To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Do you want to read one of the great Classic books but don't know where to start?

To Kill a Mockingbird is the emotional story of a nine year-old white girl in the deep South of America in the 1930's, navigating her way through familial growing pains, a town's racism and the trial of her father's life.

I got this book because I really wanted to read some of the timeless Classics that we all know of but may not have read ourselves - I realised going in that the writing might be slightly dated and the views probably askew, but To Kill a Mockingbird was one of those stories that just drew me in. After reading this, I'm glad it is recommended to schoolchildren as there is a lot of wisdom within it's pages.

The Main Story:

The story is told from the point of view of Jean Louise Finch, or Scout as she's known, as a young girl in Southern America in the thirties (oh yeah, buckle up). The first chunk of the book is mostly tales from Scout about growing up and childish shenanigans, but in between the hilarious hijinks she and her older brother Jem get up to, nuggets of wisdom and consideration are dropped very casually by their father Atticus, about the views on black people and their role in society. I found it incredibly refreshing from other books I've read that were written in the 1960's.

'They're certainly entitled to think [they're right and I'm wrong], and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions, but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.' - Atticus to his daughter, Scout

It's slowly dropped in throughout the plot that Atticus is an attorney-at-law and defends people of colour, and proudly so. He gets a case of a black man, Tom Robinson, who is accused by the white-trash equivalent of town of raping their young (white) daughter. Atticus defends this man without a second thought, not without consequence of course. The people in town don't like his defence of a black man and say he's ruining the Finch family name as well as the town's reputation but Atticus stays true, teaching his children to be considerate, accepting and respectful to those different from themselves.

'I wanted you to see something about her - I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.' - Atticus to his son, Jem

What takes place during and after the trial was very emotional and had me questioning how times like these even existed. Be aware, if you're an empath, you'll probably cry at the end of this book.

This story takes a hard look at all angles of the human experience - hate and love, fear and courage; it tackles many difficult questions, including, Do we hate out of fear? Do we only love what we know? Humans are complex creatures and our flawed design paired with our experience produces our perspective, therefore our opinions can be highly mixed and come from an emotional place. Honestly? I love the psychological and philosophical aspects of this book. 

The Pros and Cons:

➕ I enjoyed the introduction of the characters and townspeople through the tales of childish pranks and discoveries while growing up. They often made me laugh at how ridiculous kids can be and reminded me of my own naughty behaviour when I was a little girl.

➕ It was interesting to be reminded of how much times have changed while reading this, not just in terms of equality and acceptance of people of colour but women, too. Scout is often told she shouldn't ever wear pants, only dresses, for 'there's nothing a girl should be doing that involves wearing pants.' Among other crazily misogynistic things that are said, Scout is the ultimate rebellious nine year-old as she squashes all sexist views that come her way - disappointing her female family members but certainly capturing the readers' hearts!

➖ Sometimes the book waffles a little much in places and I lost sight of where the plot was meant to be going. Some of the waffle I could understand the reasoning for such as giving certain characters depth or introducing a view on someone or something, but occasionally I simply couldn't catch on.

➕ This story gives so much life, colour and soul to those that were\are still discriminated against - it is beautiful, especially given when this book was written. I can't say I know the views on people of colour during the 60's but I do know that growing up, racism was very much a thing and I know it still goes on today.

This Classic is definitely a solid 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

If you're looking to read a Classic book, this is your novel to begin with - with plenty of humour, character and emotion, To Kill a Mockingbird is a tale I won't soon forget.

Well that's the review for this week! You can find links to buy this book on my LinkTree (featured on my Instagram) and order it in time for the weekend! 😁

Have you read this before? If so, let me know in the comments what you thought of it! If not, let me know if you are going to order it 😀 And if you're a Classics buff (or even if you're not) don't forget to check out my Instagram story to vote on which classic book I should tackle next!

Love and Light,

Melissa x