Most teenagers have to read To Kill a Mockingbird while they are in high school. This past summer I reread the book as part of a summer of classics challenge I gave to myself. The novel is told from the point of view of Scout, the young daughter of lawyer Atticus Finch. Scout's real name is Jean Louise Finch and she shares her story with her brother Jem (Jeremy), and their neighbor Dill. The novel takes place over three years, in which Scout starts school, she and Jem befriend Dill and start to investigate the neighborhood shut-in Arthur "Boo" Radley, and Scout learns about racism and true heroism.
One of the major events that happens during To Kill a Mockingbird was the trial of Tom Robinson. Atticus defends Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of accused of raping a white woman in town. The case is one that Atticus knows he will not win, because in the 1930's there was no way that a black man's word was going to stand up against a white woman's claim of rape. Atticus still defends Tom to the best of his abilities, but he still loses. During the trial and after though, Scout learns about race, and about treating people fairly no matter who they are. One part of the book that really stood with me was Jem and Scout reading to a curmudeony neighbor as punishment for ruining her flowers. They read to her every afternoon until she dies, not knowing that the whole time they were helping her ween herself off of a drug addiction.
According to the ALA this book has been banned for many different reasons. Here's a link to the page describing the many reasons this book has been banned: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned
Included in the reasons are:
- Use of the language "damn" and "whore lady"
- being institutionalized racism in the guise of literature
- inclusion of racial slurs and the word nigger
- promotion of white supremacy
- that it would make black children uncomfortable
- and more
I honestly can't understand why anyone would try to ban this book, especially for any of the reasons above. The book teaches tolerance, and to accept people who are different. Atticus taught his children that people need to be treated well, and that they should be valued based on who they are, and how they act, not on the color of their skin or their position in the community.
And in honor of banned books week here's a picture of our Banned Books display:
No comments:
Post a Comment