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To Kill a Mockingbird: Review, Summary, Characters & Quotes

Discover why "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is a good must-read classic. Get a review, summary, character analysis, facts, and memorable quotes
Discover the beloved classic, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Read our review, summary, analysis, character insights, and memorable quotes from this iconic and important book. 

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by American author Harper Lee published in 1960. The novel tells the story of a young man named Tom Robinson who was falsely accused of rape because he was a black man. 

Defense attorney Atticus Finch, despite having evidence that Tom was not a rapist, Nothing could prevent the jury from concluding Tom was guilty. This reckless crime resulted in Tom's death by gunshots. 

Although the subject matter of the story touches on serious issues such as racial inequality and rape, the writing style is warm and funny. The novel is written in the first person, and the narrator's father, Atticus Finch, is a morally upright character in the book and is also a model of upright lawyers.

In 1961, the book won the Pulitzer Prize of the year, was translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and was adapted into a film of the same name in the same year.

Book: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ---Wikipedia

    • Originally published: July 11, 1960
    • Author: Harper Lee
    • Main characters: Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch, Dill Harris, Calpurnia,
    • Characters: Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch,
    • Followed by: Go Set a Watchman
    • Genres: Coming-of-age story, Bildungsroman

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Recommended reason: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

If there is a book in this world that can be used as a beacon of life, it must be "To Kill a Mockingbird" by American author Harper Lee.

"To Kill a Mockingbird," tells a story of sin caused by prejudice and discrimination.

The book, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, has been translated into more than 40 languages and is the "parenting bible" that affects 50 million families around the world.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" is a textbook about courage and growth.

Explain to children, justice, courage, and the heart of a child!

The novel tells the story of a young man named Tom Robinson, after being falsely accused of a crime, just because he was a black man, defense attorney Atticus Finch, despite having evidence that Tom was not a rapist, could not stop it. The jury found Tom guilty.

This reckless crime resulted in Tom's death by gunshots. Although the subject matter of the story involves serious issues such as racial inequality and rape, the writing style is still warm and funny.

The novel is told in the first person, and the narrator's father, Atticus Finch, is a morally upright character and a model of a righteous lawyer.

The protagonist and narrator of the novel is a little girl named Scooter, and the whole book consists of two parts.

The first part explains the time and background of the novel, which is a small town called Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

This part of the plot mainly revolves around a strange man named Radley, and the book lays out all kinds of legends about him, as well as Scooter and his brother Jem's various curiosity and adventure behaviors for Radley.

The second part is the climax of the novel, telling the story of Scooter's father Atticus, a white lawyer, who defended the innocent black Tom, and finally lost the case but left justice.

The whole article revolves around prejudice, which officially leads to injustice because of prejudice. The malice brought about by prejudice often comes for no reason, and it is precisely because of ignorance that people suffer.

As author, Harper Lee said: "You can never really know a person unless you walk around in his shoes."

To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic novel that is very famous in the history of education.

Obama once publicly gave his daughter two books, one of which is "To Kill a Mockingbird", which is also the most borrowed book in American libraries.

Although it is a highly educational masterpiece, author Harper Lee is not knocking on the blackboard, telling the truth, the good and the beautiful, love and freedom.

What's remarkable about Harper Lee is that she takes a child's point of view and writes about a growing eight-year-old girl's perception of the world.

The author seems to "drill into her skin and walk around like her", observing the world entirely with the thinking of a child.

Harper Lee seems to be proclaimed through the lens that you can never raise a child unless you get into her skin and walk around like her.

Prejudice is undoubtedly the brightest theme of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Harper Lee's eloquent brushstrokes, the child's most immature perspective, and the brightest songs sing; the singing permeates the entire town of Maycomb.

At the same time, it is also telling every child to have:

1. Education

A person's nobility does not come from a thousand taels of gold but from a good education.

In life, to say that a person is uneducated is the greatest denial of this person.

Upbringing is to lower one's attitude, learn to be considerate of others, know how to respect and appreciate, and be a person with deep still water.

Educated people know how to respect and appreciate others. He is also very low-key and humble.

2. Conscience

Conscience is the bottom line of being a human being.

People are good-hearted, and if you lose anything, you can't lose your conscience. Don't think that what you do is very clever, no one will know your bad behavior, even if no one really knows, and your conscience is quietly keeping an account.

Mencius said: "Looking up is not worthy of the sky, and looking down is not ashamed of the earth."

It is to tell us that we must not be ashamed of the world and our own conscience in life, and we must be upright and have a clear conscience.

