To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - 1960
Introduction
To Kill a Mockingbird is the Pulitzer Prize-winning exploration of prejudice in a small Alabama town. The novel was published in 1960 as the civil rights movement was gathering momentum and is set in the early 1930s during the years of the author's childhood. The story deals with the coming of age of Scout and her brother Jem as they try to understand the ugly aspects of life in Maycomb, their quiet, close-knit community. Lee herself described it as a love story. Most people assume that the love she is referring to is a daughter's love for her father, Atticus Finch, who is the voice of wisdom and moral clarity in the novel. When a black man is falsely accused of raping a white woman, Atticus defends the man, even though he and his children suffer abuse for it at the hands of their fellow townspeople. Despite the ugliness they endure and despite the fact that Tom, the defendant, is wrongfully convicted and ultimately killed, Atticus tries to help his children view the residents of Maycomb with compassion and understanding, rather than bitterness and anger. His message is that people must learn to see things from other people's points of view, and that despite their flaws, most humans are basically decent.
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