To Kill A Mockingbird Message Analysis

A vastly known classic that has captivated many readers in it’s simple message that is expressed complexly is Harper Lee's: To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s simple as it’s a novel against prejudice but shows it through different perspectives. Here it’s the life of a small girl living in the south, 1930’s. Racial tensions are high and Scout, the main character's dad is assigned to handle a black man's case. It’s message is that most people aren’t even aware of the prejudice that they are committing as it’s normal to them and that it’s easier to not provoke them sometimes even if it’s not right. Harper does this in a unique way that doesn’t go out of it’s way to point it out but still gives people something to think on. Look at the scene where
Back then not everyone who wasn’t racist was a freedom fighter. Inspect this quote from Jem “There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes. Our kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the colored folks. Background means that a family has been reading and writing for a long time.” (Lee,76 )Jem isn’t racist but here he just accepts his reality as if he can’t change it. This again goes with the theme of not angering someone's prejudice, even if it’s not right. When Mr.Raymond says this when confronted about being a fake alcoholic, “It ain’t honest but it’s mighty helpful to folks. Secretly, Scout, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, ever understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live.”(Lee,69) It’s another example of not agitating people's prejudices. He knows it’s not right but by letting people think there's a problem with him outside of the ones they fabricated it just lets them be. Lastly we resort to Atticus talking to Scout about the case he’s defending. Instead of telling her outright that blacks deserve equal rights he just gives her this vague answer, ““Because I could never ask you to mind me again. Scout simply because of the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally.” (Lee,20) He doesn’t tell her to stand up for blacks but lets her form her own opinion. It’s debatable if he wanted to figure this out on her own or not but it seems almost as if he does it to save her from a life of