Final thoughts and overall rating of "To Kill a Mockingbird"
To Kill A Mockingbird Book Review
To start to book off, we open up on Scout Finch. She starts to flashback to her childhood experiences, to answer how and why her brother, Jem, broke his arm. This flashback brings her back to the town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930's. Here, she is 5 years old. In Maycomb, she lives with her father, Atticus Finch, Jem, and Calpurnia, the Finches' maid. As she starts, it is the summer of 1933, in which Jem and Scout are participating in general shenanigans. During which, they meet a new boy from Meridian, Michigan, whose name is Dill. Dill is enamored with a nearby house, and this is introduces Arthur "Boo" Radley. "Boo" is described as a creepy, monstrous recluse, who Jem is more than happy to avoid. Dill, still invested with the house and its old look, makes up games and other efforts to try and get Bob out of his house. This finally culminates in an dare to Jem, a dare to touch the Radley's house. Jem, after 3 days, takes this dare, and actually goes up to the Radley's house. This action invokes a small movement in the window of the house, confirming that there is perhaps an inhabitant of the property. Little would Scout know, this would be her first of the confrontations of the mystery of "Boo" Radley. Of course, this isn't the only main conflict of this story. As it progresses, Both Jem and Scout learn about the horrible aspects of the community of Maycomb. At first, both kids are unaware of these horrible aspects, as such with a young kid. But, with the experiences that come with a person in which Atticus has to defend (as per the job of a lawyer), they finally learn of the prejudice and hatred that actually plagues this town. This fact that was learned crushes Jem and Scout. After all, this fact has crushed the illusion of Maycomb that they had believed for about some time. But, they both decide to take that heartbreak and use it to grow into better people.
The story is set in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. At the time of the story, it is the 1930's. As are other towns of the south of the time period, Maycomb is discriminatory against blacks. School children use the "N-word", and black people are described to be seen as liars and immoral beings. In addition to this, Maycomb has a societal hierarchy. This hierarchy consists of: People like the Finches, People like the Cunninghams, People like the Ewells, and Black People. One more thing, Maycomb is still is the midst of the "Great Depression". You can tell this by the fact that people exchange goods or do labor, instead of people paying people for money. Harper Lee explains setting very nicely. While reading my book I was able to picture the old oak tree near the Radleys house, or Miss. Maudie's poarch. The setting is described so well in the book it makes you feel like you are really there.
Harper Lee included many characters within this book. She introduced many but some more than others. As you read the book more and more you start to find out more about each character. It was a fun way of finding out what each character is like. Atticus was a father, a widower, a lawyer. You don't just learn about the obvious you learn about his deep personality too. Lee makes it feel like you've know the character for a long time. Just before you get to really understand them there is a twist in there personality making you thing is he/she this or that. We see this in Atticus and many other characters too. There are more characters in the book then just the once mentioned in the characterization tab. Like: Dill, Scouts and Jem friend who visits in the summer, Miss. Maudie the Finches neighbor, Calpurnia the Finches maid, and even more. You can see why I said there were many that you get to learn about. Each character introduced has an importance to the book.
In the book the author did an admirable job of including a plethora of different languages. The story as noted took place in Alabama. In the 1930's everyone had a diffrent way and talking there and she really brought that into the book itself by adding slang. Some of the slang that she included was: c'mon, over yonder, rekon, all-bluff, nome, and much more. Adding these put me into their shoes. I felt like I was there in the 1930's following them all through the story. The slang and detail included into the book made me feel like boo; watching over them but from a distance. The symbolism was also greatly used like the snow and how it connected to white supremacy. The symbols fit so well into the book and made it a blast to read. Lee did an outstanding job at adding details too. She made it seem like an eight year old was narrating but she added enough detail that it felt as if a 30 year old was speaking.I was able to picture everything.
Overall, the book was favorable. Harper Lee, the author did an exceptional job of foreshadowing and symbolizing events; it definitely made me want to read and figure out what each symbol means. Lee exhausted many themes that brought the book together. It all led to climax, which is definitely a rush. Lee does a good job of adding important details into small events. It brings the book together and really makes it good. Each occasion had a reason for being there, but some were slow and others were better. In the slow parts it was hard to keep reading. Not much was going on and it all seemed pointless; especially in the beginning. Nevertheless, once you start to really get in depth with the book and understand it, it can become marvelous. We rated "To Kill a Mockingbird" four hams. The book always kept me guessing and leaving clues, but at times it was a little slow which was no fun to read.