To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
This famous book was extensively cited in
'Structuring Your Novel'. I thought I'd better learn what I could from it.
I noticed that at times the author spoke with greater knowledge
and awareness than the young girl, Scout Finch, would have had. This did
not detract from my enjoyment, but a couple of times I did notice it.
Scout starts at six or seven years old and is nine at the conclusion
of the story. She has a perky way about her. Although the specifics of her
looks don't play an important part in the book, she comes alive as a real
person who acts consistently.
Story Line: Boo Radley is their adult neighbor who won't come
out of his house. Scout, her brother Jem, and their summertime friend, Dill,
concoct schemes to entice this frightening but enigmatic person outside.
The characters of the children and Atticus, their father, are developed.
Various scenes: the fire across the street, a rare snow
in Alabama, fist fights, and a courthouse confrontation.
More on the Story Line: Calpurnia, the Finch's maid, is
a colored woman of substantial importance to the novel. Tom Robinson, a
member of Calpurnia's church, is accused of raping a white girl. The author
handles the truth of the situation interestingly. She allows most of the
'facts' to come out in court where Atticus is Tom's lawyer. We are never
told outright that this is truly a rape or not. For a highly prejudiced
person, it might be possible for them to disregard the words of the black
man. In this day and age, I suspect that nearly everyone who reads this
small masterpiece would recognize that Tom was treated unfairly and against
the weight of the evidence, convicted.
It was an important part of the book that Scout lost respect
for her father when her childhood chums called him a 'nigger lover'. She
didn't know exactly what that was, but she recognized the unflattering context.
When she tried to find a reason to respect Atticus, she was stymied.
Other scenes: a mad dog in the alley, the tustle with Bob Ewell.
Bob Ewell, the white trash whose daughter was the victim
