To Kill a Mockingbird (Book)

To Kill a Mockingbird is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, originally titled "To Kill a Mockingbird". It has been translated into more than forty languages.

Subject and Themes

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel set in the American South that narrates the coming-of-age of a child. The story centers on the struggle of a lawyer who defends an African American man falsely accused of a crime. The novel explores contrasts between innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, and draws attention to social inequalities. The events are told from the perspective of the child protagonist.

Main Characters

• Atticus Finch: Atticus Finch is a lawyer in the town of Maycomb with two children who decides to defend an African American citizen who has been wronged.
• Scout Finch: Atticus’s young daughter. The story is told from Scout’s point of view. Her mother died when she was two years old.
• Jem Finch: Atticus’s son and Scout’s older brother; Jem Finch is brave, curious, and respectful.
• Tom Robinson: A 25-year-old African American man whom Atticus defends in the case against the Ewells.

Critical Commentary on the Book

• “Lee refuses to hide behind aesthetics. Her pen is so beautiful, powerful, and measured that although she was not obliged to confront difficult subjects directly, in To Kill a Mockingbird she does exactly that.” — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• “A novel full of joy for life, deeply touching and of a kind rarely encountered.” — Truman Capote