Exploring To Kill a Mocking Bird :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

Exploring the American Novel To Kill a Mocking BirdGood MorningI have been given the task of speaking to you just about Americanliterature and the impact that specific books may have on Australianreaders. In particular my main focus today will reduce on theissue of racial prejudice. One of my favourite books comes to mindwhen discussing this topic because it effectively argues formulti-ethnicity from different vantage points.To Kill a Mocking Bird is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by HarperLee, based on the defence of an obviously innocent African-Americanman, charged with raping a young uncontaminating girl. One of the booksimportant themes involves the threat that hatred, prejudice andignorance poses to the innocent. Though society has changed greatlysince the release of this book, the strength of the issues relayed inclassics such as this one will never lose their appeal.While reading the American novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, it wasobvious to me that this book was an example o f one instance when sort outdoes not triumph. As uncertain as the political climate may be inparts of the world today, it was extremely more volatile in the 30s,which was when To Kill a Mocking Bird was set. The book takes placein a small Alabama town, where racial equality was non-existent. Thenovel begins with reconnoitre Finch, who is now an adult remembering thesummer when her brother, Jem broke his arm and recalling the incidentsthat led to this event. She introduces her hometown Maycomb Alabama,her father Atticus Finch, attorney, Calpurnia their Negro cook andhousekeeper, Dill and various neighbours.Despite the fact that Calpurnia was a Negro she was very influentialin the character building of the two children. She was like a motherfigure to them and taught them tolerance that took them beyond theprejudices of Maycomb society. She treated the children as her equal,rather than a menacing or white person. Calpurnia wanted the children toexperience a different attitude towa rds race and prejudice. Thereforeshe took them to her church where and they sang and prayed. They feltwelcomed by the black community and knew that this acceptance wasprobably due to the fact the their father, Atticus had supported Tomand believed in his innocence. While there are plenty of civil rights injustices to be found in thenews headlines today, our attitude towards race relations has changeddramatically. The book however, reveals that to live in the 1930sand be black meant living a life as an inferior being. The attitudeof the townsfolk in this book was to let things stay as they had