To Kill a Mockingbird Themes

At a Glance
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Maycomb's citizens display many forms of
prejudice, including racism, classism, and sexism. Lee uses their
intolerance as a counterbalance to the more progressive main characters.
Themes of guilt, sin, and innocence are explored through Tom
Robinson’s trial, Boo Radley’s seeming imprisonment, and the symbol of
the mockingbird.
Courage is demonstrated by characters like Atticus, who stands up for
his principles in the face of overwhelming opposition, and Mrs. Dubose,
who wrestles with her morphine addiction.

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Themes
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Prejudice

The key events in To Kill a Mockingbird are driven by the undercurrent of

prejudice that runs through Maycomb. The most obvious victim of prejudice
is Tom Robinson, the black man falsely accused of raping a white woman.
Tom’s accuser, Mayella Ewell, is a victim of Maycomb’s prejudice herself; her
entire family is viewed as “trash” by the rest of the town. Indeed, Bob Ewell’s
persecution of Tom is clearly driven by a desire to bolster his own pride by
asserting power over the only group in Maycomb with less social status than
the Ewells. That Tom’s conviction is all but assured despite the obvious
inaccuracies and impossibilities of Mayella’s accusation illustrates the depth
of racism in the town. Though Scout is firmly entrenched in the white world
of Maycomb, we get a small glimpse of life for Maycomb’s black community
when Scout visits Calpurnia’s run-down church. The visit is marred by a
confrontation between Calpurnia and Lula, who argue over whether the
children should be allowed to come to a black church. Though the rest of the
church is welcoming, Lula’s anger at their presence speaks to the inherent
unfairness of the situation: the white Finches—while well-meaning—may
enter and leave both black and white spaces freely, a luxury that Lula and the
other black people in Maycomb do not possess. The rampant racism in
Maycomb eventually bleeds into the personal lives of the Finch family as they
face significant social backlash when Atticus becomes Tom Robinson’s
defense attorney. Scout and Jem witness prejudice up close again when their
Aunt Alexandra comes to visit. Alexandra urges Atticus to fire Calpurnia and
teach Jem and Scout about the importance of heritage and class. While many
citizens of Maycomb hold strong racist and classist assumptions like
Alexandra does, they are contrasted with characters like Atticus and Miss
Maudie, who choose to judge people based on their character, rather than
their background or race. This is a lesson that both Scout and Jem learn first-
hand through their interactions with Boo Radley. Though they initially fear
Boo due to his obscurity and the rumors about him in town, the children
come to realize that he has been a victim of prejudice; instead of trying to
understand him, the townspeople have solidified his outsider status.

Moral Complexity

A major lesson Scout and Jem learn over the course of the novel is that
people cannot be written off as good or evil. At the beginning of the story,
Scout and Jem innocently assume that most of the people in Maycomb are
objectively “good,” but this assumption is soon challenged by the evil and
hypocrisy they witness during Tom Robinson’s trial. Aided by Atticus, Scout
and Jem come to realize that while not everyone in their lives is perfectly
moral, that does not mean that these people are irredeemably “evil.” One
example is Mrs. Dubose, “the meanest old woman who ever lived,” who
regularly yells abuse at Jem and Scout as they walk by her house. It is only
after her death that they learn that she was struggling to overcome a
morphine addiction, determined to die on her own terms. The revelation of
Mrs. Dubose’s unexpected bravery makes Jem and Scout more empathetic
and slower to judge the people around them. From the very beginning,
Atticus works to convince Scout of the potential for good in people despite
their “blind spots.” His optimism is borne out when Scout is able to
successfully dispel a lynch mob by making innocent small talk with its leader.
These encounters broaden Scout’s worldview, and we see the results of this
transformation when Scout observes Mayella Ewell at the trial. Though she
believes that Mayella’s actions are reprehensible, she is also able to recognize
that Mayella Ewell has lived a hard, sad life: “Mayella Ewell must have been
the loneliest person in the world.” Scout’s strengthened empathy allows her
to see flawed individuals like Mayella as nuanced and complex people who
are worthy of human dignity and understanding despite having done terrible
things. By the end of the novel, Atticus’s insistence that his children approach
others from a place of compassion and empathy has successfully prepared
Scout and Jem to confront the evils of mankind without losing their faith in
the goodness of humanity.

