The novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Harper Lee): reviews. "To Kill a Mockingbird": plot, summary

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Many people, before reading a certain book, first try to find different reviews about it. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a work that has gathered a huge audience of people who are extremely pleased with the reading of this masterpiece and remain deeply impressed by it, so it is only natural that many people try to learn more about it.

Author Story

Like many others, the author of this work is recognized as "the genius of one book." The thing is that the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" remained Harper's only work, but for this book, which eventually received a full translation into almost all languages of the world, the writer was awarded the most honorary Pulitzer Prize.

Subsequently, the Library Journal recognized this work as the best novel written in America throughout the twentieth century, and over time, the author was also awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.

The author herself repeatedlycommented on the success of her work. If we talk about what the content of the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” is, then this is a description of the main problems of society of that time, as well as their vision from the side of the child, and Harper did not even expect any success of this work. Even more: the author believed that in the hands of critics, the novel was doomed to a quick “death”. But at the same time, she thought that someone might still like the book, and in the future she continued to write anyway. In other words, when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, she hoped for the least, but ended up with so much more.

What book is this?

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that was published already in the relatively distant 1960. The author of this work is an American named Harper Lee, and it itself belongs to the genre of educational novel. It is worth noting that, unlike most other masterpieces known today, this work was almost immediately recognized by the world community, and a year later received the Pulitzer Prize.

Special attention should be paid to the fact that the characters and the plot are based on the author's personal observations of his family and neighboring families near his hometown. Basically, these memories, according to the writer herself, are taken from 1936, when she was only 10 years old. Despite the fact that the book is originally educational, it receives extremely flattering reviews from readers of all age categories. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is now part of the required school curriculum.program in the United States, it is currently taught in about 80% of the total number of American schools.

Roman is known to many for his unique humor and unique warmth. This atmosphere of the work is preserved, even though such serious things as racism and rape are discussed in the process of reading. The narrator's father, whose name is Atticus Finch, is a true example of morality for every reader, and also represents a unique example of an honest lawyer. As Russian critic E. B. Kuzmin said, with his help Harper Lee gives a lesson in high human and civic courage, because Atticus, in fact, is an absolutely ordinary and inconspicuous person, but at the same time he is shown here through the perception of children who are passionately worried about each his deed and end up with something really important.

Perhaps that is why even children leave positive reviews about this novel. To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that every child has a sense of justice that is innate, but over time, under the influence of the world around them, children begin to acquire all sorts of prejudices, gradually dulling this feeling more and more.

Awards and prizes

According to the BBC's 2003 ranking of the world's 200 best books, this novel took the sixth position, and at the beginning of 2016 its total circulation had already reached 30 million copies. The Russian translation of this work was carried out by Raisa Oblonskaya and Nora Gal, which may be of interest to those who remained underthe positive impact of this novel and left positive reviews about it. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those books that everyone should read. Officially, this opinion is supported only by the US government.

The author created characters based on real personalities, this is a known fact. Thus, the prototype of Dill, the friend of the main characters, is an American writer named Truman Capote, with whom the writer was friends in her childhood, since he lived in the neighborhood.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that Finch isn't a random surname, it's Harper's father's nickname.

Key messages

To Kill a Mockingbird revolves around the touching story of a family that lives in a small town called Mayomb, Alabama. All the action takes place during the thirties of the last century, during the Great Depression, and the story itself is told to us by a girl at the age of eight.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the plot shows readers an incredibly complex, ambiguous and contradictory world that opens up to the eyes of a child, and at the same time also flashes before the reader. This universe has it all: adult problems and childhood fears, bitter reality and an unyielding thirst for justice, the complexities of this family and racial problems, which were extremely relevant at that time for the American South.

To Kill a Mockingbird centers on the trial of a black man who is accused of a crime he did not commit. However, the father of the main character, who works as a lawyer, nevertheless decides to stand up for the young man and fights with all his might in order to achieve justice. Although for many this only causes ridicule.

This is exactly the kind of summary for "To Kill a Mockingbird" that can roughly describe the main messages of this work.

