By Harper Lee
Overall, I thought To Kill a Mockingbird was an exceptional book. I found that I learned a lot more than I already knew about how the South functioned as a whole back in the 1930s, which I found to be very interesting. I never knew specifically how slavery and racism affected what it was like to live in the South and how much of an impact these issues had on different situations, like the trial in the book. Reading this story helped my understanding of these things. I liked the way the story was told through Scout’s perspective because it helped me relate to the situations that happened throughout the story. I really enjoyed the way Scout described different scenes, and because she, too, is a young girl, I could easily understand where she was coming from with her opinions and her thoughts.
Intolerance of others, fear of the unknown, good versus evil, and right versus wrong are all importance ideas presented throughout the book. This story helped me to understand that where a person grows up and how a person is raised can influence their outlook on life and what they believe to be right and wrong. Scout and her family show this in the book because even though the Finch family has grown up in the South where slavery, segregation, and racism are present, they have their own beliefs about these things. Atticus raises Scout and Jem in a way that allows them to think for themselves, and they are therefore tolerant of those who are