3. Be kind

To be a human being, the most important thing is to maintain the essence of kindness. If you are kind, the world will be wide and others will be tolerant.


About the Author: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee  

Nelle Harper Lee is known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, her only major work. In 1999, it was voted "Best Novel of the Century" in a poll by Library Journal. Ms. Lee was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature in 2007. Her father was a lawyer who served in the Alabama state legislature from 1926 to 1938. 

As a child, Lee was a tomboy and enjoyed the friendship of her schoolmate, Truman Capote. After completing To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee accompanied Capote to Holcomb, Kansas, to assist him in researching his bestselling book, In Cold Blood. 

He has won several literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In addition to writing, he also loves 19th-century literature and 18th-century music and has a strong interest in cats and travel.

She has been living in seclusion in her hometown for many years, Since the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee has granted very few requests for interviews or public appearances. Her second novel, Go Set a Watchman, is scheduled to be released in July 2015, and she has never been married. He died at his home in Monroeville in 2016 at the age of 89.

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Book Summary: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

If one day I'm going to be asked to recommend a book worth reading, the first book I pull out of the drawer will be To Kill a Mockingbird Bird".

"There is one thing in the world that cannot follow the principle of conformity, and that is the human conscience."

This is a quote from "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Although this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was created in the specific context of the American civil rights movement in the 1960s and has specific themes of opposing racial discrimination and advocating racial equality, its influence has crossed eras and borders. 

On the other side of the ocean, Oprah Winfrey, the queen of American talk shows, called it the "credentials" of the United States; at home, it has always been placed in a prominent position on the best-selling bookshelves of major bookstores.

Where does the charm of To Kill a Mockingbird come from? If you are willing to read "To Kill a Mockingbird" carefully, you will find that the halo and praise it is endowed with is not so much from its language and plot, but rather from its nobility - the book The protagonist Atticus, whether in the field of private life as a father educating his children or as a lawyer in the field of public affairs, has shown near-perfect and true nobility. 

And Atticus's consistent words and deeds all the time, leading by example, made this nobility connect his private field and public life, such a charm is rare in the world reality.

        In a small town during the Great Depression, a little girl is still eagerly looking forward to the start of her first grade. She has an upright lawyer father, a kind brother who is no more than two years older than her, a neat black housekeeper, and a man who never goes out. Strange neighbors and a group of neighbors with different personalities but all ordinary, the story begins here.

       For a third of the time, the author is leading us to know the people and things in the town. Seeing through the eyes of a little girl, the strangest thing in the world is her neighbors who never go out, and the people in the town. In other words, a mad dog walking down the street is a horrific event that requires door-to-door phone calls. 

The town is very poor, but there are many noble people, kind people, tenacious people, and kind people. Life here is like a symphony of ups and downs, each with its own trajectory and color. , looks like it's going to be forever and peacefully intertwined.

Therefore, when these seemingly reasonable people suddenly did a very unconscionable thing-disregarding the justice orientation of judges and lawyers on the premise that the evidence was not established and voted that innocent black Tom deserved the death penalty- At that time, the lawyer's words will drip like a knife into the chest, dripping blood:

      "When they do this, it seems that only children can cry."

       This is a civilized environment where killing a robin is a sin, and yet the primitive cold blood still pervades the capillaries of the vast majority of people, manipulating their goodness and disgust.

       White people living in the center of town look down on white people living on the fringes, and white people living on the fringe look down on black people. While they spurned the lawyer for "defending the nigger", they elected him as a legislator and continued to seek spiritual asylum from him. They criticized the distant Hitler but refused to give more tolerance to the aliens around them. 

They despised the meanness of this complexion while they drank tea from the dim sum made by the servants of the dark skin. Permeating the sky above the town is a civilization that is so thin that it will dissipate when it is blown, and it is the barbarism that will show green faces and fangs when the lights are turned off.

       The disease of a society, the pain of a race, and the absurdity of a piece of history are told through the eyes of a child who sometimes crawled into his father's arms and acted like a spoiled child. There are no esoteric words or complicated psychological descriptions. But beyond words, it is a silent and heavy torture.

       Here, the seemingly playful summers pass one by one, and the little girl unknowingly understands that "you can never really understand a person unless you put on a person's shoes and walk around like him" 

The meaning of what it represents, she said with a little understanding that "democracy is equality for everyone and no privileges", and she almost died under the knife of a fanatic just because she had an upright lawyer father. When all this turmoil was over, she looked at her childhood and "felt very old"...

