Themes

Although discrimination and people’s lack of empathy were the main themes of the novel, Harper Lee also examined other issues such as the importance of education, especially reading, and the powerful effects of culture and upbringing on people’s views and on their decision making. Lee included how the concept of what it means to be brave and how people have the ability to ‘look the other way’ when they know a victim is being abused.

Empathy

Harper Lee was determined to give readers an opportunity to become more empathetic towards others. Her story shows the characters Scout and Jem developing empathy (i.e. learning acceptance and admiration) for people like Arthur Radley and Mrs Dubose as they got to know them. Lee uses Atticus Finch to show readers how to empathise with other people. One of the most famous lines from her novel is “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it”(pg 35). Atticus Finch is a man who is empathetic to everyone around him. The aim of having him in the story is for people to use him as an inspiration for the way they live their lives.

Discrimination

Many forms of discrimination are alluded to during the story. Arthur Radley was the subject of discrimination based on suspected mental problems. His character became less scary as his kind acts and history (of being incarcerated) are explored. Scout is discriminated against because of her mental abilities at school and her fluency in reading. Her teacher can’t accept that she might have learned well at home. Unbelievably she wants her to forget what she knows and revert back to flashcard learning. Tom Robinson was discriminated against because of the colour of his skin. When he is in court against an accusation that is proved to be false, the jury convict him all the same as the racist views that run through Maycomb County are too big for them to push aside. Even little Walter Cunningham was judged on how poor his family were and was discriminated against by Aunt Alexandra when she told Scout not to invite him to dinner any more as he was not of their class. The Ewell Family were also discriminated by society. They were a poor family like the Cunninghams but as they didn’t work like the Cunningham family, they were considered as worthless by Maycomb. Scout was subjected to discrimination (like a lot of children of that time) because of her age; the group of society ladies saw her as being dumb and naive and not worth their time.

Courage

Harper Lee shows that although courage is a most admirable trait in a person’s character its development does not come easily. Being afraid is a natural emotion and self- preservation is as well, often the demonstration of courage in any particular situation means making choices that may conflict with these natural preservation instincts. To make your decisions without any awareness of the consequences of your actions may in some circumstances be considered naive rather than just courageous. The children think that Atticus is brave, for shooting the dog, but Atticus spoke of Mrs Dubose’s courage which is shown by her determination to beat her morphine addiction. Atticus is brave to sit outside Tom’s cell and also to represent Tom when he and his family are subjected to taunts.