Victoria Shircliffe

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a small town in Alabama called Maycomb. The story is much like something out of Pretty Little Liars: a small town where nothing happens that’s suddenly hit by scandal.

The novel is featured around Scout Finch, her brother Jem, and their father Atticus. Scout, Jem, and their friend Dill all share the same fascination with the ominous Radley house that intimidates everyone in town. The Radleys are seldom seen leaving their home and they don’t associate with anyone else in town. The scariest part of the home is the infamous Boo Radley, the son of the Radleys. Jem claims to have seen and heard him, but his story is clearly based off of wild rumors.

Things change for Scout when her father defends an African-American man, Tom Robinson, who’s been accused of rape. Scout’s classmates give her a hard time about this, and the theme of racism, amongst the novel’s numerous other themes, becomes apparent.

Atticus proves to be the voice of morals and ethics in a story of so much hatred. The book isn’t just a lesson in literature, it’s a life lesson and it proves that the hero might not always win, but he should fight as hard as he can.

To Kill a Mockingbird is an American classic that everyone should read at some point in their life. The style the book is written in is fun to read, with southern accents and poor grammar, and it provides for stunning quotes that are amazingly eye-opening. It’s a relatively short novel and is definitely worth the read as it’s a perfect demonstration of the themes of racism, justice, ethics, and prejudice.