To Kill a Mockingbird Review: Masterpiece or Overrated Classic?
Imagine this- you’re an American lawyer in the Deep South in the 1930s, and you have been tasked with defending a black man accused of violating a white woman.
That’s the exact plotline of Harper Lee’s book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, which was originally published in 1960 yet is still one of the most revered classics recommended often to those with an interest in law, philosophy and sociology, and to classic enjoyers in general.
But is it really that good or is it slightly… overrated?
So, lets see what this story is actually about, what themes it explores, whether this is a good book to add to your reading list, and why it’s still popular nearly 70 years after it first hit bookstores.
Spoiler-Free Summary
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee enters the life of a little girl named Jean and her brother, Jem, as their father Atticus, a lawyer, has been tasked with defending a black man accused of raping a white woman.
The book is set in the childhood years of the narrator, Jean, in a small town called Maycomb. The story explores her daily life with her brother and her widowed father, Atticus, a lawyer known for his sense of morality and justice. Through the lens of childhood, the story takes up a slow and relaxed pace, exploring innocence, morality, and people of society around them.
Soon, Atticus’s work as a lawyer gradually takes a central place in the world Jean is growing up in. Much of her own sense of what is right or wrong and how one should act stems from what she learns from her father, placing him as the key role model in her life- and his role as both father and principled lawyer is put to the test when the court entrusts him with defending a black man who has allegedly raped a white woman.
This point onwards, the book focuses on the children’s view of the case and the happenings around it, how it seemed to affect the society and people around them, and what would really go down in the courtroom.
Maycomb as a “living town”
Across the book- whether through observing or interacting with their fellow townsfolk, Maycomb and its people don’t just feel like a setting, but rather feel like cohesive and tangible environments. As a reader, the town of Maycomb might be one of the best examples of realistic world-building in fiction.
Throughout the events of the case, the people don’t simply react, they seem to discuss and debate on what’s happening. This also mirrors how real-world social discourse, discussion on issues on public importance and debate become important instruments of evolution in a society. It’s also fitting to see that such discussions are not triggered by deep assessment of the situation (eg. Racial segregation, here) but rather radical or awe-striking events that capture the public’s eye and subtly urge them to explore and think.
Moreover, the various communities of Maycomb also seem to differ in their own right. The white community of Maycomb largely explores how actual conservative societies may think and behave- in some cases showing the downsides of rigid ideology based on taboos and traditions belonging to a different era rather than being derived from moral values.
The black community, too, symbolises patience and resistance in time of entrenched disparities. One important thing to understand in the context of the book is that it’s set in the 1930s- when slavery had been abolished across all states but the role of the average African-American still generally remained as a servant. Segregation on the basis of race was still the norm, and instances like lynching and active exclusion from welfare during the Great Depression were rampant, especially across the southern states. Yet, the community remains hopeful about change and reformation in the near future.
Childhood as a lens of exploration
The fact that we’re seeing the story advance through the point of view of a child rather than the lawyer himself brings an interesting angle to the story. It felt like a very interesting form of narration which was done justice, as it actually felt like the thinking process of an actual child contemplating upon the education taught to them by the school and adults, where naturally she may spot a moral contradiction based on their behaviour or feel that what has been taught is being contradicted around her. What I personally like about this was that it somehow felt quite natural rather than deliberately designed to push a message towards the reader.
It also provides a new lens to explore the epistemology of moral values and societal behaviour, and naturally makes more sense to frame the narrator as someone more observant and thoughtful.
Conclusion + Is this the right book for you
One thing to know about “To Kill a Mockingbird” is that the pacing is, quite frankly, quite slow and the main plotline in the story isn’t actually the dominant narrative around the first half of the story, so rather than a legal story per se, it would be better to consider it as a book on society, racism and morality.
Even though it’s not more than 300 pages in most cases, the pacing is quite slow, especially in the first half, and the story has deep characters development, and simultaneously balances multiple plot lines where nearly every single setup is utilised later in the book or at the very end, so I’d say it’s quite a rigorous read in my experience but worth reading if you have the patience.
Overall, as a reader I can give the book a definite
8.5/10
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