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Similarities Between Moral Cowardice And To Kill A Mockingbird

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The coexistence of good and evil is found deeply embedded in every great story. Complex themes are born from this relationship and many can be found scattered in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel takes place in the 1930s and it revolves around the Finch siblings, Jem and Scout, as they grow up in the south and start to discover the truth about their society with their father, Atticus Finch, who is a talented lawyer, and the people of Maycomb County. During this era of hate, Atticus is charged with the task of defending Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of rape. As Jem and Scout start to grow up and realize the racism of their community, people like Miss Maudie, Dill, and many others that reside in Maycomb County, encounters many events that start to shape the siblings for better or worse. This novel is a tale of overcoming fear and prejudice, but it shares significant similarities to two articles: Moral Cowardice by Mark Twain and Why I Joined the Klan by C.P. Ellis. All of these written pieces display a hidden unity of themes that tie into the greater message of To Kill a Mockingbird. These themes can be extracted from different events in the novel that appear as tribulations that the siblings go through such as the incident with the violent mobs, Atticus defending Tom Robinson, or the diverse traditions of Maycomb. From these events, powerful themes that can be seen to be individual versus society, mob mentality, and the conflict of tradition.

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