whenever she tells about tree houses, acting out plays with only two or three people, letting their imaginations absolutely free, etc.
It reminds me of MY childhood summers filled with being superheroes on the tramp until dark, running around in the backyard dressed like... hooligans, acting out all three Spider-man movies (multiple times), and many more hooligations.
We can learn a TON about humankind in general by getting to understand children.
I am thoroughly convinced that not only is there "a child in all of us", but I think we are all just larger, and a little more controlled versions of our former pink faced, smiling, 4-foot tall selves.
One of the more accepted themes of the book is racial prejudices.
I think many people today are still racist towards many different kinds of people, not just toward Blacks. This lesson I don’t think will ever be learned by everyone in the world, at the same time. It will always be a problem, and will always need books like this to show how badly we really do treat those who don’t look or act like us.
This book is really good in showing how even children think about things more than adults sometimes.
In school, Scout’s teacher tells the kids how horrible Hitler is, and how the Jews are the best people and how she doesn’t know why he treats them this way.
Scout wonders the same thing about all the Blacks in her town.
The same kind of thing is used with Boo, or Arthur Radley.
All the people think the Radleys are weird, and make up stories about their son, Boo. They say he eats raw squirrels and cats, and shuffles around at night, looking into people’s windows. In the end, they conclude that he has just saved their lives, and it would be “like killing a mockingbird” to prosecute him.
The end of the book wraps this whole thing up really well.
Atticus is tucking Scout in bed, and she is telling him how the story ended.
She says, ”An’ they chased him ‘n’ never could catch him ‘cause they didn’t know what he looked like, an’ Atticus, when they finally saw him, why he hadn’t done any of those things . . . Atticus, he was real nice . . . .”
To which, Atticus replies, “Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.” This describes the multiple “mockingbirds” in the book. Boo, Tom, the guy that drinks coca cola from a bag, almost all the blacks, etc.
So, everybody just be nice, kay? Kay.
