Themes In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

A theme is the lesson the author wants the reader understand after reading a book. It is also known as the moral of the story. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author illustrates several themes. One in particular theme that truly highlights the novel’s characters is “don’t judge a person by how he or she looks.” In Lee’s novel, the townspeople of Maycomb County are notorious for judging others by their appearance. Instead of taking the opportunity to understand characters beyond their outer shell, the townspeople let their clouded judgment assume the worst in people. Characters like Arthur “Boo” Radley, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, and Tom Robinson are regarded as abominable human beings.
Atticus Finch always told his children, Jem and Scout, “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” (39). The townspeople judged Arthur “Boo” Radley because he was a recluse. They were haste in jumping to conclusions and spread false rumors about Boo Radley. Like all rumors, these speculations that were told about Boo’s mysterious and haunting
He was an innocent, hard working black man. Robinson’s only job was to provide for his family, but he was sucked into society’s black hole of discrimination. He was accused of raping Bob Ewell’s daughter, Mayella Ewell. During the trial, Atticus provided intriguing circumstantial evidence that proved Robinson’s innocence. Despite the evidence, the jury found Robinson guilty of the rape charge because of his skin color. The people of Maycomb thought that Tom Robinson must have committed the crime because he was a “nigger,” and in their perspective all “niggers” were to not be trusted. In the end, Tom Robinson took justice into his own hands and attempted to escape prison, so he could return to his family, but he was