Prejudices, partisanship & preconceptions exist!
Its a human tendency to try and differentiate, to try and classify, to try and label. Be it people, things, places.. we try and typecast them.
This attitude always forms a part of any society. It has always been and shall always be there. Bad people create it, average ones knowingly or unknowingly go along with it and better ones try to fight it. Children with their unconditioned thinking view this with neutrality, are amazed to find these distinctions exhibited amongst seemingly similar affairs.
The novelette is a narration of a the events surrounding the trial of a black man (accused of raping a white girl) as viewed through the eyes of a 8 year old girl. It is set in 1930s in the US when the great depression had set in and people had varieties of frustrations to cope with. Apartheid was officially abolished but not been uprooted from the minds of people (if it could be uprooted in the first place). In the forthcoming paragraphs, I shall talk about some of the characters in the story, their traits and their interactions with the society around them.
Scout Finch: The narrator. A young girl who witnesses her father standing up and fighting for the principles he believes in. She is initially shown not to think too highly of him but as the events around her unfold, she understands the brighter side of him
Atticus: Scout’s father. A lawyer by profession. A man of principles, who practises what he preaches. One who who does not hesitate to defend the truth, to fight for justice
Jem: Scout’s brother. We easily tend to relate to him as our elder sibling our cousin whom we used to look upto, who used to be our protector, who was our source of guidance and understanding
Tom Robinson: The accused. A black man living in a white man’s world. Someone who can protect himself and has resigned to the fact that he shall always be over-powered and over-run
Boo Radley: The guy who is different from others, who stays aloof. As it often happens, rumours and gossip about him fill the talks of the neighbourhood
Dill: Scout’s first crush. Someone who visits the place in vacation times and takes her into a girl’s fantasy world
The neighbours/ town people: A variety of characters are introduced, each with their own habits, their own nature and their own set of beliefs
The most appealing part of this story is the the so life-like personalities. Each character is someone whom you can identify with. Somebody you have met with during the course of your life. These are the people around you. They are not super heroes but ordinary mortals you meet in every walk of life.
You tend to understand how people react with preconceived notions, how biases are formed, how a group tries to either take individuals into its fold or outcasts them if they dont confirm to its set norms. Its about how some people always take up a challenge, how some people resign to fate and how most others try to be spectators trying to draw their own conclusions about events in other people’s lives.
This work went on to become an international best-seller and winning the Pulitzer Prize for the hitherto unknown author. It was also made into an acclaimed movie. The novel is a semi-autobiography from Harper Lee.
Its an amazing piece of art, a treasure for collection. Read it if you haven’t, and if you have, am sure you shall keep going back to it!