To Kill a Mockingbird

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is a wonderful and endearing book written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. It’s based on events from her childhood but it is a work of fiction.

  The action takes place in the United States, more specifically in Alabama during the Great Depression. Although it comes from a child’s point of view and it’s funny, innocent and light, it deals with serious issues such as race, prejudice and crime.

  The main character and narrator is Scout, a young girl who lives with her father who is a lawyer and her brother, Jem. Scout and Jem met another boy, Dill, during one summer and the three become fascinated with a very mysterious neighbour that never leaves his house provoking numerous rumors amongst people in the town (Maycomb, the fictional name). This shady character will become very important towards the ending of the book. Another story line that develops during the book is the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, decides to defend him and that upsets and causes outrage in Maycomb, a place so feverishly racist.

  Atticus Finch in this book has the role of an ordinary man, trying to raise his children in a town where prejudice and racism is everywhere. He is a truly honest and kind man fighting for justice in a space and time where that is almost impossible unless the person is white.       

  The storytelling is flawless and we become immersed in the plot really early on. Harper Lee is magnificent in her writing and engages the reader in such a way that is really difficult to put down the book once you start reading it.

  It’s impossible not to feel real compassion for the main characters, not to care and to root for them, not to feel joy and sadness along with them.

  To sum up, this is a marvelous book that makes the reader feel and is a lesson about taking every person on their merit and worth.

  “To Kill a Mockingbird” illustrates how society and events are vital to the narrative. The fact that a story about racism and prejudice takes place in Alabama in the 1930’s gives it the background it needs to develop and gives the reader a full account of every aspect of life in Maycomb. The townspeople are described as the vast majority of the Southerners in that time and place in the United States. Atticus Finch is the real hero trying to instill a sense of Justice in this society and to give his children an education that will give them the tools to be real human beings and see beyond what their eyes perceive. 

Isto resulta de um trabalho que tive de fazer recentemente como preparação para um exame de Inglês: escrever um artigo literário. Como o feedback de quem o corrigiu foi tão bom, decidi partilhá-lo com a esperança que desperte a curiosidade de quem ainda não leu este livro. O mesmo foi adaptado ao cinema e, apesar de não se aproximar da excelência desta obra literária, é um filme muito bom.