Book Tamers| book reviews

Even if it is the only book written by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel which easily won a place among the classics of American as well as universal literature and also a Pulitzer Prize in 1960.

It places Harper Lee next to writers like William Faulkner or Truman Capote, as representatives of the Southern American literature which gets rid of the traditional myths about the idyllic South and steps out through realistic descriptions.

Although the action takes place during three years (when the Americans were faced with the Great Depression), the book can also be thought of as a bildungsroman, due to the evolution of the main character and the events faced during the course of action.

The novel is set in a small town in Alabama and has as main characters the Finch family- little Scout (the narrator), her brother Jem and their father Atticus. Because of the numerous biographical similarities, the presence of a playmate named Dill is often identified by critics with Truman Capote, the author’s childhood friend.

Although apparently the action develops on two levels- the children trying to solve Boo Radley’s mystery and Atticus Finch trying to defend Tom Robinson in court- the coming to the end offers the solution and binds the two worlds in a single lesson for life.

The novel approaches important and thorny themes, as education, grim racism of the interwar society and the incapacity of justice to be impartial.

If Scout proves to be a very intelligent, precocious child, with a lot of personality and capacity to distinguish between right and wrong, we discover that this is due to the education given by Atticus. A nonconformist parent, Atticus encourages the independent development of his children, without throwing into social preconception or imposing barriers.

Starting from this aspect, Harper Lee delicately explores the morality issue, looking for the answer to the enigma that is man’s fundamental good or worse.

The narrator, the adult narrating through a child’s eyes, is vibrant, honest and strong. Harper Lee proves to be an unsurpassed magician of words, juggling easily with the language of a six years-old with that of an adult, and hindering the reader in noticing Scout’s unusual manner of speaking.
Even if the title is only reflected once in the novel and doesn’t have a clear connection the action, one can feel its symbolic meaning: the killing of the innocence, the unforgivable sin of killing what is beautiful inside our soul.

Written by: Ana-Maria