"The night was out of my imagination. It was day and the whole block was busy. Miss Stephen was crossing the street. , to give Miss Rachel the latest news. Miss Maudie is stooping over her azaleas. It's summer, and two children are hurrying down the pavement to meet a man from a distance. The man With a wave of his hand, the children rushed to him.

       It was still summer, and the children approached. The boy staggered with a fishing rod behind him. A man stood waiting for him with his hands on his hips. Summer and his children played with their friends in the front yard and wrote and acted out their quirky little plays.

       In the fall, his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dubose's house. The boy helped his sister to her feet, and then they walked home together. In the fall, his children trotted back and forth across the corner, their daily distress and triumph written on their faces. They stopped in front of the oak tree, expressions of joy and confusion, and a little anxiety.

       In winter, his children shivered in front of the courtyard gate, black silhouettes against the burning house. In winter, the man took to the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a mad dog.

       In summer, he watched his children's hearts break. It falls again, and the weirdo's kids need him. "

It's a fairytale-like screening, as the flashback at the end of the movie, peeling back the truth layer by layer, makes people cry after realizing it. It was this tiny figure huddled in the corner that focused and magnified the last light of humanity in the town - the timid dragged his frail body to save the little girl from the thug's knife, while the sheriff, the lawyer, the little girl He also tacitly did not see that the fact that he was defending and killing people saved him from being pushed to the forefront. 

It is like there is a tacit understanding between people with conscience, and that tacit understanding will be formed when the time is right. A secret power, a power that is oppressed under the ice and waiting to break the ice.

Maybe this is the power that drives me to sit in front of the computer and secrete endless pieces of text that I haven't written in a long time with tears and sweat I didn't stand in the middle of the universe and didn't want to call out for love, I just wanted to express a feeling. I was moved in the age of confusion. There is such a work, which is comparable to a cry, which makes people who have read this book wake up in an instant.

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Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Recommend this book for improving emotional intelligence, I regret not reading it earlier!

Today I would like to recommend a book to you, "To Kill a Mockingbird". To quote a reader, "The life without reading this book is really different from the life after reading it. " the reason I highly recommend it to you is that this is a book that can really help us improve The Book of Emotional Intelligence: How to Get Along with Others How to handle complex relationships with integrity? How to be a kind but insistent person? This book has the answer.

The main storyline of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

In a small southern town called Maycomb during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Scooter, a 6-year-old girl, lost her mother at a young age and lived with her father, Atticus, a lawyer, and her brother, Jem. The boy Dill comes to his aunt's house for the summer, and Jem and Scooter befriend him.

The three children are fascinated by their reclusive neighbor, a formidable talker named Arthur Radley, who has shut himself in his house for over 20 years, and the first part of the story revolves around the three children's relationship The strange Radley's curiosity unfolded. People in Maycomb were reluctant to talk about Radley, and no one had seen him in years. 

The children used rumors to fabricate various stories, speculate on the hidden mysteries behind them, and devise one plan after another to lead him out. Over the next two summers, the three children discovered that they were often left with small gifts on the tree outside Radley's house. Only later did they find out that the man was actually Arthur.

 
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The second part revolves around a case in which Father Atticus defended black people.

Atticus was appointed by the court to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, accused of raping a white teenage girl, Mayella Ewell. Although many Maycomb townspeople objected, Atticus agreed to defend Tom, and some children mocked Jem and Scooter because of Atticus, calling their father a "nigger-loving guy." Scooter was even provoked to fight for her father's honor, which he told him not to do.

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Scooter, Jem, and Dill surreptitiously observe the trial of Tom Robinson from the Negro audience. Atticus has exposed accusers Mayella and her alcoholic father, Bob, for lying. It was Mayella who took the initiative to seduce Tom, and her father beat her up for it. 

Although Tom's innocence was obvious, the jury found him guilty. When a desperate Tom escapes and is killed, Jem and Atticus' faith in justice takes a huge blow. Although Bob wins the case, his reputation is disgraced, and he vows revenge in a frenzy. Bob rubbed Atticus' face in the street.

Finally, one night, when Jem and Scooter were coming home from the school's Halloween extravaganza, Bob suddenly took a toll on them. Jem's arm is broken in the fight, but in the chaos, a stranger rescues the children, the mysterious man carries Jem home, and Scooter recognizes him as Arthur Radley.

In the small town of Maycomb, everyone knows everyone. Stubborn old Aunt Alexandra, reasonable neighbor Miss Maudie, gossip neighbor Miss Finks, educated black nanny Calpurnia, paranoid Mrs. Dubose, upright white employer Link Diess, Judge Taylor with a heart like a mirror, Miss Gates, a self-contradictory teacher...

