Ok, so now as I said that I will be reviewing on some books that I have read and this time it will be a classic novel. Ok…just kidding, modern classics actually. Don’t bother asking me about classics. I’ve tried but failed miserably. Tried to read Count of Mount Cristo, tried reading Tom Sawyer, Pride & Prejudice….nope..I just can’t. I’ll try again from time to time in case I can somehow finish those so called classics..must read books. Anyway, lets get to this modern classic, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This is the one and only novel written by this author that later on won her the Pulitzer prize.
What’s interesting about this novel is that although it tells the readers about serious matters and issues such as humanity, racism, social problems and so on in this small American town, Maycomb, Alabama, but it is presented through the eye and thought of a little girl nicknamed Scout ( Jean Louise is her real name). She has an older brother, Jem and their father, Atticus is a lawyer.
Atticus was presented with a case whereby he had to defend a black guy that was accused of raping a white woman. So here we can see the conflict within the black and white people of Maycomb and how Atticus and the kids handled the situation. So in this periode of time where the white supremacist were dominant and the gap between the white people and the African American is still wide, what will happen to that guy? Read this novel to find out.
And you know why the novel is entitled “To Kill a Mockingbird?”. Well to tell you the truth even at the very last page of this book, I couldn’t figure out why it was given that title. Untill I searched for it in Wikipedia (Mind you DON'T open this link if you don’t like spoilers, will totally ruin the reading pleasure). Maybe I was reading this book hastily. That is always the problem with me when it comes to reading. Tend to forget that it is not the ending that really matters, but the whole story itself.
In conclusion this novel teaches you the important of family ( in this case, how Atticus and their maid influenced Scout and Jem, teaching them about life), humanity and society. And although this novel was published a long time ago (1960), but it still reminds me that the racial barrier is still there. We still have our preferences towards people alike. Hey, but I guess that is not even true. I mean even people of the same race and religion find it difficult to agree with each other…
“There is only 1 race, the HUMAN race” – Margerat Atwood
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