In Defense Of To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird has caused a copious amount of controversy over its relevance in today’s society. This marvelous tale is relevant to today’s society. According to the critic Jill May’s article, In defense of To Kill A Mockingbird, it is relevant because Harper Lee herself grew up with the attitudes depicted and the book survived the first period of regional criticism. Quotes from the book’s narrator and lead character, Scout Finch, show us that she, Scout, matures throughout the novel. One reason why To Kill A Mockingbird is relevant is because Harper Lee grew up with the attitudes depicted. Lee was merely a child by the time the 1930s came around. According to the article In defense of To Kill A Mockingbird, “Scout

In the article In defense of To Kill A Mockingbird, May states that “The Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom contained no record of southern court cases during the seventies or eighties” (pg.2). This implies that no one took the book to court during those decades. That no one saw enough perceived flaws in it to demand that it be banned during those decades. In that same article, the author states that “Southern arguments against To Kill A Mockingbird subsided” (pg. 2). Another important quote from this article proving that the book survived its first period of criticism is when May writes, “The book had sustained itself during the first period of sharp criticism; it had survived regional protests from the area it depicted” (pg.2). Both of these quotes establish and affirm that the novel not only survived protests, but they go on to specify that the majority of the demonstrations “from the area it depicted” (pg.2), which is the Southern United States, mainly in

This occurs with Boo and his father, mainly with his father keeping Boo locked up inside the house instead of having him stay in an asylum, just because Boo’s father did not want any relative to stay at an asylum. However, this claim is not valid because people still abuse others to maintain or receive honor currently. In many Islamic cultures, men abuse and even kill women because women are seen as inferior in their culture, thus giving men a familial honor as head-of-household to maintain. In conclusion, Harper Lee’s famous novel, despite having possibly demeaning language, is indeed relevant to today’s society. It is relevant because Lee grew up with the attitudes depicted. The book survived the first onslaught of sharp regional criticism. And finally, Scout Finch, the narrator and main character, grows and matures throughout the novel, something we do throughout our lives on a daily