Although there is a big gap between time, region, and culture, from the perspective of human nature, the town of Maycomb is different from where we are. The environment is no different, and we can recognize people in our own work, schools, and extended families who have similar personalities to the various characters in the book. 

It is in this way that readers can follow the perspective of the little girl Scooter, under the guidance of her father Atticus, to know these people with the greatest kindness, and to get along with them with empathy while insisting on their own ideas.

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How to get along with others?

"After you finally get to know them, you will find that the vast majority of them are good people"

Father Atticus told Scooter: "If you can learn a simple little trick, you can get along well with all these people. Unless you think about it from someone else's point of view - before you get into someone else's body You'll never really get to know him until you're wandering around here."

Arthur Radley locked himself in his house for over 20 years and never stepped out of the house. In the gossip and rumors of the neighbors, Radley was imagined as a terrifying man who "eats dead mice, comes out at night, and always has a pair of scissors in his hand", 

but finally learned that Arthur is actually One of the kindest people, he secretly gave gifts to the children and also saved the Scooter siblings at a critical moment. He shut himself in the house because he had a disaster 20 years ago, and now he just wants to be in the house.

Raymond, a white man, was seen by residents as an alcoholic who kept whiskey in bags and drank from two straws all day, looking drunk. It was only later that the three children discovered that what Raymond drank from the bag was actually Coke, he didn't drink at all, and he kept pretending to be "drunk" because he thought that was the "lifestyle" he wanted.

Mrs. Dubose insults the Atticus family for Atticus's defense of the Negroes, angering her brother Jem, who destroys Mrs. Dubose's beloved camellia. Atticus asked Jem to read to Mrs. Dubose every night to make amends. Mrs. Dubose continued to taunt Jem from time to time while Jem was in school and lashed out at Atticus. 

It wasn't until after Mrs. Dubose's death that Atticus told the siblings that Mrs. Dubose was going through a major ordeal of quitting her morphine addiction.

There are many plots of this type in the book, which revolve around the theme of "empathy". 

What it teaches us is:

  1. The reason why we don’t get along well with a certain person (or a certain type of person) is that we disagree with this person’s behavior style, and thus have an overall denial of this person.
  2. If we always look at others from our own perspective, it is difficult to understand why others have such "weird" behavior;
  3. "Standing in the perspective of others": It is not simply to imagine yourself as the other party, but to speculate based on your own experience. It's about "getting into someone else's body and wandering around," which means you really need to get to know the person's past background and experience. If you still only judge the person's actions based on your own experience, you will not be able to achieve a real replacement.
  4. If you haven't been able to "get into other people's bodies and wander around", at least, you should have such a belief in others: "After you finally get to know them, you will find that most people are good people". This is the last sentence my father Atticus tells Scott in this book, and I think it's a wise saying. Before we can understand others, we can at least understand that "what others do is for a reason".


How to deal with dissent?

The way you deal with "dissent" reflects a true upbringing

Since Atticus became a defense attorney for Black Tom, he has been opposed and ridiculed by many people in the town. Even his sister Alexandra, in Scooter's opinion, Aunt Alexandra is old-fashioned and conservative. Not only does she force herself to be a lady, but she also follows outsiders to make irresponsible remarks about Dad Atticus... 

Scooter rebelled against Aunt Alexandra angrily. But Atticus said: "You can choose your friends, but you shouldn't and can't choose your family. Whether you're grateful for your family or not, your family will always hold you back. And when you lose your family, It makes you look stupid when you're grateful."

Another fierce opponent of the black defense of Atticus was Mrs. Dubose. She always found every opportunity to abuse the lawyer's family. Later, her brother Jem exploded in anger and broke all the camellia heads in Dubose's courtyard. Atticus wasn't angry but insisted that he go and apologize to Mrs. Dubose and make up for it by reading to her for two hours a day for a month. 

More than a month later, Mrs. Dubose died of natural causes. Atticus told the children that Mrs. Dubose suffered every day in order to quit morphine, but she persisted until the end, so she did as she wished. , she died without dependence and was completely free. Then Atticus said to his son:

"Even if you didn't do the pranks, I'd have you read to Mrs. Dubose with her, because I want you to take a good look at her. This is the bravest person I've ever met, and what she interprets It's called real courage. Courage isn't about a man with a gun in his hand. 

Courage is knowing you're going to be beaten before you go on the court, but you go on the court anyway, and no matter what happens, you Stick to it until the end. Most of the time you fail, but sometimes, you succeed."

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The trial of black Tom's rape was held openly in the small town, and three children watched the trial secretly from the viewing platform. The prosecution lawyer Gilmer cross-examined Tom viciously, which made Dill very sad. He cried on the spot. His brother Jem had to take Dill out. 

