Jeremy Finch, Jem, Scout’s older brother, is a quieter and a more controlled person than his little sister. Jem expects the world to use common sense, and when people don’t, he seems to be a little disappointed. Because of this, he is affected emotionally by the ignorance of his society.
Atticus Finch is the children’s father. He has a very close relationship with his children and, therefore, he allows them to call him by his first name. He uses reason with all of his decisions and he tries to install this value in his children. He is a gentleman and tries to avoid conflict whenever possible, even though he is a lawyer.
The them of the book is about the prejudice of society. One way that the book shows this is through a court case where Atticus chooses to defend a black male, Tom Robison, accused of raping a white female, Mayella Ewell. Tom was going to help Mayella like he normally does when she called him over. Mayella came on to Tom and he tried to leave. When Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, came home, he saw what was happening and beat Mayella. After Bob beat Mayella, he called the sheriff and convinced the sheriff that Tom had raped Mayella.
Atticus proved that Mayella was beat by her father while presenting his case. He told the court that since Tom’s left arm stopped short of where his elbow was supposed to be, he couldn’t have beaten Mayella. He also said that Tom was right-handed and Bob was left-handed, which meant that Tom would have had to bruise the left side of Mayella’s face instead of the right side. With all of this information, the jury still convicted Tom. However, Atticus was just a little happy with the decision because the jury took over five hours reaching a decision instead to the usual two minutes.
The title of the book is explained in part one. When Jem and Scout obtain shot guns for Christmas, their father tells them “never kill a mockingbird.” They wonder why he has said this and their neighbor, Ms. Maudie Atkinson tells them that mockingbirds never cause any harm. All mockingbirds do is sing and bring joy.
In a way, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are like mockingbirds. They never cause any harm to anyone. Tom helps Mayella and is prosecuted for it. Boo never goes outside his house and nasty rumors are spread about him. They are both social outcasts. Tom is an outcast because he is black, and Boo is an outcast because people believe him to be a “freak.”
Comparing the way things are today to the way things were during the Depression, one sees that many things are different. Things were priced differently, meaning both store items and the thoughts of people. By this, I mean that, if a person is well respected in the community, then their opinion counted.
Whites were able to blame a black person for a crime instead of owning up to the crime. This was bad because a child could pick up this way of life and never learn right from wrong, which was often the case. In a way, this is still around today. Many people do this as a way of skipping punishment, especially in the southern states. An example of this was the case with Tom, Mayella, and Bob, where Bob where was the criminal.
I believe that the author was successful in making her point. She wanted us to see life through the eyes of a little girl. She wanted the reader to be able to see the defaults of human society. The reader sees how people from different steps of the social ladder live and think. I saw what it was like for a white child with a parent defending a black person lives. They are tortured for their parent’s decisions from other children their age.
