Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee. It was published in 1960by J.B. Lippincott Company in Philadelphia & New York. This is the only book thatHarper Lee has ever written. It is also one of the best-loved novels in Americanliterature, winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Lee is a very private person who doesntgrant interviews, although her literary agent says she divides her time between herhome township of Monroeville, aluminum and New York. She also enjoys reading, and herfavorite authors are Jane Austen, Charles Lamb, and Robert Louis Stevenson. She hassaid that her novel about a white southern lawyer defending an innocent black bit is notautobiographical. But her father was a lawyer, and the inspiration for the charactergenus Atticus Finch.To Kill a Mockingbird is about a young girl named Jean-Louise Finch, who they cry (out) Scout, her brother Jeremy, nick-named Jem, and many other characters. Theirfather Atticus, who is a lawyer, had been given a case to handle and did not have a choicebut to turn around it and work his best for his client. The case was about an African man,named Tom Robinson, who was accused of raping a white woman. This case causesmany problems that they have to deal with everyday. The entire town turns against themsaying that Atticus is a nigger-lover. Even Atticus family turned against them, whichreally hurts Scout, especially when her cousin Francis says I guess it aint your fault ifUncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but Im here to tell you it certainly does mortifythe rest of the family- (Harper 91). Racism is a major theme in this layer along with growing up. Throughout thestory the reader sees how Scout and Jem are afraid of Boo Radley because they think heis a monster and try to wound him. Later in the novel they are no longer afraid of him andno longer interested in teasing him. Another example of their adulthood is how they viewpeople. When Scout and Jem see how Tom Robinson is treated just beca use he is black,they begin to understand the meaning of prejudice. Throughout the trial Scout watchedand believed that Tom leave be found innocent. Instead he is found guilty. Herdisappointment in the verdict makes Scout question the idea of justice. Scout and Jemalso think that their dada isnt like any other fathers in school, but as the book goes on,their attitude towards their father has changed, which is another sign of maturity.