Philosophy

In the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee there are several deeper meanings and philosophical lessons that the reader could learn from the text. This novel is written from the perspective of a young girl (Jean Louise) growing up. By doing this, the author is able to capture how the human mind works; how it perceives different ideas and events at different stages in their growth. It also shows how humans cope based on their comprehension level of the situation at hand. This novel shows that no matter how gifted or average an individual is, everyone is naïve, stubborn, and is in need to feel equal or superior to people surrounding them. This novel also reflects how impressionable everything is to a child’s mind. For example; the county of Maycomb associates the terms, “nigger lover”(83) and, “negro”(54) with a negative tone to persuade the children to believe that people with coloured skin are bad, inferior, and unworthy of a white man’s attention. As the story progresses, Scout sees the change in the town’s citizens when her father is appointed to defend a coloured man (Tom Robinson) and he intends to actually defend the man. At the trial, she realized that Tom is no different than anyone else; he is human. She tells her brother Jem that, “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” (227). This shows that as a human grows up and gains experience in society, their minds expand and are able to comprehend situations that they were incapable of comprehending before. At this stage, individuals begin to form their own opinion on what is right or wrong, what is evil or just.

Harper Lee has various characters posing various human stereotypes. For example; Atticus Finch is a very humble, righteous man whose main concern is setting a good example for his children to look up to. This is the ‘ideal’ person that human’s strive to become.  Then there is the opposite of Atticus Finch; Bob Ewell. Ewell is the typical problematic male in society; he is arrogant, aggressive, an alcoholic, violent, and has a need to feel superior. Ewell’s hubris – due to being the ‘superior race’–causes him to get an innocent man convicted. His arrogance causes him to have to feel like he is superior over everyone else. Atticus Finch embarrassed him in front of the entire county. To feel superior to Atticus, Bob threatens Atticus and spits in his face. To get even with Atticus, he attempts to murder Atticus’ children. This is the stereotype a large portion of society falls under due to their problems and inability to cope with them. Lee uses this character foil to make the point that as humans, we have two paths to go down; one leads to Atticus’ life, the other to Bob Ewell’s. The bigger question is which one should be taken and which is easier. Throughout this novel, Atticus struggles from the beginning; he loses his wife, has to raise Jem and Scout, and is poorly treated by his neighbors based on his moral decisions. In contrast, Bob Ewell comes and goes as he pleases: Ewell’s do what they want when they want and nothing can control them. Lee uses this foil to illustrate that humans must choose between what is right and what is easy and shows what each road results in.

Another point that Lee illustrates is the hypocrisy in society. An example of this is the fact that all of Maycomb County is Christian and Christians treat everyone as equals since that is their golden rule; love another as I have loved you.  The citizens of Maycomb have made somewhat of an “exception” to this rule. They have decided that coloured people do not deserve the respect or even the acknowledgement of a white man. They cannot be both religious and cruel to certain demography at the same time.  The citizens in this town represent most religious individuals who claim to be innocent and Christian. People claim to live by the rules of their religion, but they always make their exceptions. Humans believe that by going to church once a week will make up for all of their sins. They can be greedy and sinful all week but they are Christians living as Jesus did because they go to church on Sundays.

Harper Lee reflects upon the injustice in our world through her novel as well. Cruel and unfair events happen all over the world everyday that no one bothers to take a second look at. Every day, someone is struggling to support their family, innocent people are being bullied, someone is becoming a victim of racism, minorities are faced with inequality, and people are dying in wars. A lot of these things are being overlooked by authorities and the majority of the human race. Lee reflects this through the injustice in the court during a coloured man’s trial. Although there is proof of his innocence, they still announce him as guilty of a crime that there was no evidence of. The majority Maycomb seemed to find this event unfair or upsetting except for the children or the people who saw that a man is more than just the colour of his skin.  When Jem tells Atticus that it was unfair how the jury could believe that To Robinson was guilty when he was clearly innocent, Atticus responds by saying, “I don’t know, but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it – seems only children weep.” (213). This quote is what illustrates the injustice in society. When there is injustice, people of authority who can help resolve or bring awareness to the problem do not notice or do not care. Only individuals with a muted voice to the world notice and see the injustice. No one listens to what they have to say because their opinions do not matter, their brains are inferior and underdeveloped. They are just playing games in their head.

         Overall, Lee uses the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird” to imitate our society and the average human’s habits at different stages throughout life by writing this book through the perspective of a young girl growing up. As the reader progresses through the novel, they will be entertained by this novel and not be able to put it down because of a subconscious connection that they will have with the novel through their development during experiences, stereotypes and world injustices.