The author describes the Finch family’s situation and surroundings effectively, using adjectives such as ‘high’, ‘meditative’, and ‘pale’ to emphasise her point and to get her message across. The widespread use of the adjectives also serve to paint a better picture of the situation in the reader’s mind, making it easier for us to imagine certain things, such as Mrs Dubose’s house – the use of phrases such as “oppressive odour”, “rain-rotted grey houses”, and “soot-stained mantelpiece”.
Additionally, Harper Lee uses many metaphors and similes throughout her descriptive work to pain the surroundings for the reader. She uses the metaphor “like a dirty pillowcase” to describe the colour of Mrs Dubose’s face, which is extremely effective, since not only does it bring to mind that particular colour, but also suggest lack of hygiene and cleanliness. This is reiterated by the unpleasant description which follows it – Mrs Dubose’s mouth “glistened with wet, which inched like a glacier down the deep grooves enclosing her chin.” Scout’s feeling of disgust towards Mrs Dubose is effortlessly painted through the well-chosen phrases and words that the author uses.
The main underlying moral issues and themes running throughout the novel are those of the co-existence of good and evil in Maycomb, the extreme importance of moral education, and the way social class can cause unbelievable prejudice against those who are innocent. In my opinion, the most important theme in the novel – and if not the novel, then the first part - is definitely that of the coexistence of good and evil. It is literally embodied by the idea of the Radley family, since Boo lives in a house with first an abusive father and then an abusive brother. The exploration of human nature and its’ morals concentrates mostly on whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. Atticus contradicts this in a way by trying to see both the good and the bad in people, but in another way he is the true lesson of the novel. He tries to teach the children how important it is to appreciate the good and bad in people without losing faith in human nature, and to try to see life from their perspective – to “try to climb into their skin and walk around in it.” This is closely intertwined with the heavy importance of moral education throughout the novel. The main point that Harper Lee tries to make is that the most important traits to have are those of sympathy, understanding, honesty, and justice. Atticus embodies this throughout the story.
One of the main themes that run throughout the novel is that of the repeated phrase that it is a “sin to kill a mockingbird.” This is the title, and carries little literal connection to the plot, although it carries huge symbolic weight. The idea behind it is, of course, that the worst thing one can do is to punish someone who is innocent, therefore destroying their innocence. The story is one mostly of innocents destroyed by evil, and Jem, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley all become ‘mockingbirds’ towards the end of the novel.
Harper Lee uses the novel above all to show her disgust at racism and the unfair social hierarchy. In Maycomb itself, the social ladder is incredibly over-complicated, and she plays upon the children’s innocence and confusion of the ins and outs of what the ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’ behaviour is to emphasise the stupidity and irrationality of it. For example, Scout can’t understand why Aunt Alexandra doesn’t want Walter Cunningham round, but Aunt Alexandra is horrified that Scout would even consider it. The Finches are relatively close to the top of the social ladder in Maycomb, with the other upper-class whites, followed by the middle- and then lower-class whites, like the Cunninghams. The ‘White Trash’, the Ewells, seem to come next, with the black people coming in right at the bottom. The children don’t understand how the black people, with their plentiful kindness and welcoming nature; can be placed below the Ewells on the social ladder. The habitants of Maycomb’s fixed expectations of behaviour from different ‘types’ of people is reflected in the children’s perplexity at the rigid social divisions that seem to make up much of their hometown. This use of a novel is unusual now and would be even more so at the time of writing, possibly segregating Lee from her community for such a massive strike out against racism and discrimination. Her bravery in this is impressive – the message is clear that racism is very definitely wrong. The only way the main characters (Scout and Jem) can make peace with the inlaid prejudice in their hometown is by taking Atticus’s view that it is simply something that has been fed into most of the townsfolk, that they have been brainwashed with, rather than an actual opinion that they uphold. However, this isn’t true in many cases – some characters are simply racist and cruel. Despite this, Aunt Alexandra is an example of how people can change their views based on their surroundings and education upon the subject. When we are first introduced to her, she is greatly prejudiced (she calls Atticus a “nigger-lover”), but as she spends more time with Atticus and his children, people with a much more humane attitude to people, she comes to share the opinion that all people should be treated equally. This suggests that Lee believes that the way to tackle discrimination is through education rather than through punishment.