To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee: A Literary Analysis

The fictional novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about the Finch family that lives in Maycomb, Alabama during the year 1933. The children, Jean Louise or Scout and Jem Finch have many adventures throughout the book with family, friends, and other people of Maycomb. As the book states, it is a “Timeless Classic of Growing Up and (about) the Human Dignity That Unites Us All.” Although the story is not based on true events, it reveals dimensions of history through Tom Robinson, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, and Boo Arthur Radley’s stories.
First of all, the story reveals dimensions of history through Tom Robinson. He is an African American father so he is heavily criticized. During the time the book takes place in, African Americans were negatively judged based on their skin color. This is mostly shown when Tom Robinson is stated guilty of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Even though there was more than enough evidence that proved Tom innocent beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury decided otherwise. Atticus says in the story that, “The one place where a man

Boo Arthur Radley was a man in the story that never left his house. Many people assumed the worst of him, such as Jem thinking he was killed and stuffed up the chimney or that he goes out at night to look at Miss Stephanie Crawford through her bedroom window. Because no one knew anything about Boo, they made him into a completely unrealistic person. Throughout the story, Scout realizes “why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up on the house all this time . . . it’s because he wants to stay inside” (Lee 227). This shows how Scout judged a man without knowing anything about him. She believed the gossip and rumors told about him even if she did not know him or know if they were true. She learned how she must not judge until she lives in the other person’s shoes. This reveals how even in history it was important for people not to criticize