To kill a mocking Bird by Harper Lee - A Review

First sentence: When he was thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm broken badly at the elbow.


Reflections: Harper Lee's Pulitzer prizewinner is such a classic; the plot is well-known and there's probably not a person who will read this review that hasn't already read this book.

What a powerful book. I immediately became absorbed in the main characters -- Jem, Scout, Atticus, and Calpurnia -- as well as some of the townspeople and neighbors. I fell easily into the tales of carefree childhood summers, pretend play, and "spooky" reclusive neighbors. I could feel the warm summer evenings and the year-round temperate Alabama climate. But then, wham!, I was hit with the small-mindedness, hatred, and racism:
"Cry about the simple hell people give other people--without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they're people, too." (p. 229)

Through brilliant prose, Harper Lee vividly tells the story of a black man on trial for raping a white woman, Atticus' inner strength and determination, the injustice done to the defendant, the varying reactions of the townspeople, and the subsequent events in which justice is finally served. I'd forgotten how the book got its title, and when I read this part of the book, I found it so apt:
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy ... they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (p. 103)


Before reading To Kill a Mockingbird, the title itself means nothing. The title is the foundation of a house. It is just a slob of cement, and cannot be interpreted. While reading the book, pieces of wood fit together and the house starts to stand up. After reading the book, the house is fully painted and decorated. The landscaping is complete, and the house is beautiful.

Several things and people represent the "Mockingbird" throughout the novel. The understanding of the "Mockingbird" can bee seen in three steps.
The first step is in chapter 10. Atticus tells Jem to never shoot a mockingbird,
because it causes no harm. At this point, neither Jem nor Scout understand what Atticus is saying.
Secondly, Scout finds a roly-poly in chapter 25. In answer to Scout’s desire to kill the bug, Jem says, "Because they don’t bother you…" (241). At this second stage, Jem, not yet Scout, has understood Atticus’ holy words.

The last depiction is in the final chapters of the book. This "Mockingbird" is Arthur "Boo" Radley. Boo ends up to save both Jem and Scout’s lives, by
killing Bob Ewell. At this final stage in the book, Scout, as well as Jem, understands Atticus and his saying. Scout realizes life.


The title is something that can be interpreted in many ways. Each one will be different, based on the reader’s philosophy and beliefs.


The metaphor of a mockingbird and the man on trial is so strong. The way it tied together was amazing and I never forgot when it said that mockingbirds give nothing but music to the world and to kill them would be sinful because they harm no one. They give only good, not bad. To harm a good person who harms no one, it wrong. That always stayed with me

If you haven't read this book, you should. And if you have, you should re-read it -- you'll learn something new every time.