Aaron Kraft

9/29/10
Miss Edwards
5th Period English II CP

To Kill A Book Report

“It was times like these when I though my father, who hated guns and had never

been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.” This was said by young Scout in

Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. I choose this book due to the fact that it is an

American classic by a well known American author. I was also influenced by a friend

and the librarian to make my final decision. I in fact enjoyed reading this book.

To Kill A Mockingbird is of the genre historical fiction with a bit of mystery

mixed in. The book takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the early 20th century. The

main characters are Atticus and his two children Jem and Scout. Atticus is an attorney in

the small town of Maycomb and is summoned by the judge to defend a negro accused of

assault and rape. Although Atticus desperately defended Tom Robinson (the defendant)

is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison but is killed before retrial.

One reason I liked this book is because it took place in a rougher era of American

history but still showed how the children had fun and enjoyed themselves in a time of

such need. I especially like the character Jem. He is young, brave, and he loves to

explore his neighborhood. He vaguely tries to get his mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley

to come out of his house for the longest time. I can honestly see my younger self filling

the shoes of Jem. I also like how you can see the characters in the book progress in both

age and personality. Scout’s personality changes the most. She starts very naïve, she

doesn’t understand how a man so innocent (Tom Robinson) can be sentenced to life in

prison after a crime he didn’t commit. But she eventually emerges and becomes a very
mature and understanding character by comprehending why it is wrong to kill a

Mockingbird at the end of the book.

Another reason I liked this book is because of my favorite part; the court trial

scene between Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell. Tom was accused of beating and

raping Miss Ewell. The evidence proved that Miss Ewell was not raped but beat by her

father after she kissed Tom. The verdict however stated that Tom was guilty despite

Atticus’ attempts to uplift justice over the power of racism. Tom Robinson is sentenced

to life in prison. Atticus tried to get Tom a retrial but Tom is killed after he tries to

escape and is shot by the deputy who aimed to wound and not kill. Racism killed a

mockingbird. Racism is the killer. Tom Robinson was the innocent Mockingbird just

singing along to his tune of life before Bob and Mayella Ewell decide to go and blame

everything on him and get him killed.

I enjoyed every aspect of reading this book. I would read more books by Harper

Lee. I expect to see in her other books characters with strong emotions and a great line of

events. I recommend this book to people of almost all ages so that they can understand

how racism can corrupt even the fairest things in life. There should be more books like

To Kill A Mockingbird and more authors who write novels as great at Harper Lee.