Jem told Dill: "That's his job! There is no prosecution. , we won't have a defense attorney. He's got that air of course to speak, Dill, he's questioning..." Jem had learned to separate things from people at a young age.

How many years does it take us to learn to be right and wrong? The way a person deals with "dissent", how he treats people with different viewpoints, is the real expression of education.

How to hold on to yourself?

Before you learn to live with others, learn to live with yourself

Atticus' decision to defend black Tom was met with huge criticism in the small town at the time. Knowing that Tom was wronged, Atticus told his brother Heck, "Sometimes I feel like I'm a failure as a parent, but I'm all they have. When Jem looks up to others, he looks up first. It's me, and I want to live with integrity so that I can face him calmly..."

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Atticus also taught the two siblings this way:

"You may hear some bad talk at school, but please do one thing for me: raise your head, put your fists down. Don't get mad at what people say to you. Try to fight with your head. We had been defeated for a hundred years before that and thought we had no reason to win."

“Be sane about mean things, and when it’s over, you can look back with empathy and understanding, grateful that you didn’t disappoint. When most people think they’re right and you’re wrong, of course, they have the right to think so, and their views have the right to be fully respected. But before you can get along with others, you must first get along with others. There is one thing that cannot follow the principle of conformity, and that is human conscience.”

Due to Atticus' late marriage, his father was too old (50) among the Scouts' classmates. The brothers and sisters always felt that their father was not very powerful, and then they accidentally learned that their father was a well-known sharpshooter in the town. 

Scooter was anxious to tell his classmates, but Jem said, "If he wanted us to know, or was proud of it, he would have told us. Atticus is indeed old, but, Even if he can't do anything, I don't care - Atticus is an educated man, a true gentleman.

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After a series of events, Jem finally understood what his father said: "Brave is not a man with a gun in his hand, it's when you know you're going to lose before you even start, but you still have to do it. , and stick to it no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

Selfie

At school, Scooter's teacher, Miss Gates, told them about Hitler's brutality against the Jews, and that "everyone is equal and has no privilege." But Scooter remembered what happened the day the black Tom was tried, and she told Jay M:

"Well, coming out of the courthouse that night, Miss Gates—she was walking down the steps ahead of us, you sure didn't see her—she was talking to Miss Stephenson. I heard her say: it's time to teach them a lesson, They don't know their identity more and more, will they think they can marry us next. Jem, a man who hates Hitler so much, how can he turn his face and be so cruel to his hometown?"

When I read this passage, I feel that the author is really sharp. Looking into the mirror, I often make mistakes like Miss Gates and adopt multiple self-contradictory standards. However, when our behavior is inconsistent with our values, we will be punished by children. See-through at a glance.

If you don't have time to read, then watch a movie! The film of the same name starred the famous Gregory Peck (the one who starred in "Roman Holiday"), who played his father Atticus, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his wonderful performance.

Mr. Qian Mu said: We read good literary works, in fact, we are looking up to a higher life and come into contact with a character that suits our own preferences and has a higher realm. Atticus is an example of a good parent, and when my kid gets older, I'll definitely recommend him to read To Kill a Mockingbird and tell him, "This is what I'm trying to be." !

No one is an individual that exists independently in this world, and wonderful interpersonal relationships fill every corner of your life. Even when you were lying in bed alone in the dead of night, didn't you ever remember - was the neighbor slamming the door against you this morning, and your colleague made you a cup of hot tea during your lunch break, 

but you forgot to say thank you, on your way to get off work It's rude to a girl who accidentally bumped into you but didn't apologize... You must have thought of this! And these hindsight doubts, annoyances, and grief are the embodiment of interpersonal management skills!

There are not so many high mountains and flowing waters in this world to meet bosom friends. Everything that is in the same heart is the end of getting along. The neighbors didn’t slam the door, just because the wind was blowing. Colleagues won’t have opinions on you just because you didn’t say thank you. 

It was the urgency that caused her to be so flustered... With better interpersonal awareness and understanding, she truly made herself comfortable and made others comfortable. Never speak ill of each other, never consider secretly, never allow perversity, never stop growing...

May there be your friends everywhere in this city? Every time you knock on a door, you will be greeted with warm smiles!


Why did Harper Lee "disappear" after publishing "To Kill a Mockingbird"?

The answer lies in this "Mad Hour". Harper Lee's "disappearance" is actually related to a case.

