To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Description

To Kill a Mockingbird

By Harper Lee
The bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning classic

📖 Summary of To Kill a Mockingbird:

Set in the racially segregated American South during the 1930s, To Kill a Mockingbird is a profound coming-of-age novel told through the eyes of a young girl named Scout Finch.

Scout lives in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, with her brother Jem and their widowed father, Atticus Finch, a principled lawyer. The story weaves together two major threads:

1. The trial of Tom Robinson – a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Atticus defends him, knowing the odds are stacked by deep-seated racism.
2. Scout and Jem’s personal growth – as they grapple with moral questions, injustice, and their fascination with a mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley.

The novel explores justice, morality, prejudice, and the loss of innocence in a deeply flawed society.

🧠 Major Themes:

• Racial injustice and systemic racism
• Moral courage and integrity
• Innocence and growing up
• Empathy (“climb into someone’s skin and walk around in it”)
• Class, gender roles, and small-town life

🏷️ Categories / Genres:

• Classic Literature
• Coming-of-Age
• Historical Fiction
• Southern Gothic
• Social Justice Fiction
• American Literature

🏆 Awards & Legacy:

• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1961)
• Over 40 million copies sold
• Consistently ranked as one of the greatest American novels
• Adapted into an Oscar-winning film (1962), and later a Broadway play (adapted by Aaron Sorkin)