To Kill A Mockingbird

 

It centres on the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a young, white woman. He is defended in court by Scout’s Father, Atticus Finch, who successfully identifies that Mayella and her father Bob Ewell are lying - that in fact it was Mayella who had made sexual advances to Tom, had been caught in the act and then made the allegation of rape to preserve her dignity. In spite of the evidence supporting his innocence, Tom is found guilty by the jury. He is eventually shot dead while trying to escape from prison.

 

The reason why To Kill a Mockingbird made such an impression on me, both the first time I watched the film at school and more recently as an adult, was how powerfully it conveyed the fallibility of the justice system. By going against the grain of traditional Hollywood endings, it shows prejudice and discrimination triumphing over justice – an outcome that results in the death of an innocent man and the racist bigotry among the town’s residents going unchecked.

 

To Kill a Mockingbird has a far from happy ending, but it is a heartwarming story nevertheless. It uses the rights and wrongs to explore the themes of courage, of standing up for what you believe in and of placing your own moral values above other people’s prejudices. They are lessons that both Scout and her brother Jem are forced to confront as they defend their ‘nigger loving’ father throughout the trial. Not only do they learn how to fight with their heads rather than their fists, they also learn to challenge their own personal prejudices along the way. This is no better illustrated than Scout’s relationship with reclusive neighbour Boo Radley, who in the early stages of the story is reviled and feared, but who eventually proves to be an invaluable, and even life-saving, friend.

 

Although the story is narrated by and centres around six-year old Scout Finch, it is her father, Atticus Finch, who is unquestionably the hero of the story. By choosing to defend Tom, he is not only forced to stand by his convictions in the courtroom, but faces opposition and disapproval from his family, friends and neighbours. It is a decision that puts his professional career and personal relationships on the line, but also, unbeknown to him, the safety of his family.

 

Atticus embodies the qualities to which every decent person must surely want to aspire: humility, integrity, a strong sense of duty, and, above all, the strength to stand by his convictions, even in the face of adversity. As he explains to Scout his decision to defend Tom Robinson even though he knows there is no chance of winning, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.”

 

If there is only one lesson for campaigners, it cannot be summed up more eloquently than that.