To Kill a Mockingbird (IL BUIO OLTRE LA SIEPE), novel by
American author Harper Lee, published
in 1960. Enormously popular, it was translated into some 40 languages, sold
more than 40 million copies worldwide, and is
one of the most-assigned novels in American schools. In 1961 it won a Pulitzer Prize. The novel
was praised for its sensitive treatment of a child’s awakening to racism and prejudice in
the American South.
Plot summary
To Kill a Mockingbird takes
place in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression. The protagonist is
Jean Louise (“Scout”) Finch, an intelligent though unconventional girl who ages
from six to nine years old during the course of the novel. She is raised with
her brother, Jeremy Atticus (“Jem”), by their widowed father, Atticus Finch. He is a
prominent lawyer who encourages his children to be empathetic and just. He
notably tells them that it is “a sin to kill a mockingbird,” alluding to
the fact that the birds are innocent and harmless.
When Tom Robinson, one of the town’s Black residents, is falsely accused
of raping Mayella Ewell, a white
woman, Atticus agrees to defend him despite threats from the community. At one
point he faces a mob intent on lynching his
client but refuses to abandon him. Scout unwittingly diffuses the situation.
Although Atticus presents a defense that gives a more plausible interpretation
of the evidence—that Mayella was attacked by her father, Bob Ewell—Tom is
convicted, and he is later killed while trying to escape custody. A character
compares his death to “the senseless slaughter of songbirds,” paralleling
Atticus’s saying about the mockingbird.
The children, meanwhile, play out their own miniaturized drama of prejudice and superstition as
they become interested in Arthur (“Boo”) Radley, a
reclusive neighbour who is a local legend. They have their own ideas
about him and cannot resist the allure of trespassing on the Radley property.
Their speculations thrive on the dehumanization perpetuated by their elders.
Atticus, however, reprimands them and tries to encourage a more sensitive
attitude. Boo makes his presence felt indirectly through a series of benevolent acts,
finally intervening when Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout. Boo kills Ewell, but
Heck Tate, the sheriff, believes it is better to say that Ewell’s death
occurred when he fell on his own knife, sparing the shy Boo from unwanted
attention. Scout agrees, noting that to do otherwise would be “sort of like
shootin’ a mockingbird.”