Innocence

To Kill a Mockingbird is, at its heart, an examination of the ways in which

innocence is impacted by society. We follow Scout and Jem as they journey
away from the world of childhood ignorance to come to terms with the adult
realities that surround them. Atticus’s decision to defend Tom Robinson
initiates this loss of innocence, exposing the children to the ugly racism of
their neighbors. Tom’s conviction and the resulting realization that truth and
goodness do not always triumph over lies are particularly difficult for Jem to
accept. The trial is an awakening, not only for the children, but also for the
town as well. Just as the children must grow up and confront the adult world,
the trial forces the town into a confrontation with its own deep prejudices.
While Scout and Jem's coming of age is a difficult transition, their loss of
innocence makes them more perceptive and sympathetic to the people
around them. In the beginning of the novel, Scout and Jem are too naive to
realize that their Boo Radley game might be hurtful; Boo Radley is merely a
“malevolent phantom” to the children—a monster rather than a person. As
their awareness of the intolerance and hypocrisy in Maycomb grows, the
children realize that Boo himself has been a victim of prejudice that they,
until recently, held as well. Though Jem and Scout are both deeply affected by
the events in Maycomb, Atticus’s guidance ensures that they emerge from
their loss of innocence with their faith in humanity intact. To Kill a
Mockingbird also explores the ways in which the innocent may be unjustly
injured by prejudice: racism denies Tom Robinson his legal innocence, while
cruel rumors turn Boo Radley into a social pariah. Both Tom and Boo are
living representations of the symbolic “mockingbird,” an innocent creature
whose songs bring beauty to the world. Tom and Boo are not only innocent of
the accusations hurled against them, but they are also fundamentally good
people; Tom goes out of his way to help Mayella Ewell, whom he feels pity for,
while Boo Radley braves the world outside his home to aid Jem and Scout.
Ultimately, the reader understands that just as Miss Maudie says it is “a sin to
kill a mockingbird,” it is a terrible sin that the society of Maycomb has treated
these two innocent men so unjustly.

Christian Themes
(Literary Essentials: Christian Fiction and Nonfiction)

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To Kill a Mockingbird examines southern religious practices and beliefs,

revealing the tension that exists within a society that discriminates against
select neighbors rather than loving them. Atticus uses Christian values to
raise Scout and Jem. Serving as their primary example, he teaches the
children to be ethical, moral, and just. He demonstrates compassion,
morality, and forgiveness. Atticus encourages Scout and Jem to forgive
relatives, classmates, and neighbors who make offensive remarks about him.
Yet, Scout struggles to refrain from pummeling anyone who decides to hurl
insults at her. When Bob Ewell spits in Atticus’s face, it affords Atticus the
opportunity to show Jem and Scout what he has tried to teach them all along:
A Christian must turn the other cheek.

As a lawyer and state representative, Atticus is respected in the community

and known for his honesty and moral standing. Judge Taylor purposely
chooses Atticus to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping
Mayella Ewell, a white woman, because he knows Atticus will work hard to
prove Tom’s innocence. This case places Atticus is the position of being a
Christ-like figure, bearing the sins of the community. “Let this cup pass from
you, eh?” Atticus’s brother says. Miss Maude argues, “We’re so rarely called
on to be Christians, but when we are, we’ve got men like Atticus to go for us.”
Critics suggest that Atticus’s courage to defend Tom stems from his strong
spiritual foundation and his need to make the truth of Tom’s innocence
evident to the community.

Lee also uses the action around the case to illustrate the tension between
Christianity, bigotry, and hypocrisy. Hypocrisy and hatred are learned
behaviors, suggests Lee, just as love and compassion are. Tom feels
compassion for Mayella, a poor, uneducated young woman physically abused
by her father. Similarly, Atticus shows love and friendship to Tom when he
helps protect him from a mob intent on hanging him for a crime he did not
commit. Compassion sets both men apart from other members of the
community and is the catalyst for most of the conflict that surrounds them.

Themes
(Novels for Students)

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Prejudice and Tolerance

Comprising the main portion of the book's examination of racism and its
effects are the underlying themes of prejudice vs. tolerance: how people feel
about and respond to differences in others. At one end of the spectrum are
people who fear and hate, such as the members of the jury who convict an
innocent man of rape because of his race. Atticus and Calpurnia, on the other
hand, show understanding and sympathy towards those who might be
different or less fortunate. When Scout brings a poor classmate home for
dinner and then belittles his table manners, for instance, Calpurnia scolds her
for remarking upon them and tells her she is bound to treat all guests with
respect no matter what their social station. Atticus similarly bases his
opinions of people on their behavior and not their background. Unlike
Alexandra, who calls poor people like the Cunninghams "trash" because of
their social station, Atticus tells his children that any white man who takes
advantage of a black man's ignorance is "trash."

Other black people are shown similar attitudes. Whilst Atticus and his
children regard Calpurnia as a part of their family, Aunt Alexandra
epitomises the feelings of the majority of Maycomb society, regarding
Calpurnia as little more than a slave and a bad influence on Scout.

Throughout the story blacks are referred to as ‘niggers’, and those who
support them or show them any kindness, ‘nigger lovers’. Strangely, the
churchwomen form a missionary circle to support the wonderful work being
done with the heathen savages in Africa, but condemn those who do anything
for the black residents in their own town.