In the 1970s, in Alabama, United States, a pastor was suspected of defrauding and murdering many people around him, including his wife and stepdaughter, but he escaped the law again and again with the defense of lawyer Tom Radney. A sanction, at the victim's funeral, was finally killed, a scene many people at the scene witnessed.

Ironically, Tom Radney transformed himself into a lawyer for the murderer. Not only was the murderer finally acquitted, but with a set of sophistication, Tom Radney also shaped the other party into a person who was deeply admired and loved. , a character like the personification of justice.

This happened when Alabama writer Harper Lee moved to New York, and in 1960 she achieved worldwide fame with "To Kill a Mockingbird", known as "Shaping a Mockingbird". American Impression", in 1962, a film of the same name also came out, and the actor Gregory Peck won the Oscar for best actor.

At that time, Harper Lee saw the possibility of non-fiction writing from the book "Cold Blood" published by a friend, and after hearing about the pastor, he returned to his hometown to prepare a background check and data collection on the case.

Although not necessarily many people know what Harper Lee looks like on the streets of New York, she is "real red" in her home state of Alabama, and many residents hope that they can appear in Harper Lee's book. In the pastor's case, attorney Tom Radney was in the spotlight and, like many residents, wanted to be famous.

In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the case, Harper Lee had in-depth chats with many people many times. Because of her identity, many local police officers, reporters, and court stenographers also made it easy for her.

Harper Lee was ambitious in writing this book, having mentioned it in personal letters to many of her friends, and she longed for, pursued accuracy, and wanted to restore the case to a high degree.

However, after visiting, writing, and racking her brains, again and again, she found that she had "accumulated enough rumors, fantasies, dreams, guesses, and outright lies, the length of which is equivalent to a book of The Old Testament of the Bible. But On the other hand, the amount of hard evidence I have about the case is too small to write a novel."

It turned out that, because they wanted to appear in a big author's book, some interviewees carefully fabricated their role in the whole story, and everyone wanted to be a "hero" who could be popular in the United States. Harper Lee was so disappointed that he later told his friends that no tape was long enough to hold human vanity.

On the other hand, Harper Lee found it too difficult just to describe reality. Alabama is now regarded as the most "red" state in the United States, where a large number of poor blacks once lived. Harper Lee wanted to find some information on blacks but found that blacks were not "qualified" to appear in the "history" of the official narrative. "Medium—The material that makes up the written record often ignores poor black Southerners.

Harper Lee's father ran a newspaper, and even there, there was little news about black people. The prototype of the father of the protagonist who defends black people in "To Kill a Mockingbird" is Harper Lee's father.

It took 10 years from when she first heard the pastor's story to when she finally let go. When Harper Lee died in 2016, the book, "The Priest," as her estate, was ordered to be kept secret from publication.


After reading - "To Kill a Mockingbird" - Killing Kindness Is a Crime

About the Author: Harper Lee (1926-2016), is an American contemporary female writer. Her father had been an editor and owner of a newspaper before becoming an Alabama senator and attorney. Harper Lee, the youngest of three children in the family, has been naughty since childhood.

At the age of 5, the author experienced 9 black people who were accused of raping 2 white people, and later black people were sentenced to long prison terms. Many good lawyers at the time believed that the case was unfairly sentenced and that white women were suspected of lying. However, in the context of racial discrimination, black and white confrontation in court, the white always wins.

Through this upbringing, the author created this novel.

The novel is told in the first-person perspective of a 6-year-old girl, Joan Louis Scooter, who lives with her high school brother Jem and her father Atticus, who is a lawyer. They were white people living in Maycomb, tightly connected to the black community. Atticus was appointed by the court to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, accused of raping a white teenager, Mayella Ewell.

At that time, the racism of whites against blacks was very serious, and blacks were unreasonably called "niggers". Atticus' two children were also criticized by the town for their father's work as a defense attorney for black people.

Tom Robinson is an industrious and simple man with a wife and children. His neighbors always ask him for help. He is low-key because of his race.

During the trial, the white girl Mayella Ewell and his father insisted that Tom raped Mayella and accused Tom of using violence to beat the resisting Mayella, and Mayella's father became the only eyewitness. However, in Tom's testimony, it was Mayella who asked him to come into the house for help, and then took the initiative to hug and kiss him. 

Tom knew the troubles caused by the misunderstanding between black men and white women and tried his best to run away. At this time, he was seen by Mayella's father from the window, and Tom rushed out the door in a panic.

The two sides hold their own words, and the clues are gradually revealed in the cross-examination. In the face of Atticus' questioning, the confessions of the father and daughter were full of loopholes, and Mayella also showed her fear of her father. Mayella's experience of frequent domestic violence, this incident is completely the father and daughter jointly framing Tom.

