Themes
Good, Evil, and Human Dignity
To Kill a Mockingbird is largely remembered of in terms of the trial of Tom Robinson
and its racist outcome. For this reason, people often think that the book's theme
is simple, a straightforward criticism of racism and evil. But To Kill a Mockingbird
is actually more complicated (and interesting). Except in the case of Bob Ewell,
the novel avoids simple portrayals and criticisms of "evil." Instead, it shows through
Scout and Jem's experiences that Maycomb and its citizens are a complicated
mixture of good and bad, full of people withstrengths and weaknesses. There are
two characters of almost complete good in To Kill a Mockingbird: Atticus and
Boo Radley. But they are good in different ways. Boo maintains his goodness
by hiding from the world, while Atticus engages with it. Atticus acknowledges
the evil in people and the world and fights against that evil, but he also appreciates
what is good in the very same people who through fault or weakness might be
supporting an evil cause. Atticus believes that everyone has a basic human dignity,
and that he therefore owes each person not only respect, but the effort to try to
understand their point of view. Atticus tries to instill this worldview in Scout when
he tells her that instead of condemning people for doing things that she thinks are
cruel, or unfair, or just plain weird, she should first try "standing in their skin."
cruel, or unfair, or just plain weird, she should first try "standing in their skin."
Prejudice
Atticus's belief in treating and respecting everyone as an individual is contrasted in To Kill a Mockingbird with a number of other worldviews. These other visions are all quite different from each other—they are religious, racist, classist— but they all share one thing in common: they treat people as groups, demand conformity, and give no respect or credit to individuals. In other words, they are all forms of prejudice, which is a preconceived notion about a person based on the groups to which that person belongs. Over and over again, To Kill a Mockingbird
reveals prejudice not just as closed-minded and dangerous, but also as ridiculous. The most obvious form of prejudice in the novel is racism, which causes otherwise upstanding white citizens of Maycomb to accept the testimony of an obviously corrupt white man over the evidence supporting the testimony from a black man. Yet prejudice is also visible in the racially condescending Mrs. Grace Merriweather; in Aunt Alexandra's and many other character's belief in the importance of social class; in the gender stereotypes that people try to force on Scout; and even in the way the town views Boo Radley as a monster because he acts differently from everyone else.
Atticus's belief in treating and respecting everyone as an individual is contrasted in To Kill a Mockingbird with a number of other worldviews. These other visions are all quite different from each other—they are religious, racist, classist— but they all share one thing in common: they treat people as groups, demand conformity, and give no respect or credit to individuals. In other words, they are all forms of prejudice, which is a preconceived notion about a person based on the groups to which that person belongs. Over and over again, To Kill a Mockingbird
reveals prejudice not just as closed-minded and dangerous, but also as ridiculous. The most obvious form of prejudice in the novel is racism, which causes otherwise upstanding white citizens of Maycomb to accept the testimony of an obviously corrupt white man over the evidence supporting the testimony from a black man. Yet prejudice is also visible in the racially condescending Mrs. Grace Merriweather; in Aunt Alexandra's and many other character's belief in the importance of social class; in the gender stereotypes that people try to force on Scout; and even in the way the town views Boo Radley as a monster because he acts differently from everyone else.
Growing Up
In the three years covered by To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jemgrow up.
At the start of the book they are innocents, with an uncomplicated sense of
what's good (Atticus, the people of Maycomb) and what's evil (Boo Radley).
By the end of the book, the children have lost their innocence and gained a
more complex understanding of the world, in which bad and good are present
and visible in almost everyone. As the children grow into the adult world, though,
they don't just accept what they see. They question what doesn't make sense to them—prejudice, hatred, and violence. So while To Kill a Mockingbird shows three children as they lose their innocence, it also uses their innocence to look freshly at the world of Maycomb and criticize its flaws. Like every kid growing up, Scout attends school for the first time. But rather than contribute to her education, Scout's school is depicted as rigid to the point of idiocy, with teachers who criticize students who got on early start on reading and hate the Nazis but can't see the racism present in their own town. To Kill a Mockingbird does not so much explore standardized school education as condemn it, showing how it emphasizes rote facts and policies designed to create conformist children rather than promote creative critical thinking, sympathy, and mutual understanding across racial and socioeconomic boundaries.
they don't just accept what they see. They question what doesn't make sense to them—prejudice, hatred, and violence. So while To Kill a Mockingbird shows three children as they lose their innocence, it also uses their innocence to look freshly at the world of Maycomb and criticize its flaws. Like every kid growing up, Scout attends school for the first time. But rather than contribute to her education, Scout's school is depicted as rigid to the point of idiocy, with teachers who criticize students who got on early start on reading and hate the Nazis but can't see the racism present in their own town. To Kill a Mockingbird does not so much explore standardized school education as condemn it, showing how it emphasizes rote facts and policies designed to create conformist children rather than promote creative critical thinking, sympathy, and mutual understanding across racial and socioeconomic boundaries.
