To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Basic book report about the Theme of "To Kill A Mockingbird" The Theme I chose was that, "people fear what they don't understand".

It's a known fact that people fear what they don't understand. This fear of the unknown is simply an extinct of nature and exists in a global scale. The fear of wondering what is beyond that barrier, that darkness, what could be in there? This theme is very clearly stated in the story line and the characters of Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird". That statement is exactly what this literary analysis paper will be discussing.

One instance of this theme is the mysterious and elusive Arthur Radley, or as the children call him, "Boo Radley". Of course for this theme to fit the children must first not understand Boo. This is true in the book, because the children have never seen Boo Radley come out of his house before. The children have also heard very little about him. In fact this misunderstanding is so severe that the children the dare each other to peek into Boo's window to find out more about him. But usually they can't force themselves to do it because of their fear of him which is caused by that very misunderstanding which they were trying to eliminate, causing a very odd paradox making their fear virtually permanent. In turn, because of their lack of information their description of Boo becomes increasingly fantastic the longer they continue without new information. So consequently, their fear grows larger. But all of this misunderstanding and fear finally ends when Boo finally comes out of his house to save Scout from Bob Ewell who was trying to stab her with a knife. Then all of the children's fear suddenly deflated when they found out that Boo was just an ordinary but solitary man.

Another instance of this theme in the book was the seemingly drunk and immoral Dolphus Raymond. Dolphus Raymond is a Caucasian man who like to acquaint himself with African-American people. In Maycomb County that kind of behavior is very uncommon and looked down upon. Other people who live in Maycomb cannot understand why he does these things so they try to find an explanation to why he does these things. To appease them, Dolphus Raymond pretends to drink whiskey out of a paper bag and pretends to be drunk. This just further confuses the other villagers and this misunderstanding causes them to fear Dolphus Raymond. Jem, Scout, and Dill also fear Dolphus Raymond because they do not understand why he does the way he does. But this fear is immediately dissolved when Dolphus tells the children that he only acts drunk to give the other villagers a reason to why he acquaints himself with African-American people.

An additional example of this theme occurring in the book is expressed with the Ewell family. The Ewell family is a poor family of about 10 who notorious for being rude and "white trash". The father Bob Ewell does get a welfare check but almost always spends it on liquor allowing his family to suffer. Bob also has every opportunity to get a job but doesn't because of his laziness. The welfare committee knows about what Bob does with the money but can't stop giving it because then his innocent kids would get no money instead of a little. People fear the Ewell family because they don't understand why they choose to live poorly when they don't have to. They also don't understand why Bob Ewell chooses to be excessively rude and why he teaches his children to do the same even though he knows it is wrong. Although people also fear the family because of their crass, violent behavior, they also fear the Ewell family because they don't understand why they behave that way, and would be less fearful of the Ewells if they understood why they behaved that way. Unfortunately, the book never described why they acted that way and the Ewells' motive for their strange behavior was never discovered.

In conclusion, it should now be clear to you that this theme of, "people fear what they don't understand" appears frequently in Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird". This should also insinuate to you that this theme also appears in everyday life and that you should solve it by finding more about the people and/or things that you fear. It is probably true that you know people or families that you fear. If this is true it should also probably be true that if you actually learn more about these people you will find that they have characteristics similar to Boo Radley, Dolphus Raymond or the Ewells. So to conclude, it is hoped that this paper was insightful and appropriate for your needs. At length it should know be obvious that people fear what they don't understand and that you should try to understand people before you judge and fear them.