A coming-of-age story, it is told from the point of view of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, the young daughter of Atticus Finch, an educated lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama, a small town in the deep South of the United States. She is accompanied by her brother Jem and their mutual friend Dill.
Plot Description
A coming-of-age story, it is told from the point of view of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, the young daughter of Atticus Finch, an educated lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama, a small town in the deep South of the United States. She is accompanied by her brother Jem and their mutual friend Dill.
Scout and Jem watch as their father defends a black man, Tom Robinson, wrongly accused of raping a white girl in a bigotted community in the 1930's. The story explores prejudice in its various forms, as well as childhood and maturity. Since the story is told from the point of view of a child (Scout), the author is able to present situations without adding an explicit opinion—the reader is left to make sense of events and come to his own conclusion. Nonetheless, it is clear that the author believes strongly that the prejudiced actions of the characters are wrong, even if they are believed by the majority and by those in power.
The title of the book is taken from Atticus's advice to his children about firing their air rifles at birds: "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird". The blue jay is a very common bird, and is often perceived as a bully and a pest, whereas mockingbirds do nothing but "sing their hearts out for us". Metaphorically, several of the book's characters can be seen as "mockingbirds", attacked despite doing nothing but good. The mockingbird represents innocence, and to kill one is to metaphorically kill innocence. Note that the protagonists are also named after birds: Tom Robinson and the Finch family. However, "Finch" was also Lee's mother's maiden name.
Harper Lee stated, "To get the ideas for the book I used recent events in my time like the Scottsboro Trials." (Harper Lee, Book Review, 1964) [top]
Awards
Golden Globe Award for Best Film Promoting Internation Understand
Academy Award for Best Actor (Gregory Peck)
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Gregory Peck)
Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration, Black-and-White (Alexander Golitzen, Henry Bumstead, Oliver Emert)
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay (Horton Foote)
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score - Motion Picture (Elmer Bernstein)
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