Review: To Kill A Mockingbird

I wanted to submit a review of one of my favorite books in the world, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.  The movie, produced by Universal, was also well done, and I think gave a fairly good interpretation of Ms. Lee's story.  My students and I finished reading the book today, and they were both happy that they'd finished, and sad that it was over, at the same time.

The book, narrated by Jean Louise Finch, (nicknamed Scout) follows her life as well as that of Jem, her brother, and Dill, their friend.  It begins when they are all fairly young, when the greatest concerns they have are their worries about "Boo" Radley, a neighbor who hasn't left his house in years, and about whom they have many frightened and far fetched ideas.  But life does not stay as simple as they would like, and they are forced to grow up a little too quickly when their father, a lawyer, is called upon to defend a black man who has been accused of raping a white woman.

Both book and movie teach, without becoming overly didactic, the value of human life, and of honor and of compassion.  It teaches that while there is ignorance, dishonor, betrayal, and evil in the world, and tragedy too, that there is more good there, than bad. 

And that's something I think is important to know.