Storyline

The book begins with a story about the ancestor of the Finch family, whose name was Simon. He was a Methodist, and at the same time tried in every possible way to avoid religious intolerance in England, which ultimately led him to the state of Alabama. Here he acquired his fortune and, despite the fact that he had certain religious convictions, decided to acquire several slaves for himself. Actually, this is only a plot that is told so that the reader can understand the origin of the family of the main characters. This is how Harper Lee begins To Kill a Mockingbird. What the book is about, this beginning does not give a complete picture.

The main story begins approximately three years after the most difficult period of the Great Depression and takes place in the city of Maycomb, which is fictional and is positioned by the author as "tired of a long life." According to the narrator, this city is located in the state of Alabama.

The main character in the novel is Jean Louise Finch, who is eight years old and lives in the same house with her father Atticus and older brother Jim. Her father works as a lawyer, and according to the book, as mentioned above, he is positioned as a consistently fair, wise and kind person with stablemoral principles.

Jim and Jean suddenly meet a boy named Dill, who visits Maycomb every summer to visit his aunt. At the same time, it turns out that all the children are extremely frightened by their neighbor named Radley, and even gave him the nickname Scarecrow. Radley himself is a recluse and is rarely seen.

Maycomb's adults, in principle, try to avoid discussing the Scarecrow in every possible way, and for many years only a few have seen him, however, children actively excite each other's imaginations with various rumors about his appearance, as well as possible reasons for his so strong seclusion. In particular, they fantasize about how they can try to lure him out of the house. After two summer holidays with Dill, Jim and Jean saw that someone regularly left small gifts for them in a tree located near the Radley house. Thus, on several occasions, the mysterious man gives them obvious attentions, but the children are disappointed that he does not dare to appear in front of them in person.

At this time, Atticus decides to take on a losing case, trying in every possible way to defend the rights of Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a young white woman, despite the fact that most citizens do not adhere to the position of a lawyer and even categorically oppose her. Other children constantly tease their brother and sister because of the actions of their father, and Jean tries to defend the dignity of her dad, although he told her that this should not be done. Atticus himselfruns into a group of people who are going to lynch Tom themselves, but this danger is over after the three children shame the crowd, forcing them to look at the current situation from the point of view of Tom and Atticus.

Because Dad didn't want to bring his kids to the Tom Robinson trial, Dill, Jim and Jean decided to hide on the balcony. Atticus noticed that the accusers, which is Mayella, as well as her father named Bob Ewell (who also turned out to be a local drunkard) are trying to slander his client, and it turns out that the lonely Mayella tried to harass Tom, but after her father caught her on this, he severely beat her. Despite the presence of very significant evidence of the innocence of his client, Atticus fails to convince the jury, as a result of which Jim and Atticus are very disappointed in US justice, because Tom is already being shot while trying to escape.

However, the story of To Kill a Mockingbird does not end there - the author (Harper Lee) is trying to restore justice. Despite the fact that this case was won, Bob Ewell's reputation was finally destroyed, and therefore he decided to take revenge. On the street, when they meet, he publicly spits in the face of Atticus, and after that he tries to break into the house of the presiding judge, also threatening Tom Robinson's wife, who was left a widow. After that, he decides to attack the completely defenseless Jean and Jim as they go to their home after the end of the school Halloween party. Suddenly, someone comes to the children's aid, anda mysterious man takes Jim, with a broken arm, to the house, where the boy realizes that Scarecrow Radley actually helped him.

After that, the climax of To Kill a Mockingbird begins. The author (Harper Lee) tells how Sheriff Maycomb sees that Bob Ewell died in the struggle, and then argues with Atticus about Jim's prudence or Radley's responsibility. The lawyer ultimately decided to accept the sheriff's version that Ewell just accidentally fell on his knife, and the Scarecrow asks Jean to walk him to his house, and after she says goodbye to him at the front door, he is completely unnoticed disappears. Jean stays on the Radley porch by herself and tries to understand what life looks like from the point of view of the owner of this house, regretting that they never got the opportunity to thank him for the gifts they gave him.

Screening

From the work "To Kill a Mockingbird" quotes so cut into the mind and carry such a deep meaning that already in 1962, director Robert Mulligan decided to film the novel in his new film. The main role in the movie was given to Gregory Peck, and the picture ultimately turned out to be incredibly successful, as a result of which it was nominated for an Oscar in eight different categories at once. The film won in three categories:

• Best Actor;
• best scenery;
• Best Adapted Screenplay.

