To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee: An Analysis

Overall The famous and Pulitzer Prize winning book To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee gives valuable insight into some of the daily occurrences back in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s. Though it does not handle all of the major injustices like when Mayella Ewell gets raped by her father and the fact that Lee doesn’t accentuate the racism and discrimination that happened at this time. This book addresses some important principles that should be encouraged more in this day and age. In “At the Bar; To Attack A Lawyer In “To Kill A Mockingird’ Endures” article author David Margolick says that “Atticus Finch, who taught a community and his two young children about justice, decency and tolerance” (Margolick). Which are some lessons that
can be used frequently when dealing with conflict and struggles. Atticus is mainly a good guy but he has his moments when “…he is too willing to excuse racism in others, dismissing the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan” (Margolick). Atticus doesn’t always practice what he preaches when he is always telling his children Jem and Scout not to call colored people by certain names. Another situation when this book lets things pass them by without consequences is when Mayella is raped by her own father who is a drunk. An analysis in the article of “Why To Kill a Mockingbird is overrated (excerpt)” it says “Ultimately the Ewells are irredeemable, and the novel leaves them to their dirty, nasty, backwoods fate” (Churchwell). During the Tom Robinson trial it’s revealed who is guilty of this assault, but no action or punishment was done to Mr. Ewell.