Reader's Ramble- To Kill a Mockingbird

For my fourth Reader's Ramble I will be reviewing To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel; a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unswerving honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man's struggle for justice; but the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

Plot- Loved it! This plot was so exciting and there was always stuff happening! It had a great storyline and kept me hooked all the way through! This plot was like nothing I've ever read before, and I'm glad I got the chance to read this. The story is told through the eyes of Scout Finch, a young girl about age 8. She doesn't truly understand the significance of everything that happens in the book because of her age, but she gives you enough information where you can understand.

There are also a lot of symbols in this book, symbols for society and the way people act. If you read this, you know what I mean. Like the snowman being a symbol for everyone, saying that we are all the same on the inside. The Ewells being a symbol for Ya'lls or You alls. All of us.

Setting-The setting of this story fits in really well. Its during the 1930's in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. It helps the reader understand how life was back then and how people acted, how they especially acted towards black people. There are all types of people in this town.

Theme-There are a lot of themes of this novel, the main one is discrimination or racism. This theme is demonstrated all throughout the novel, especially with the case of Tom Robinson and through the house maid, Calpurnia.

Another theme would be the coexistence of good and evil. There are good and bad people in the world. Bad people like Bob Ewell, and good people like Atticus and Boo Radely. Atticus quotes ,"You never really know a person until you step inside their skin and walk around in it." He says skin because of the discrimination in the 1930's. What he means by this quote is you never really know a person until you live a day in their life. They could be good and you wouldn't even know it. Don't judge a book by it's cover. Boo Radely is a great example of this. The kids think he's twisted and evil but when in reality he's a kind gentle man who cares about the kids.

Characters- Gah, I love Scout (the narrator.) She's sweet and funny and innocent. She has some trouble behaving like a lady throughout the novel, because she has no female influence in her life for sometime. But she knows she needs to be a lady.

Jem (Scout's brother) is also a wonderful character. He cares about Scout, but sometimes is mean to her. When he gets older he isn't around as much, but he still loves her.

Atticus (their father) is a great great man and I wish he existed. He does not discriminate and he's not racist. He's as kind as he can be. He keeps his head held high no matter what happens.

All the characters help demonstrate the themes of this novel very well.

Overall- Wow. This is the best book I've ever read for school. We have to read it for our english class and I've been looking forward to it all year. I'm glad I got the chance to read this, it teaches you valuable life lessons. This a truly great novel and you all should read it. You may end up reading it for school, but if you don't, READ IT ANYWAY. You won't regret it. This is a book everyone needs to read.

The narrator does a great job, she had me feeling what she was feeling. There is nothing I disliked about this novel.

So with that said, I rank this book 5/5 stars! It was one of my favorites of all time and it's a must- read!