Thanks to this, quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird began to spread around the world, and the film is still regularlytops various ratings of the best films released in the history of American cinema. Often, even in other countries, this picture is recognized as one of the greatest works in the history of cinema around the world.

It is for this reason that the film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird is recommended for viewing, as well as reading the novel.

What will you see here?

The book makes a lasting impression on almost every reader.

It is quite natural that the description of To Kill a Mockingbird cannot convey the whole essence of this work, therefore, perhaps the reason for reading it for someone will be reviews from people who were greatly impressed by this novel. As mentioned above, reviews, with rare exceptions, are left only positive.

At the same time, some users point out that in To Kill a Mockingbird the translation of the nickname of the main character is not entirely correct, but at the same time they themselves most often say that this in no way affects the overall impression and in no way does not spoil the opinion of the book in Russian translation.

Highlights

If we talk about the main features of this book, noted by readers, it is worth noting a few:

• Versatility. The novel can be read by children, adults, and teenagers, and adults will not even make any allowances for the fact that the work was originally conceived only as children's literature.
• Diversity. There are a lot of issues here that areextremely simple and understandable are described in detail, and even if you look at their enumeration, you can already get a good essay.
• Autobiography. In the process of reading, it becomes clear that the thoughts expressed by the author are taken from personal experience. At the time of creating To Kill a Mockingbird, the author didn’t think about what to write about - she knew.
• Terrible moments. Despite the fact that the book is originally a children's book, even adults sometimes notice some frightening moments that actually reflect our reality. And this does not refer to the horrors of the oppression of blacks, but, for example, to the atmosphere created by the Scarecrow - a strange man who lives in a gloomy house and leads a hermitic lifestyle.
• Education. Since this is an educational novel, this topic is given special attention, and even the problem of the oppression of blacks eventually fades into the background. Atticus appears before us as an ideal father, and it turns out that you don’t even need to read any books on adolescent psychology in order to somehow find a common language with a child, and it’s enough to read this book, because not a single phrase that Atticus dropped about raising their children cannot be called incorrect, stupid or superfluous. At the same time, in the end, the child himself, and not the parents, feels comfortable.
• Racism. The author also touches on this sensitive topic, which is especially relevant for the southern states of America in those years.
• Herd mentality. The child calms a huge crowd with simple words, dividing them into small parts andmaking everyone think about what is happening.

Short description

This is a fair and kind book, which is often looked at, but not always decided to buy and read. It takes the reader back to childhood and shows exactly how the foundation of each person’s life is laid, because children look at the world around them through the eyes of adults and draw their own conclusions, identifying the slightest lie and instantly noticing the discrepancy between actions and words. That is why a child cannot be deceived, and it is very important to remain in front of him with himself.

Many people may be repulsed by the title of this book, because many people have not the most pleasant associations with a similar title and children drawn on the cover, although for some such a twist is even a little intriguing. Fortunately, the work is often included in various collections, so many more and more often come across it and try to read it.

It is worth noting that some people who have studied the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" are even a little jealous of those who have not read it yet, but after studying the whole plot, they still re-read the book repeatedly, trying to focus their attention on some then subtleties, moments that you have to look for between the lines.

What can be gleaned?

In fact, from this work you can learn a lot of useful ideas about learning, about raising your own children, as well as about views on the world around andcontrary to these views. In addition, here you can see the ideal intra-family relationships, which include not only the interaction between children and parents, but also the excellent friendship of brother and sister, when they are ready to stand up for each other in any conditions, but they don’t give themselves up one by one offended.

This is what a normal reader's review of To Kill a Mockingbird might look like. This is a book with incredible meaning, which was not just added to the official US school curriculum, but perhaps should have been added to the programs of other countries, despite the fact that not all the problems it addresses are relevant in today's world.. The book "To Kill a Mockingbird" should be conveyed to every child and adult, and that is why it is recommended for reading not only for children, but for every person.

This book is on that list of literature, without reading which, you really lose a lot, regardless of what opinion about this book ultimately develops. A huge number of awards and mostly positive reviews are just an additional incentive for those who still doubt whether to read Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird to read it. What the book is about, it’s quite difficult to convey in words just like that - it’s better to read it yourself.