To Kill A Mockingbird: Why This Classical Novel Is Still Studied Today
Published on Nov 18, 2015
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Warning- some racial slurs used by the characters in the book are shown in this presentation.
To Kill a Mockingbird is considered one of the greatest American novels of all time, yet its author never intended for it to gain such fame. It is studied in classrooms across America, yet its author thought it would only sell a few thousand copies. Why did this novel, intended as a poor first try by its author, become such a nationwide success and a model novel to be used in study across America?
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1. EASE OF ANALYSIS
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The novel contains many themes, conflicts, dynamic characters, and literary elements.
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More importantly, these elements are easy for a learning reader to find. Many themes are directly stated by the characters, and conflicts are not too subtle.
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EASILY IDENTIFIED THEME:
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view (said Atticus)" (39)
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It is as if Harper Lee, the author of the novel, specifically wrote the novel to be used in education. Finding literary elements presents a challenge, but is not overwhelmingly difficult for a middle school or high school reader.
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2. CLASSICAL BILDUNGSROMAN ELEMENTS
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BILDUNGSROMAN-
A novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character. (Merriam- Webster Online Dictionary and Thesaurus)
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In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jean Louise Finch, the main character grows from a innocent, but hot-headed young girl to a more mature and dignified twelve year-old young lady.
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At the beginning of the novel, Jean was naive, curious, and imaginative.
"You act like you don't (believe in a type of imagined phantom" (49)
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At the end of the book, she begins to become more level-headed gains maturity.
"After all, if Auntie could be a lady at a time like this (when bored or angered), so could I." (318)
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Despite the fact that Jean is still a child at the end of the novel, she is, at that point, much more mature then she was at the beginning of the book. She loses some of here youthful innocence and imagination, and begins to realize that the world is a harsh and unfair place.
To Kill a Mockingbird is full of themes that are still relevant today. Themes are often repeated several times and/ or are directly stated by a character.
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Theme 1-People believe what they want to believe.
This theme is indirectly stated twice.
On page 268, Dolphus Raymond, a minor character, indirectly states that people tend to believe what they want to believe.
On page 282 a jury convicts a black man, despite the fact that he is innocent, partially because they want to believe that he is guilty.
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This theme applies to our day to day life a lot. The media and the press try to tell people what they want to hear. Juries are often prejudiced against certain races, because they want to think that people of those races are all criminals.
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Theme 2- It is evil to kill something that is innocent.
This theme is stated several times. it is first stated by Jean's father, and first explained by a minor character.
"... it's a sin to kill (something that is innocent) ..." (119)
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This theme still applies today as it is still very wrong to kill or harm someone or something that is innocent. Those that have not done harm do not deserve to have harm done to them. Those who cannot defend themselves do not deserve to be forced to do so.
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4. Historical Significance.
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To Kill a Mockingbird reminds Americans about a time in America's history when we were less tolerant. It reminds us of a dark time when one race dominated and oppressed another.
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It tells us to remember those who died or suffered, and to never again have a society where people of one color oppress those of another.
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In To Kill A Mockingbird, blacks are treated poorly. They are called negros, niggers, and darkeys. People treat African Americans as second-class citizens. A black man is wrongfully jailed and then shot, and blacks are thought of as stupid, lustful, wicked, and mean.
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To Kill a Mockingbird shows us what happened, remind us never to forget it, and to never repeat it again.
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To Kill a Mockingbird is still studied today due to the fact that it is quite easy for a learning reader to read it, because it is a classical bildungsroman novel that has many visible bildungsroman elements that can be easily analyzed, as it has many easy-to-find themes that still apply today,and because of its historical significance in telling a story about racism during one of the darkest times that America has gone through.
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