Courage
Many people, including Jem and Scout when they're young, mix up courage with strength. They think that courage is the ability and willingness to use strength to get your way. But Atticus defines courage as "when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." Courage, in To Kill a Mockingbird, is not about winning or losing. It's about thinking long and hard about what's right instead of relying on personal prejudice or gut reaction, and then doing what's right whether you win or lose. To Kill a Mockingbird is filled with examples of courage, from Mrs. Dubose's fight against her morphine addiction, to Atticus's determination to face down the racism of the town, to Mr. Underwood's willingness to face down his own racist feelings and support what he knows, in the end, is right.
Many people, including Jem and Scout when they're young, mix up courage with strength. They think that courage is the ability and willingness to use strength to get your way. But Atticus defines courage as "when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." Courage, in To Kill a Mockingbird, is not about winning or losing. It's about thinking long and hard about what's right instead of relying on personal prejudice or gut reaction, and then doing what's right whether you win or lose. To Kill a Mockingbird is filled with examples of courage, from Mrs. Dubose's fight against her morphine addiction, to Atticus's determination to face down the racism of the town, to Mr. Underwood's willingness to face down his own racist feelings and support what he knows, in the end, is right.
Small Town Southern LIfe
Maycomb is a small town, with all of the characteristics implicit in small town life:
everyone knows everyone else's business, which can lead to endless and mostly
harmless gossip, but more importantly makes the community extremely intimate
and close-knit. The first part of To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on this close-knit
community, because when they're young Scout and Jem believe that's what
Maycomb is. To an extent, the young Scout and Jem are right: Maycomb is a
small, safe, peaceful, intimate community. Yet as Scout and Jem grow up, they
come to see another side to their small town. They discover that the town has a
fiercely maintained and largely llogical social hierarchy based on wealth, history,
and race; ensures its safety through a communal insistence on conformity that
subjects anyone who does not conform to dislike and mistrust; and gains its
peace by resisting change and ignoring injustice. This is not to say that
To Kill a Mockingbird is a condemnation of small town life in the South.
Rather, the novel sees the town in much the same terms it sees individuals:
as containing wisdom and blindness, good and evil, and for all of that possessing
its own special dignity.
its own special dignity.
Symbols
The Mockingbird
Atticus tells Jem and Scout that it's a sin to kill a mockingbird because mockingbirds cause no harm to anyone; they just sing. Because of these traits, mockingbirds in
To Kill a Mockingbird Symbolize innocence and beauty. And killing a mockingbird is therefore an act of senseless cruelty. There are a number of characters who can be seen as mockingbirds in the text, most particularly Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.
Atticus tells Jem and Scout that it's a sin to kill a mockingbird because mockingbirds cause no harm to anyone; they just sing. Because of these traits, mockingbirds in
To Kill a Mockingbird Symbolize innocence and beauty. And killing a mockingbird is therefore an act of senseless cruelty. There are a number of characters who can be seen as mockingbirds in the text, most particularly Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.
Quote:
"Remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.
"Your father's right," she said. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
"Remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.
"Your father's right," she said. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
[Jem] was certainly never cruel to animals, but I had never known his charity to
embrace the insect world.
"Why couldn't I mash him?" I asked.
"Because they don't bother you," Jem answered in the darkness. He had turned out his reading light.
The Radley Place
A Negro would not pass the Radley Place at night, he would cut across to the sidewalk opposite and whistle as he walked. The Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you. A baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions asked. (1.43)
The house ends up being a kind of black hole in the neighborhood, a house of mystery in the midst of the familiar. Maybe the Finch kids and Dill spend so much time trying to make sense of the Radley Place, and the Radleys, because they don't understand why anyone would voluntarily isolate themselves.
The Mad Dog
I was very tired, and was drifting into sleep when the memory of Atticus calmly folding his newspaper and pushing back his hat became Atticus standing in the middle of an empty waiting street, pushing up his glasses. The full meaning of the night's events hit me and I began crying. (16.3)
Even Atticus's talent for sharp-shooting can't do anything if the gun isn't loaded. It's tempting to try to map out the symbolism here—is the gun the legal process? are the bullets the jury? is Tim Johnson racism?—but that might be an oversimplification. Perhaps it's just the feeling Scout has that's the link between the two situations—the sick horror at what's happening, but knowing that it can't be any other way.
"Why couldn't I mash him?" I asked.
"Because they don't bother you," Jem answered in the darkness. He had turned out his reading light.
The Radley Place
A Negro would not pass the Radley Place at night, he would cut across to the sidewalk opposite and whistle as he walked. The Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you. A baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions asked. (1.43)
The house ends up being a kind of black hole in the neighborhood, a house of mystery in the midst of the familiar. Maybe the Finch kids and Dill spend so much time trying to make sense of the Radley Place, and the Radleys, because they don't understand why anyone would voluntarily isolate themselves.
The Mad Dog
I was very tired, and was drifting into sleep when the memory of Atticus calmly folding his newspaper and pushing back his hat became Atticus standing in the middle of an empty waiting street, pushing up his glasses. The full meaning of the night's events hit me and I began crying. (16.3)
Even Atticus's talent for sharp-shooting can't do anything if the gun isn't loaded. It's tempting to try to map out the symbolism here—is the gun the legal process? are the bullets the jury? is Tim Johnson racism?—but that might be an oversimplification. Perhaps it's just the feeling Scout has that's the link between the two situations—the sick horror at what's happening, but knowing that it can't be any other way.