While reading the American novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird”, it was obvious to me that this book was an example of one instance when right does not triumph. As uncertain as the political climate may be in parts of the world today, it was extremely more volatile in the 30’s, which was when To Kill a Mocking Bird was set. The book takes place in a small Alabama town, where racial equality was non-existent. The novel begins with Scout Finch, who is now an adult remembering the summer when her brother, Jem broke his arm and recalling the incidents that led to this event. She introduces her hometown Maycomb Alabama, her father Atticus Finch, attorney, Calpurnia their “Negro” cook and housekeeper, Dill and various neighbours.
Despite the fact that Calpurnia was a Negro she was very influential in the character building of the two children. She was like a mother figure to them and taught them tolerance that took them beyond the prejudices of Maycomb society. She treated the children as her equal, rather than a black or white person. Calpurnia wanted the children to experience a different attitude towards race and prejudice. Therefore she took them to her church where and they sang and prayed. They felt welcomed by the black community and knew that this acceptance was probably due to the fact the their father, Atticus had supported Tom and believed in his innocence.
While there are plenty of civil rights injustices to be found in the news headlines today, our attitude towards race relations has changed dramatically. The book however, reveals that to live in the 1930’s and be black meant living a life as an inferior being. The attitude of the townsfolk in this book was to let things stay as they had always been in the south.
This opinion became evident on a number of occasions throughout the book, for instance when Atticus decides to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman, Jem and Scout get into a fight with classmates who call Atticus a “nigger lover”. Despite the significant evidence pointing to Tom’s innocence, the all-white jury convict him. Jems discovery of the evil of racism during and after the trial leaves him in a state of disillusionment, whereas Scout is able to maintain her basic faith in human nature despite Tom’s conviction. Ultimately Tom escapes from prison and is shot to death.
The shocking fact remains that no one seemed to care that an innocent man was dead for no other reason than being black. That is except the Finch family, who are the inspiration in this novel. Atticus taught his children to question a situation, have an opinion about life and above all display human kindness. One particular paragraph explains his response to racial prejudice – it says “But let me tell you something and don’t you forget it. As you grow older you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life – whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash”. This statement is a clear message to not only Americans or Australians, but all mankind, to treat human beings equally no matter what there colour or race.
It appears that the moral voice of To Kill a Mocking Bird is embodied by Atticus Finch, who understands that, rather than being simply creatures of good or evil, most people have both good and bad qualities. What this piece of literature has taught society is to appreciate the good qualities and understand the bad qualities of people by treating others with sympathy and trying to learn life from there perspective.