During the rest of the trial, everyone was looking forward to the final outcome of the trial. The truth was clear, but Atticus was still not confident enough to win the case, because as long as it involved a case involving blacks and whites, blacks had little chance.

Sure enough, the result of the trial was to believe Mayella's confession and convicted Tom. This is undoubtedly a disappointing result, and the two children saw the injustice of the trial for the first time.

But Atticus has not given up, preparing for the next appeal. However, he learned that Tom no longer expected white people to help him win the case, he did not want to wait in prison and decided to escape by himself. He was found when he was about to climb out of the prison's iron net, and he had raised his hands, but the prison guards shot him indiscriminately.

At first, I thought this book was about robins, and I was still waiting for when robins would appear. After reading it, I discovered the symbolism of the robin.

The first #To KillAMockingbird is at Atticus saying to Jem: "I'd rather let you shoot cans in the backyard, but I know you're going to go birding. How many blue jays do you shoot? It doesn't matter as long as you can, but remember that killing a robin is a crime."

The robin just hums beautiful music for people to enjoy and does nothing bad. They don't eat the fruits and vegetables grown in other people's yards, nor do they build nests in the barn, they just sing to our heart's content. So killing a robin is a crime.

This passage clarifies the nature of the robin, which is a beneficial bird and harmless to humans.

The second appearance of Killing a Mockingbird is when "The Weird" Radley rescues Jem and Scooter from Ewell, who becomes the object of suspicion because Ewell later dies In sorting out the matter, Atticus proposed to kill a robin again.

This once again hints that the robin's nature is good.

to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee

After reading the whole book, we find that the robin symbolizes kindness and simplicity, just as the black Tom Robinson was a simple, kind, and honest person. Atticus also stands for integrity, professionalism, and responsibility.

In addition, Atticus's philosophy on children's education can also be seen in the book.

He never yells at children or criticizes them, but tries his best to accommodate their nature. When the children have doubts, he will patiently teach them. One of the words he often says to children is: "It's not time to worry yet."

Faced with an aunt who prevented the child from going to the hearing and did not want such a young child to see the complexity and filth of society, Atticus chose to respect the child's curiosity, he allowed them to go to the hearing and taught by example by what happened in front of him. to the child. From this aspect, Atticus has established a correct view of right and wrong for children since childhood.

In the face of the white man's accusation, Atticus said to the child: There is one thing that cannot follow the principle of conformity, and that is the human conscience.

For Radley, the recluse, the townspeople stayed away. And Atticus tells the child: You can never really know a person unless you walk around in his shoes and think from his point of view.

Althoughthenoveltoucheson sensitive topics such as race and rape, the story is narrated in a family-like relaxed atmosphere from the perspective of a child, which does not give people a dull and depressing feeling. We see the innocence of the children, the integrity of Atticus, the kindness of tom, and the paranoid ignorance of Ewell.


Quotes from the original text: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

In those days, the pace of life was slow. People walked leisurely across the square, dangling in and out of the surrounding shops, with no rush to do anything. The days are long, and it seems that there are more than twenty-four hours in a day. People had nowhere to go, nothing to buy, nothing to spare in their pockets, and nothing to see outside of Maycomb County, so there was no need to rush. For some, it was an era of blind optimism: Men, women, and children in Maycomb County just recently learned that they have nothing to fear but fear itself. ---p7  
That house attracted Dill as deeply as the moon attracts the sea, ---p12  
Now I'm worried about losing my time reading, I've never liked reading before, just like people don't breathe because they like it, that's the truth. ---p27  
"Some people have different eating habits from us, but you can't bring it up to people at the dinner table because of this. The boy is your guest, and even if he wants to eat the tablecloth, you can do as he pleases."'  
"He's not a guest, Calpurnia, he's just a Cunningham..."
"Shut up! Whoever he is, as long as he steps in this house, he's your guest. Don't let me catch you judging others as if you're superior! Your family may be better than Cunningham's. Good people, but you're embarrassing people like this, it's worthless - if you can't get on the table, just come here and eat in the kitchen!" ---p38  
"Sometimes someone's bible is worse than someone else's - say your father - a whisky bottle." ---p70  
There is such a type of people in the world, who only worry about the afterlife and don't learn how to be a human being in this life at all. ---p70  
What Mr. Radley does is his own business. If he wanted to get out of the house, he would. If he wanted to stay out, he also had the right to stay in the house and avoid the kids who liked to get to the bottom of things. ---p76    
Take out those adjectives, and you're left with facts. ---p93

