English 9 CP
November 24, 2012
A Powerful Theme
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a powerful story. The storyline of this book expresses, in many ways, morals and values. Many of the problems faced by the characters are still issues that this generation faces on a regular day-to-day basis.
The story starts out by informing the reader that the two main characters, Scout and Jem Finch, only have one parent. Being a young child, as they both were, they feel the desolate absence of their mother. Lee walks us through this story hinting at the misfortunes of losing a parent. The reason this subject intertwines with society today being many families presently consist of only one parent. The struggles are very touching and relatable to the reader.
Another issue addressed in the text is the difference between financial classes. The book rapidly touches on the difference between societies due strictly to the financial income of the household. Jem divides the “people of Maycomb” into four classes; people like the Finch’s, people like the Cunningham’s, people like the Ewell’s, and the Negroes. The reader also senses the near-jealous reactions to the differences between rural and city life. When the characters meet Dill, a city boy visiting his aunt for the summer, they are informed on how life in the city is for children their age. It feels to the reader as if they envy the opportunities that are laid on Dill’s plate.
Two extreme issues in this story’s climax are racism and tolerance. Racism is the mistreatment or unfair opinion of someone sorely because of their race. Although this isn’t as harsh an issue today as it was in the timeframe of the novel, it is still a nagging problem in today’s society. In To Kill a Mockingbird, racism is brought up in many instances. For example, the issues of the different social classes, the Negroes are below the most hated, filthy white people simply because of the color of their skin. White people, in this book, have an unfair advantage in court, where only whites are in the jury, and in the working environment, where whites have the higher job titles. Racism is still alive today, though not as excruciating, leaving the readers affected in different ways.
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