To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Harper Lee's coming-of-age tale, To Kill a Mockingbird, is set in the Deep South, and is told through the eyes of a little girl named Jean Louis Finch, commonly known as Scout. To Kill a Mockingbird is both a brilliant rendering of a specific time and place as well as a universal tale of how understanding can triumph over old and evil mindsets.

Scout Finch lives with her father, a lawyer and a widow and her brother Jem. The first part of the novel explains Jem and Scout having fun, meeting new people and learning about a shadowing figure by the name of Boo Radley who lives in the neighboring house and is never seen. A number of bad rumors surround this man (he is rumored to be a runaway murderer, who steals children), but their fair-minded father warns them that they should try to see the world from the other people's perspectives and not judge people from rumors. 

Another plot line involves a young black man by the name of Tom Robinson who is accused of raping a white girl. Atticus, Scouts father takes on the case despite the largely white racist townsfolk. Given the cold shoulder by the white community, the Finch's are welcomed into the black community and Scout is amazed by the happy community despite being poor. When the time of the trial comes round, Atticus proves that the girl that Tom Robinson is accused of raping actually seduced him, and that the injuries to her face were caused by her father. 

Anyway, even with all the compelling evidence against the girl, Tom Robinson was convicted and put in jail because of the large white jury who only believe what the white say. Later on in the novel Tom believes there is no hope and the only way to get to his family is to escape but he caught and killed. 

What will happen to the Finch's family now? What about the Robinson family? Will there any be hope for the black community? Find out in To Kill a Mockingbird.  

Okay, to be honest it was not one of my favorite books I have read. But it was good. I loved to story behind it, it was depressing but captivating at the same time. In the novel I thought that the white jury will have a change of mind and say that Tom Robinson was not guilty but things seem to have taken a turn for the worst in this novel. Anyways, this book demonstrates how far people will go to make someone feel guilty in every way. I think this novel should be for teens 14 and up because there is language and violence in the book. I give this book 3 and a half stars.