"Atticus, will we win?"
"No play, baby."
"Then why do you still..."
"We can't give up trying to win just because we've been defeated in the past 100 years," Atticus said. ---p119 

"When a child asks you a question, you have to answer it seriously, don't gossip, and talk about it. Although children are only children, after all, they will be more acutely aware of your avoidance than adults. the question, avoidance will only confuse them.” ---p137 

Why do people who are reasonable and reasonable lose their reason completely when they have something to do with black people? ---p139 

"I'd rather have you shoot cans in the backyard, but I know you're going to shoot birds. It doesn't matter how many blue jays you shoot, as long as you can, but remember, to kill a robin It's a crime."
"Robins just hum nice music for people to enjoy, and they don't do anything bad. They don't eat the flowers and vegetables grown in people's yards, and they don't build nests in barns, they just sing to our heart's content. So To say that killing a robin is a crime." ---p141

"I thought maybe he realized that his God-given talent was unfair to most of the other life on earth, and he put the gun down. I guess he decided long ago that he wouldn't shoot unless it was In the event of a last resort, today is a moment of last resort."
"Looks like he's going to be proud of it," I said.
"No one with a normal mind will be arrogant." ---p153 

"Before I accept others, I must first accept myself. There is one thing that cannot follow the principle of conformity, and that is human conscience." ---p164 

"Of course, I sympathize with black people. I love everyone as much as I can...and sometimes I have a hard time--baby, it doesn't demean you if someone takes that as an insult. That can only show you how pathetic the person who scolds you is, and his abuse can't hurt you." ---p169 

"I want you to see what real bravery is, and not make the mistake of thinking that a man with a gun in his hand is brave. Bravery is knowing you're doomed before you even start, but going without hesitation. Do it, and stick to it no matter what happens. One rarely wins, but always wins." ---p174

"One doesn't have to show everything they know. It's not ladylike—besides, people don't like having someone around them who knows more than they do. It makes them angry. No matter how standard the language you use, it won't change them. Unless they want to learn it themselves, there's nothing you can do. You either shut up or say the same thing as them." ---p196

Atticus took his coat from the back of his chair, draped it over his shoulders, and left the courtroom, but this time he was not taking the usual exit. He walked quickly to the middle aisle leading to the south gate, and it seemed that he was definitely trying to take a shortcut home. My eyes followed the top of his head as he walked towards the door. He never looked up upstairs.
Someone nudged me, but I didn't want to take my eyes off the crowd downstairs and the figure of Atticus walking down the aisle alone.
"Miss Jean Louise?"
I looked around and saw that they were all standing up. Around us, and in the stands opposite, all the black people got up and stood. Reverend Sykes spoke as if from afar like Judge Taylor:
"Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father is coming." ---p330

The most inspiring place in the whole article.

"Nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning so far. Tom's jury is a dozen reasonable people, but you can see that there is a layer between them and reason. . . . …In the world we live in, there’s always something that makes people lose their minds—even when they try to be fair, it just doesn’t work. …Those things are ugly, but that’s how real life is.” ---p344 

"Jem, you're wrong, I think there's only one kind of person in the world, and that's—people." ---p354 

"I mean the people in this town. They want someone to go through fire and water for things they don't dare to do -- so they don't lose a penny. They want someone to humiliate their own body and take what they don't dare to do. Take things up," ---p369 

Atticus did everything a free man could do to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courtroom of people's hearts, there was no litigation at all. From the moment Mayella Ewell opened her mouth to shout, Tom was dead. ---p378 

 

"You said that a person who hated Hitler so much, how could he turn his face and be so vicious to the people in his hometown..." ---p387 

"If we cover up what's going on, it's totally going against what I've always taught Jem to do. Sometimes I feel like a failure as a father, and I'm nothing, but I'm all they have. In this world, the first person Jem looks at is me, and then he looks at other people, and I've been trying my best to live upright. To be able to look him in the eye... If I acquiesce to this, I'll be frank. I'll never be able to look him in the eye again, and if that's the case, I know I've lost him forever. I don't want to lose him and Scooter because they're everything to me." ---p430 

"Let the dead bury the dead this time," ---p434 

"Scooter, most people are kind, and you'll find out when you finally get to know them." ---p442


Muhiuddin Alam is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of GeekBookReviews.com. He serves as a consistent contributor to various websites and publications, including Medium, Quora, Reddit, Linkedin, Substack, Vocal, Flipboard, and Amazon KDP. Alam personally read numerous books and, for the past 10 years, has been providing book recommendations and reviews. Find Me: About Me & Google Knowledge Panel.

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