To Kill A Mockingbird Theme Essay

Themes of To Kill a Mockingbird “Real courage is when you know you’re before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what” (Harper Lee). In the south during the 1920’s, life was hard on everybody before and during the Great Depression. Life was especially hard on the blacks. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was a huge punch in the face to people of the south. She showed how much our society during that time period was screwed up. In Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird many life lessons are taught, those that are most influential include, Injustice, the importance of family, and the discrimination in society.
Injustice is an important theme in To Kill a Mockingbird. An example of where injustice is shown in the book is when
Tom Robinson was pleaded guilty to the rape allegations against Mayella. This shows injustice because he never touched or had that kind of relationship with Mayella to begin with. Also they never took his side of the story because he was of different color. Another example is when Tom Robinson said that he felt sorry for Mayella. “ Yes, suh. I felt sorry for her. She seemed to try more’n the rest of’ em.(190). This shows injustice because he was going out of his way for Mayella. When all she did was to manipulate him and take everything away from him not only his life but his belief and himself.

The importance of family plays a huge role in the book To Kill a Mockingbird.
Family are the closest people to in life, they are the ones that stick with you through everything even if what you did was wrong. In this book it shows how family has your back through everything. Even though Boo Radley was not blood related to Jem and Scout. He looked out for them and made sure that they were okay at all times throughout the novel. Such as the time when they were on their way back from the Halloween pageant and Bob Ewell tried attacking them. But he did not succeed because Boo Radley had an eye out for Jem and Scout. Boo did not even know them personally yet, but that was his family and he was ready to give up his life and privacy for his family. Another person that shows great importance in family values is Calpurnia. She is a colored women working for a white family trying to support herself, like most colored women during that era.” There’s some folks who don't eat like us,” she whispered fiercely, “but you ain't called on to contradict ‘ em at the table when they dont. That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the tablecloth you let him, you hear?” (32). Hear she is telling scout almost in a motherly tone about how rude she was being to Walter Cunningham. Because she cares for Scout and she wants her to be educated and well rounded with her
manners.
Discrimination is well known throughout this novel, not only does it show the ways of the south during the Great Depression, but how horrible our society treated all people during that time. Scout was a victim of discrimination by her being a Tomboy in the novel. In the time period that Scout grew up in this was not okay, she was to be girly and learn to be kind and learn the ways of a classy women. Social structure or the class that you stood in, in society. Was also a form of discrimination. In order from highest to least this is where the families in the novel stood. The Finches, Cunningham's, Ewells, and then the blacks.
In conclusion the life lessons, injustice, the importance of family and discrimination were taught throughout this book. Anybody that reads this book should learn the importance of these values and how they effect others around them.