Why Should to Kill a Mockingbird Be Read in Schools

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee should be read in every school to teach the understanding of topics that aren't conferred every day. I am confident that this book should be read in school. This novel discusses prejudice, family life, and courage.  The most important one that is discussed in this novel is prejudice, it is a heavy topic in life. Even though this book is a fun, twisted story, it still intertwines good subjects to be educated about.

In a made-up town in Alabama called Maycomb, Jean Louise, or as known as Scout is a child who goes through a vigorous journey in life. Scout was raised by her widowed father Atticus Finch and her mother figure Calpurnia. Atticus is a prominent lawyer who teaches his kids the importance of doing the right thing. Atticus enforces Scout and her brother Jem that it is a "sin to kill a mockingbird." After learning more about the family, we learn that Atticus is defending a black man named Tom Robinson after being accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell who was nineteen. Soon enough, Tom's trial begins. The result of the trial is that Tom is convicted even though Atticus gave a plausable argument proving Mayella's father, Bob Ewell beat her up and Tom didn't rape her. Tom gets killed by trying to escape prison and while this is occurring, Scout, Jem, and their friend have their own interest in a benevolent, secluded neighbor, Boo Radley that is a "local legend." They try to investigate to try to lure him outside but they soon meet him when Bob Ewell attacks Scout and Jem. Boo killed Bob Ewell but the sheriff says it's better to say Bob fell on his knife because if they turned in Boo Radley it would be like killing a mockingbird.

Speaking of Boo Radley, a way prejudice is represented in the story is by the children thinking that Boo Radley is some scary monster that eats raw animals. Jem shows this by saying "Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time." This shows that he was being prejudiced just because he was judging Boo Radley even though in the novel he had not seen him. These kids are innocent but they are still judging him without seeing him. One of the many reasons this should be taught is because this can happen at such a young age. These kids are already being prejudiced and they don't even know what it means. Another way prejudice is shown in To Kill A Mockingbird is when Tom is assumed to be guilty for raping Mayella just because he's black even thought the evidence of the case shows he's innocent. Even in other cases that are discussed in the book, the black person always loses to the white person just because of their skin color.

The next thing that is discussed in To Kill A Mockingbird, is family life. We see this many times. For example, the different families that are brought up in the novel are Atticus Finch's family, Bob Ewell's family, and Dill's family. This topic can be good to talk about in this book because it shows that our families can be different and that you never know what somebody is going through. In Atticus's family, it is mostly a positive area. Jem and Scout are happy and content with their family's conditions. Atticus is a great role model for a dad, he is "tolerant, forgiving and fair. He treats Jem and Scout as equals and with maturity and in return they call him by his name rather than calling him Dad. This represents the fact that Atticus values their opinion as equals. He wants to show them that he will treat them as young adults. He encourages them to behave in a mature manner and to react to events in the way an adult might." Another family that is talked about in this novel is the Ewell family. It is said that they "lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin. The cabin’s plank walls were supplemented with sheets of corrugated iron, its roof shingled with tin cans hammered flat, so only its general shape suggested its original design: square, with four tiny rooms opening onto a shotgun hall, the cabin rested uneasily upon four irregular lumps of limestone. Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls, which in the summertime were covered with greasy strips of cheesecloth to keep out the varmints that feasted on Maycomb’s refuse. The varmints had a lean time of it, for the Ewells gave the dump a thorough gleaning every day, and the fruits of their industry (those that were not eaten) made the plot of ground around the cabin look like the playhouse of an insane child: what passed for a fence was bits of tree-limbs, broomsticks and tool shafts, all tipped with rusty hammer-heads, snaggle-toothed rake heads, shovels, axes and grubbing hoes, held on with pieces of barbed wire. Enclosed by this barricade was a dirty yard containing the remains of a Model-T Ford (on blocks), a discarded dentist’s chair, an ancient icebox, plus lesser items: old shoes, worn-out table radios, picture frames, and fruit jars, under which scrawny orange chickens pecked hopefully. One corner of the yard, though, bewildered Maycomb. Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson, had Miss Maudie deigned to permit a geranium on her premises. People said they were Mayella Ewell’s. Nobody was quite sure how many children were in the place. Some people said six, others said nine; there were always several dirty-faced ones at the windows when anyone passed by. Nobody had occasion to pass by except at Christmas, when the churches delivered baskets, and when the mayor of Maycomb asked us to please help the garbage collector by dumping our own trees and trash." This shows that this family had horrible living conditions which made them dirty and not treated with respect from the community. Mayella Ewell believes Atticus Finch is making fun of her when he addresses her by "Ma'am" and "Miss Mayella." He says in the novel, "“Miss Mayella,” he said, smiling, “I won’t try to scare you for a while, not yet. Let’s just get acquainted. How old are you?” “Said I was nineteen, said it to the judge yonder.” Mayella jerked her head resentfully at the bench. “So you did, so you did, ma’am. You’ll have to bear with me, Miss Mayella, I’m getting along and can’t remember as well as I used to. I might ask you things you’ve already said before, but you’ll give me an answer, won’t you? Good.” I could see nothing in Mayella’s expression to justify Atticus’s assumption that he had secured her wholehearted cooperation. She was looking at him furiously. “Won’t answer a word you say long as you keep on mockin‘ me,” she said. “Ma’am?” asked Atticus, startled. “Long’s you keep on makin‘ fun o’me.”" The last family that is discussed is Dill's family, his family doesn't care about him as much as Atticus cares for his kids. As the result of Dill's parents' neglect, he ran away to his friends in Maycomb, Jem and Scout. These families are good learning material for a class because it shows that these families could be somebody's in real life. People have poor and good living conditions everywhere.

The last thing that is conferred about in this novel that would be good to be taught in the classroom is courage. A way this is shown in the novel is when Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson. He knows that Tom Robinson will cause problems for him and his family but he courageously defends him regardless of this. He also shows courage significantly by camping out of the jail where Tom Robinson is located. He is courageous because he is faced with a lynch mob trying to kill Tom Robinson. Another good example of courage in this novel is Ms. Dubose. "She has been addicted to the painkiller morphine and is determined to be free from this addiction before she dies. Without realizing it, when Jem reads to her he is helping her to overcome her addiction. Her decision is even more courageous when it becomes apparent that there really is no need for her to go through the pain of being morphine free as she is going to die anyway." The last person who showed courage in this novel is Miss Maudie. "Miss Maudie shows courage when she refuses to be upset that her house has burned down. Instead she remains optimistic and reminds everyone she will now be able to have the bigger garden she has always craved. Boo Radley shows courage when he prevents Bob Ewell from harming Jem and Scout despite the fact that this means leaving the security of his house."

In conclusion, this novel would be great to be read in the classroom because it teaches us about prejudice, different perspectives of family life, and courage. From my personal experience, this book has taught me things I have never realized. From the things that I have learned, it has helped me realize that many other people like me probably realized a variety of things when reading this. So I believe that this book should be read in every high school 9th grade English class.