To Kill A Mockingbird Book Report

I have finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a book narrated by Scout Finch who is a little girl living in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. To summarize, the book is mainly about a controversial court case, in which Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white girl named Mayella Ewell. Scouts father Atticus attempts to defend the black man, but due to deep-rooted racism Tom is found guilty. The book holds many themes, including that of seeing things from another’s perspective. In this journal, I will be evaluating the lesson of walking in someone else’s shoes.

To begin, I feel the book is trying to convey that the best way to understand a person’s behavior is by looking at things from their point of view, or walking in their shoes,

First of all, he seems to feel weary after implying, that Mayella was abused by her father. After Atticus crosses Mayella on the stand, Scout notes “When Atticus turned away from Mayella he looked like his stomach hurt. Atticus sat down wearily” (Lee 251). This shows that Atticus must have felt sick about bringing up Mayella’s abuse, especially in front of the court, implying that he sympathized with Mayella’s situation. He felt that her abuse was unjustified and felt guilty about reminding Mayella of it. Secondly, Atticus does not mind Mr. Ewell spitting on him. When Jem and Scout inquire him about his lack of retaliation, Atticus simply states “If spitting on my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take.” (Lee 292-293). Again, this shows that Atticus is looking at things through Mayella’s eyes, even at his own expense. He knows that being humiliated by Mr. Ewell is far less severe than what Mayella is going through. Finally, Atticus comprehends why Mayella may have lied about the rape. In his ending speech to the court, Atticus insists that Mayella had broken a severe social code, by attempting to seduce a black man. He understands that Mayella felt guilt and

Even though he knew what she did was wrong, in a way he was still able to sympathize with her, taking into account the motives behind her actions. Along with Atticus, I feel the kids, Scout, Jem, and Dill also had times where they learned to walk in someone else’s shows, particularly Arthur Radley’s shoes. Firstly, Dill attempts to give a letter to Boo as an invitation for him to come out. When Scout asks him about his motives, Dill retorts by asking, “Well how’d you feel if you’d been shut up for a hundred years with nothin’ but cats to eat?” (Lee 62). Here, Dill shows that he feels bad for Boo Radley’s situation. He even goes as far as to empathize with Boo, thinking about how dreadful it would be if he himself were locked up, insisting that Boo is isolated and in need of companions. In my second example, I note that Scout feels guilty about intruding on Boo’s privacy. Sometime in the future, while Scout passes by the Radley house she states “I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse at ever having taken part in what must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley-what reasonable recluse wants children peeping through his shutters at night?” (Lee 324). This shows