To Kill A Mockingbird Book Review

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Michael Nakamura

1/10/15

English Book Review Quarter 2

Ms. Freestone

To Kill a Mockingbird

Everyone is born innocent. Similarly, small communities often


portray innocence. Like the innocence of childhood, the innocence of a
community can be shattered by events. In Harper Lees book To Kill a
Mockingbird, the taking of innocence is a common theme. Through the
eyes of a young girl living in a small town in Alabama, Harper Lee
demonstrates how certain events can have a drastic change on a
persons life, and how it is easy to misjudge people because others
distort their persona. Through the structure of the book, the dialogue,
and the setting, Harper Lee touches on all these aspects in her classic.

Harper Lee wrote the book in first-person through the eyes of a


young and innocent girl named Scout. This structure of the book was
an interesting choice because it allowed Lee to convey how innocence

is taken. For example, Scout was bewildered when a classmate said


hurtful things about Atticus, her father. Scout didnt understand what
people meant when they said these things, so Atticus was forced to
describe the details of the case to Scout. This discussion was the
beginning of the end of Scouts childhood innocence. Another way Lee
effectively uses Scouts innocence as the viewpoint for the book is in
describing Scouts inaccurate assumptions about other characters.
These assumptions were based on other adults opinions. A good
example of this is Scouts original disrespect to Walter Cunningham.
Scout was led to believe that because the Cunningham family was poor
they were lesser people. Scouts outlook was influenced by those
around her. Luckily, her strongest influences, Atticus and Calpurnia,
corrected her misconceptions. Lees decision to tell the story from
Scouts perspective was powerful and expresses to the reader the
central theme in the book.

Another unique aspect of the book is the dialogue. The


characters in the book talk with certain slang that is distinct to the
South. Also, the way the dialogue was written was well fitted for the
setting, the South. For example, when Calpurnia is talking about the
mad dog, she says, He oughta be here by now. (108) By the use of
words such as oughta, the reader understands the setting and the time

era of which the book took place. Also, the use of specific slang words
describes the feeling of the South during the time, especially towards
other races. Throughout the book, a common word was one that is
probably not appropriate, but the use of this word shows how white
Caucasians felt towards black African- Americans. This is also another
way that Scout may have been exposed to racial segregation.
Lastly, Lee did a fantastic job in describing the setting and
making the reader feel like they were a part of Maycomb County. By
setting up the scenery, it gave the book a small town feeling, and it
gave the reader an emotional connection to the events that transpire.
The reader can also infer from the text that it is a small town because
everyone knows each other and other peoples affairs. This is more
support for the idea that a persons actions can be distorted by others.
Also, the description of the people in the town gave a good feeling for
what life was like at that time. By observing what the area near the
Ewells residence was like, it revealed to the reader that many people
were in a time of economic difficulty, or the Great Depression. The
reader can tell that the setting played a key role in affecting the people
of Maycomb County.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a very emotional book that makes people


see both sides of humanity: the good and the bad. This book will no
doubt have every reader on the edge of his or her seat and is a must

read for everyone. Harper Lees classic is decorated with many awards,
including the Pulitzer Prize. The book has gained a lot of praise from
many top critics including Time Magazine saying, Novelist Lees prose
has an edge that cuts through cant, and she teaches the reader an
astonishing number of useful truths about little girls and about
Southern life. Chicago Tribune added, A first novel of such rare
excellence that it will no doubt make a great many readers slow down
to relish more fully its simple distinction A novel of strong
contemporary significance. I agree with these comments and so
would every other reader of To Kill a Mockingbird. I would highly
recommend this book for every young reader.

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