Analysis of The Key Themes in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

To Kill a mockingbird, published by Harper Lee in 1960, is known to be a powerful book, informing individuals about the historical American culture in the 1930’s and the racial oppression faced by African Americans. Despite being published 50 years ago, the stories and lessons from the book still manages to withstand through the test of time. To kill a mockingbird precisely illustrates the culture of American south throughout the great depression. The Ewell family symbolises the kind of white pride and prejudice toward African Americans and alternative minority teams. Tom Robinson’s character serves an example of the exploited Negro who is found guilty of a criminal offense due to his complexion rather than his actions which would have proven him innocent. During this book, the great Depression divides through social statuses, bringing about inequalities in all of society. Lee’s novel is valued nowadays as a result of it tells what life was like within the 1930s in the American geographic area.

Lee uses the theme of inequality in her book, To Kill a Mockingbird, a concept that runs throughout all of history. Tom Robinson deals with inequality when he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit because no one will trust a black man over a white man. The Cunningham family must face discrimination because of their lack of money. Scout even faces inequality when she tries to play with Jem and Dill. The theme of inequality is a strong one in Lee’s book, and her use of inequality doesn’t only define racism, but also discrimination based on wealth and gender. Because of this unjust discrimination, African Americans were stripped of all rights; white people are unwilling to accept blacks as their equals, for example Tom Robinson, a benevolent and innocent black man, is accused of raping a poor white woman whereas in reality, it’s is the white woman, Malay Lowell, who makes advances towards a man. Further, it was completely forbidden for whites and blacks having sexual relationships. Bob Lowell is well aware of these unwritten laws and doesn’t want his daughter to be outcast of defying the molly accepted social practices. Therefore, Bob places the blame of time Robinson instead, clearly knowing that tom would be found guilty even though he is innocent. Tom is found guilty by the all-white jury; this is simply based on the fact that tom is black and that the all-white jury is too biased and prejudged to believe the word of a black man. As is evident, social inequality is portrayed through the small town of Macomb and social status determines what kind of life one leads. Harper Lee shows that a small town like Macomb looks flawless on the surface actually has many imperfections and serious flaws of discrimination based on colour, class, gender and prejudice.

The most important theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is the book’s exploration of the ethical nature of human beings of which is whether or not individuals are primarily good or essentially evil. The novel approaches this question by dramatizing Scout and Jem’s transition from the perspective of childhood innocence, in which they assume that people are good because they have never seen nor witnessed evil firsthand and are still close-minded to society. Contrastingly, with a more adult perspective, they have confronted the inevitability of evil and must incorporate it into their understanding of the world. As a result of their transition from innocence to experience, one amongst the book’s necessary subthemes involves the threat that emotion, prejudice, and mental object create to the innocent: individuals like Tom Robinson and Boo Radley aren't ready for the evil that they encounter, and, as a result, they're destroyed with the social world. Even Jem is victimised to an extent by his discovery of the evil of racism throughout and after the trial. Whereas Scout is in a position to take care of her basic faith in human nature despite Tom’s conviction, Jem’s faith in justice and in humanity is badly broken, and he retreats into a state of disappointment.

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Atticus says this to Jem after the death of Mrs. Dubose, the woman to whom Jem has been reading aloud for the past month. Atticus reveals that Mrs. Dubose was addicted to painkillers but was determined to overcome her addiction before dying; he made Jem read to her as a distraction from her pain. This vision of courage contradicts Jem’s understanding of courage as hypermasculine and violent and instead reframes courage as persistence through times of difficulty. Bravery takes many forms in To Kill A Mockingbird. The book portrays Atticus as brave after his willingness to defend a black man in the face of criticism and threats of violence. Amidst the face of danger, Atticus urges Scout to be brave and prevent herself from fighting those who criticize her or her family. Another example of bravery is displayed when The Finches’ neighbour Miss Maudie shares this wisdom when Scout asks why Atticus instructed Jem not to shoot his new air rifle at any mockingbirds as quoted, “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.” The Finches’ neighbour Miss Maudie shares this wisdom when Scout asks why Atticus instructed Jem not to shoot his new air rifle at any mockingbirds. The novel takes its title from this quote, which explains that the innocent must be protected and treated with respect. There are several possible “mockingbirds” in the novel overall; Lee explicitly names Tom Robinson as one such innocent person and implies that Scout and the other children are also innocent.

Overall To kill a mockingbird is a work of complexity and morality. It illustrates the southern parts of America during the great depression, how It impacted black people and society. The book explores the moral nature of human beings between social inequality, good vs evil hardships of the time and bravery. Harper lee connects Atticus to defend Tom Robinson as a sign of bravery even though knowing that the people of Macomb will be discriminatory towards him that his defending a black person. Lee makes the characters Scout and Jem to compare the difference of good vs evil and how it impacts individuals of Macomb, thus making the book’s display unique themes and how it influences to why it is to be known as the greatest books of the time.