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Themes In Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

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To Kill A Mockingbird
Behind every great story there is the coexistence of good and evil that is materialized into the essence of themes. These resulting themes are scattered throughout Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel revolves around the Finch siblings, Jem and Scout, as they grow up in the southern 1930s and start to discover the truth about their society with their father who is also a talented lawyer, Atticus Finch, and the people of Maycomb County. Atticus faces the dilemma of sticking to his virtues by defending Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman: Mayella Ewell. In doing so, he risks sacrificing the Finch’s reputation as well as his children or keeping his family’s reputation in tact …show more content…

This is a small price to pay because without his morals, without the pure essence of his being, he simply can no longer function as a proud member of a society. Another example of individual versus society is displayed in the article, Why I Joined the Klan, by C.P Ellis. This article explores the minds of white supremacists and why they join the Klan, “Deep down inside, we want to be part of this great society. Nobody listens, so we join these groups.”(Ellis 37). The individuals of the Ku Klux Klan join together to gain a voice in the ‘great’ society, however they don’t become apart of the society. Instead they become a symbol of hatred that is respected by few and is hated or feared by many. This ties to To Kill a Mockingbird because, like Atticus, the KKK stands up for what they believe in. However their extremist methods of expressing so leads them over the top to a position where they command more fear than respect. Overall the KKK, as a whole, can be seen as one single entity that will always be against society. Standing up for one’s beliefs is one thing that

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