17 September 2013
There is no doubt that To Kill a Mockingbird, which has accomplished an incredible success and has won the Pulitzer Prize, has attracted constant, expanding attention worldwide. This novel displays a history making role in literature, and although it has been published for over fifty years, it still has a great influence on present day readers. Unfortunately, readers have been conflicting with the epic novel's main idea. Some people disagree with Harper Lee telling her fans that the book is "a simple love story." After reading the whole book, its easy to agree with the author and see from her perspective. However, the book includes some kinds of love that are not of the romantic type. In To Kill A Mockingbird, love is show from different angles such as Atticus' love for his children, a lawyer's love for equality and justice, and the bond among Scout, Jem, and Boo Radley.
To begin, Scout and Jem are young children living without a motherly figure. Through tough times, times of doubting, and times of needing affection, Atticus steps in to inspire his children about the many aspects they will go through during their lifetime. Furthermore, throughout the book, Atticus quotes many lessons to Scout and Jem. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Lee, 33). This life lesson sticks with Scout throughout the entire novel and teaches her to see the world from other people's points of view.
Moreover, with Atticus being a lawyer, he shows his love and affection for equal rights and justice amongst everyone. In the tome, he fights for Tom Robinson's rights who is a black man accused of raping Mayella Ewell. At times in the 1930's, black people didn't have as many rights as white people. However, Atticus, who is a white man, fights for the rights of a black person, showing his love to all who are equal, and fights for justice. "'The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience'" (Lee, 109). The majority's rule is made by the jury, and is something that everyone must go along with. Nevertheless, a person's thoughts and feelings are free and equal and are never ruled by majority.
In addition, the love between Scout, Jem, and Boo Radley is an example of one of the strongest loves throughout the entire book. Although Scout and Jem don't realize it, Boo actually loved them. Scout and Jem just had to climb into Boo's skin to see this. "Boo's children needed him" (Lee, 322). This quote shows that Boo Radley loved Scout and Jem as if they were his children. At the end of the book, Bob Ewell chases and attempts to murder Scout and Jem, but Boo comes to the rescue in one of his children's most dire times of need, showing his love for the two of them.
Conclusively, when Harper Lee stated that To Kill A Mockingbird was "a simple love story," she did not mean the romantic type of love. She shows love between a father, a lawyer, and a stranger. Love is shown throughout the book from different perspectives, as the story tells us and reminds us that we should love our neighbors, no matter what race or sex or religion. Everyone is equal, but sometimes it takes for us to climb into someone else's skin to truly recognize this.
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