The black population are, however, not the only victims of prejudice. Anyone
who is different is also targeted. Boo Radley is labelled as a monster and
outcast because he is not seen outside his home. It is not enough to just leave
him alone – he is an object of gossip and games. The children re-enact stories
they have heard about him and dare each other to spy on him. Although
Atticus dissuades his own children from doing this, even at the end of the
book it is obvious Boo will continue to be labelled and misunderstood by the
majority of the townspeople.

Women and children are both targets of prejudice in the male-dominated

population of Maycomb. Any woman who is not respectably married with
children and occupied with baking, sewing or gardening is considered strange
and an outsider. Miss Maudie and Mrs. Dubose are two such women who
exist on the fringe of respectable society.

Despite the absence of a mother, Jem and Scout have been raised to regard
women as equals. They are surprised to learn that women cannot serve on
juries, yet accept Atticus reasoning that women need to be protected and that
women would find it hard to reach a decision. Earlier in the novel, Jem
criticises Scout for acting like a girl.

The Ewell family should not be overlooked as being the victims of prejudice.
The Ewells, although white, are almost as despised as the Negroes. They live
in poverty, removed from respectable society. They are targets of scorn and
derision. Mayella, a girl ruled by an alcoholic and violent father, is offered
help by a man who should be her inferior. Tom Robinson is possibly the only
man who has ever shown her any respect and, misreading this, she makes
inappropriate overtures. When this is discovered her father forces her to turn
the situation to their advantage by accusing Tom of rape.
Guilt and Innocence
Closely linked to these themes of prejudice are issues of guilt and innocence,
for the same ignorance that creates racist beliefs underlies assumptions of
guilt. The most obvious instance is the case of Tom Robinson: the jury's
willingness to believe what Atticus calls "the evil assumption . . . that all
Negroes are basically immoral beings" leads them to convict an innocent
man. Boo Radley, unknown by a community who has not seen or heard from
him in fifteen years, is similarly presumed to be a monster by the court of
public opinion. Scout underscores this point when she tells her Uncle Jack he
has been unfair in assigning all the blame to her after her fight with Cousin
Francis. If he had stopped to learn both sides of the situation he might have
judged her differently—which he eventually does. The novel's conclusion also
reinforces the theme of guilt and innocence, as Atticus reads Scout a book
about a boy falsely accused of vandalism. As Scout summarizes: "When they
finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of those things. Atticus, he was real
nice." To which Atticus responds, "Most people are, once you see them."

Knowledge and Ignorance

Because a lack of understanding leads to prejudice and false assumptions of
guilt, themes of ignorance and knowledge also play a large role in the novel.
Lee seems to suggest that children have a natural instinct for tolerance and
understanding; only as they grow older do they learn to react to differences
with fear and disdain. For example, Scout is confused when one of Dolphus
Raymond's mixed-race children is pointed out to her. The child looks "all
Negro" to Scout, who wonders why it matters that "you just hafta know who
[the mixed-race children] are." That same day Dill is made sick during the
trial by the way in which Mr. Gilmer, the prosecuting attorney, sneeringly
cross-examines Tom Robinson. As Dolphus Raymond tells Scout, "Things
haven't caught up with that one's instinct yet. Let him get a little older and he
won't get sick and cry." Lee seems to imply that children learn important
lessons about life through the examples of others, not through school. In an
ironic commentary on the nature of knowledge, formal education—as Scout
experiences it—fails to teach or even contradicts these important lessons.
Scout's first-grade teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, is more concerned with
making her students follow a system than in teaching them as individuals.
This is why she forbids Scout to continue reading with her father, whose
"unqualified" instruction would "interfere" with her education. Whatever the
method, however, the most important factor in gaining knowledge is an
individual's motivation. As Calpurnia tells Scout, people "got to want to learn
themselves, and when they don't want to learn there's nothing you can do but
keep your mouth shut or learn their language."

Courage and Cowardice

Several forms of courage are explored in To Kill a Mockingbird, showing that
it is both a physical and mental state which can manifest itself in multiple
actions. All of the major players in the novel are called on to display their
courage. Even Mayella Ewell, who hides behind a lie to protect herself, shows
a curious kind of courage in having the strength to face the public and the
court and uphold her story.

Atticus Finch, the lawyer at the centre of the story, is a man of great courage.
His courage does not waver throughout the book. Atticus is a widower with
two young children, as well as a respected lawyer, yet has the courage to
provide the children with a stable home life in a time where men are seen as
providers and women as nurturers. Although he makes use of the help of
Calpurnia, he does not shirk his responsibility, as the children’s only
surviving parent, to ensure that they are raised well.

