Book 50: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

My poor book cover is in bad shape, but I like the design so I decided to scan it and post it anyway.  This was a short, little book, 284 pages, which belies it's content which is amazingly deep.

The characters are very deep and very human.  Atticus is a model gentleman and father.  He struggles with himself and believes he should do more for his children than he's able, but isn't that how all fathers should be?  His children are intelligent and curious and he pulls no punches in explaining reality to them.  He believes that they are capable of understanding it and, for the most part, they are.  Exploring complex ideas from the point-of-view of a child is a big part of what makes this book so good.

The real plot to the book starts in the second half, though there are signals from near the beginning that it is coming.  It centers on the trial of a black workhand accused of the attempted rape of a white woman.  The book addresses a multitude of themes simultaneously from this point forward.  While the subplot of Boo Radley shows the attitudes of the children toward someone different: from fear to curiosity to understanding, the main plot addresses other, higher themes.  Atticus, being the consummate gentleman, finds his beliefs leading him from fair play to equal rights while the town battles itself between racism and social discrimination.  The black defendant is clearly innocent, but the accuser, though poor, white trash, is still white.  How the town deals with these attitudes is explored well and realistically while the children view the events from an innocent point of view, calling into question social norms and why they exist.

This is now one of my favorite books of all times.  It addresses many important themes and does it in a way that doesn't feel exceptionally heavy.  It gets the message across without feeling preachy.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone, no matter their reading preferences.

10 out of 10.