A Review of to Kill a Mockingb

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee.   It   was published in 1960
by J.B. Lippincott Company in Philadelphia & New York.   This is the only book that
Harper Lee has ever written.   It is also one of the best-loved novels in American
literature, winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.   Lee is a very private person who doesn't
grant interviews, although her literary agent says she divides her time between her
hometown of Monroeville, Alabama and New York.   She also enjoys reading, and her
favorite authors are Jane Austen, Charles Lamb, and Robert Louis Stevenson.   She has
said that her novel about a white southern lawyer defending an innocent black man is not
autobiographical.   But her father was a lawyer, and the inspiration for the character
Atticus Finch.
To Kill a Mockingbird is about a young girl named Jean-Louise Finch, who they
call Scout,   her brother Jeremy, nick-named Jem, and many other characters.   Their
father Atticus, who is a lawyer, had been given a case to handle and did not have a choice
but to receive it and work his best for his client.   The case was about an African man,
named Tom Robinson, who was accused of raping a white woman.   This case causes
many problems that they have to deal with everyday.   The entire town turns against them
saying that Atticus is a "nigger-lover."   Even Atticus' family turned against them, which
really hurts Scout, especially when her cousin Francis says "I guess it ain't your fault if
Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I'm here to tell you it certainly does mortify
the rest of the family-" (Harper 91).  
Racism is a major theme in this story along with growing up.   Throughout the
story the reader sees how Scout and Jem are afraid of Boo Radley because they think he
is a monster and try to tease him.   Later in the novel they are no longer afraid of him and
no longer interested in teasing him.   Another example of their maturity is how they view... [continues]

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