Atticus has a highly develop morality, with very strong convictions about
wrong and right. He is prepared to stand up for what is right, regardless of
the consequences. When he takes on Tom Robinson’s case, he is determined
to do all he can to defend him, even though he knows Tom’s case is all but
hopeless – he is a black man on trial in a system which has already judged
him. Atticus refuses to drop the case or to provide a token defence, because
he is convinced both of Tom’s innocence and of his right to a fair trial.

Atticus shows courage in numerous other events in the book. He has the
strength of character to recognise that there is both good and evil in every
person, and the ability to admire that good. He admires Mrs. Dubose for her
strength in fighting her morphine addiction even while disagreeing with her
intolerant views. He is able to appreciate Aunt Alexandra’s willingness to help
him and his family, but will not agree to her request to dismiss Calpurnia.

The two victims of the book’s key events – Tom Robinson and Boo Radley –
both show courage. Prior to his arrest, Tom is willing to help Mayella with
tasks such as chopping wood, because he sees that she is woman in need. He
is an intelligent man and aware that his help is taken for granted and could
even be misconstrued. He has the courage to help her anyway, and this has
disastrous consequences for him.

After his arrest, Tom continues to show courage. In court he is polite to all
who address him and calm and measured in his responses, despite the
enormous stress he is under. Even in his escape he shows courage – surely
knowing that his escape attempt is unlikely to be successful, but thereby
putting an end to the ongoing trauma to all involved.

Boo Radley, too, shows great courage. Regarded as a freak by the whole town,
judged for his unwillingness or inability to join in with public life, Boo
nonetheless has the courage to keep on living and to reach out to the children.
He leaves gifts for them and, when he sees Scout is cold on the night of the
fire, provides a blanket. In the final pages of the book he shows especial
courage in rescuing Jem and Scout from the violent Bob Ewell and allowing
Atticus and Heck Tate to decide the consequences.

In the same event Jem shows physical courage in protecting Scout, only
stopping when his arm is broken. This is the culmination of Jem’s various
shows of courage throughout the book which have marked his progress from
childhood towards adulthood. Earlier in the book, the children have seen as
courageous childish actions such as touching the Radley’s house. As the novel
has progressed they have had to find a deeper level of courage to face their
fears and to overcome the prejudice levelled at them by the residents of
Maycomb.

Loss of Innocence
The novel’s narrator, Scout, tells the story as an adult looking back on her
childhood. The events she describes, obviously memorable for their impact,
also mark for her the end of her innocent childhood and the beginning of her
growth towards adulthood. This change is even more marked for her older
brother Jem, who is at her side throughout the novel and appears more
profoundly affected by the events he witnesses, being older than Scout.

Both Jem and Scout come to realise that life is not always fair, that good does
not always triumph over evil. As witnesses to the events surrounding Tom
Robinson’s trial they see a miscarriage of justice, with an innocent man
condemned before he even enters the courtroom. They see men who their
father has helped unconditionally confront him in their determination to
lynch his client.

In the beginning of the novel the children play childhood games, innocently
unaware that the games they play are potentially hurtful to others. They act
out stories about Boo Radley, oblivious to the fact he could be watching. By
the end of the novel much of this innocent naiveté has gone and the children
are aware both of Boo’s feelings and of those of others around them. They are
fortunate that during this traumatic time they have the guiding wisdom of
their father Atticus, who strives to make this loss of innocence as painless as
possible.

Boo Radley also faces a loss of innocence. A victim of childhood abuse, he has
become a recluse. In the confines of his house he is safe from the eyes and
voices of the town. As he watches the world from behind his windows he
witnesses Jem and Scout and feels a certain responsibility, caring for them by
providing gifts and, when Scout is cold, warmth. Yet he is always able to do so
without having to expose himself to the world.

When he sees Jem and scout under attack from Bob Ewell he has to sacrifice
his innocence and privacy in order to defend them. By killing Ewell he saves
the children, but he also risks his own peace of mind and even his freedom.
He has acted in self-defence once before, when he attacked his father, and so
knows what the consequences might be.

In the events of To Kill a Mockingbird the whole town of Maycomb loses any
prior semblance of innocence. In the opening pages of the book Scout
describes the town as “an old town.” Steeped in tradition and cocooned in the
apparent safety of a network of social rules (written and unwritten), life
seems predictable and unchanging. The alleged rape of Mayella Ewell begins
a series of events which challenge the very fabric of the town. Old notions of
right and wrong are challenged. The town is exposed to the reader as being
far from innocent, but rather a town riddled with bigotry, hatred and
injustice.

Amongst all this loss of innocence is the presence of those who stand up for
right - especially Atticus - who show Scout, Jem and others, including the
reader, that there is good in every person and that the quest of justice is not a
wasted effort.

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How is systemic racism shown in the novel?

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