To Kill a Mockingbird is a Novel written by Harper Lee. The novel is about how prejudice runs in the South and how that affects the people of Maycomb, Alabama. The main characters, Jean Louise (Scout) Finch and her brother, Jeremy Atticus (Jem) Finch, are following the story of their father, Atticus. Tom Robinson, a black man of the town, is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Atticus is the lawyer of Tom Robinson, and at one point, stops people from lynching his client. Atticus gives a claim that Tom is innocent and proves that he is, in fact, innocent. Though Tom is innocent, he is still convicted and killed.
The children in the book are also interested in their neighbor, Arthur (Boo) Radley. He does not come out of his home, and it is rare to see him. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, goes after Scouts and Jem. Boo Radley killed Bob and is later turned away from attention and blames Bob for falling on his own life.
Why is the book so important? Many can argue that the book is bad because it uses the n-word. This could be argued because it shows how common the use of the word was in the 1960’s. There are also parts of the book that show how the argument is over the rape of Mayella Ewell. People argue that she is not being believed for being raped by Tom. Many Americans believe that this story could affect young women, making them believe that they will not be believed if they were raped, and young black men, believing that they may not get a fair trial in court.
I believe that the book should be taught in school’s. It gives great information about America in the 1960’s and how black men were affected by racist America. It also shows how the title is true to the story. Mockingbirds are small birds that sing songs. To kill a mockingbird is shown as a crime in the story and how killing them is like killing an innocent person. Just like how Tom Robinson was accused though he was innocent.
Do you think that “To Kill a Mockingbird” should still be taught in schools today?
What is your opinion on the novel?
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/why-are-we-still-teaching-kill-mockingbird-schools-ncna812281
Replies
This topic deserved more comments. Great job Katie!
I personally do believe that "To Kill a Mockingbird" should still be taught to students in schools. I think it is a great novel to help students understand what life was like in the 1960's, and the dificulties that African-Americans faced during that time period.
I believe that the book "To Kill A Mockingbird" should be taught in schools to help educate kids on how the 1960's were. Saying the N-word was very common in those days and was used by almost every white man to insult a colored person.
I agree that it should be taught in school because it needs to be brought out for how people were treated back in the days.
I love the book To Kill A Mockingbird. I read it last year, and I think that it should be taught in every school, or be on a reading list. Yes, there is some laguage that is questionable, but at the same time, there are books that aren't banned, or petitioned to be banned, that probably should too. I think that it will honestly open our eyes because we live in a world where people "cancel" others because it might hurt peoples feeling or it is too serious, and this book is about serious problems, and it also shows how much we have changed too - it has been around 100 years, since the time frame was in the 1930s - and we have changed a lot since then.
I agree that To Kill a Mockingbird is a great novel. I represents old America in many ways and how the people were affected.