Learning to Appreciate Others from A Kid’s Innocent Perspective in “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee (1960)
Children are naturally innocent, kind, curious, and funny. They’ll do things outside of adults’ predictions. Most of them are creative and stay curious all the time. Sometimes, they can become serious about finding an answer that they thought was a mystery. Their perspectives are original and unique. Even, adults can learn from children’s understanding of a certain event. Their ideas are simple yet deep.
This novel was published in 1960 and soon became a best-selling novel of all time. In the United States, this novel is widely read in high schools and middle schools. “To Kill A Mockingbird” has become a classic of modern American literature. It is also enormously popular worldwide, which can be seen that it was translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 40 million copies. Moreover, from this novel, Harper Lee won a prestigious writing award, Pulitzer Prize.
After I read and drown in the sea of Scout’s little world in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression, her ideas were out of the box. I imagined, If I were Scout, I would’ve never done nor thought differently than the majority of people in Maycomb. Fun fact about this novel, the setting of the place is inspired by Southern America during the Great Depression. The majority of people in the South were still pro to racism against Blacks.
In the story, Scout’s character is known as intelligent and curious. It is come from how her father educated her. In a home, Scout’s father namely Atticus Finch, who is a prominent lawyer in Maycomb, always emphasizes the importance of justice for everyone. It refers to the attribute of social background, race, culture, and so on. Because of Finch’s constant education about justice for everyone, Scout with her nature of curiosity regularly helps others who need help. Sometimes she helped them in secrets!
Some of my favorite characterization traits of Scout is, that she is imaginative and brave at the same time. These qualities can be seen when Scout and her brother, Jem heard a rumor about their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. According to what adults in Maycomb said, Boo Radley is someone who is never going outside, nor socializing with others, and a children’s kidnapper. In order to find the truth in adults’ argumentation, every time they have spare time after school, they’ll come to Boo Radley’s backyard. They do some kind of tactic to make Boo Radley react and to find out whether the speculation from the neighbors is true or not.
Moreover, I am also a big fan of Atticus Finch. He is a single father who is wise, kind, and brave. He is not only a good father to Scout and Jem, but he is also an extraordinary human being who is brave to defend the truth even if the community chose to close its eyes. Amid the rough journey, dark roads with an endless ending, Atticus bravely defended Tom (a black man) who is falsely accused to rape and kill a white woman.
As a father, who emphasizes the value of equality and tolerance. Atticus shows an example to his children how to treat others simply as human beings. For example, Calpurnia is a maid of the Finch family. Atticus, Scout, and Jim treat Calipurnia equally, they respect her fully as a human being. Atticus said to his children that she is the one who takes care of them wholeheartedly. Thus, they should respect her fully even though she comes from a different social background as well as social status at that time than the Finches.
Furthermore, in a court where Atticus becomes a prosecutor to defend Tom who was falsely accused, Scout and Jim were sitting in a prosecutor’s building along with the Black community. They both also give emotional support to Tom’s family. This significantly shows that the value of empathy, equality, and tolerance has become part of these children’s lives. The Finch family has become a role model for other families in Southern America to fight against racism.
Okay, so I would love to share my two top favorite quotes from “To Kill A Mockingbird”.
On page 270, Atticus said that:
“It was the polite thing to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in”.
This statement can be used in a situation where someone meets a new acquaintance. It is normally a phase where two or more people are getting to know each other. Thus, communication should be equal to one another, listening to each other’s opinions wholeheartedly, and understanding each other interests. As a result, each party would feel appreciated.
Another quote also comes from Atticus, he says that:
“You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them” (p. 496).
It delivered a message that we would never really know how other people feel before we dive into other people’s shoes. Thus, we shouldn’t judge easily how other people react or make decisions in their lives, since we don’t know the full story.
Overall, this is a must-reading novel for those who support equality and tolerance in a diverse society. After you read this novel, you’ll become more understanding of how people who were discriminated against felt and then learn how to grow empathy. Last but not least, try to spread a positive attitude by treating other people who come from a different background from you, equally in many ways.
