What is To Kill a Mockingbird about?

To Kill a Mockingbird is the 1960 novel by Harper Lee that tells the story, through the first-person narration of Lee's young protagonist, Jean Louis "Scout" Finch, about growing up in the American South during the 1930s. Much of To Kill a Mockingbirdis about Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill and their efforts at making contact with their mysterious, unseen neighbor, Boo Radley, a recluse whose parents are deceased but whose brother,...

To Kill a Mockingbird is the 1960 novel by Harper Lee that tells the story, through the first-person narration of Lee's young protagonist, Jean Louis "Scout" Finch, about growing up in the American South during the 1930s. Much of To Kill a Mockingbird is about Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill and their efforts at making contact with their mysterious, unseen neighbor, Boo Radley, a recluse whose parents are deceased but whose brother, Nathan, is occasionally seen in the neighborhood. The challenge of seeing Boo provides the children with some of their summertime fun, but their efforts at maintaining contact with him is cut short when Nathan fills the hole in the tree in which Boo would surreptitiously hide small gifts for them.

The most important theme in Lee's novel involves the virulent racism endemic in the American South for much of this country's history. Scout's father, Atticus, is a lawyer who accepts the challenge of defending an African American man accused of raping a white girl. The plight of the defendant, Tom Robinson, provides most of the novel's drama. Atticus Finch is the rare citizen of Lee's fictitious town of Maycomb, Alabama, with liberal attitudes towards race relations. In fact, Atticus is portrayed as an especially wise and compassionate individual who understands the futility of his efforts at clearing an African American accused, even demonstrably falsely, of raping a white woman. Atticus's efforts allow for Scout's education on the humanity and inhumanity present in the world.

While Scout is the novel's narrator and central figure, it is Atticus who provides the story's moral compass as well as lessons on civility and manners, even under the most trying of circumstances. Indeed, the novel's title is derived from a lesson Atticus teaches his children about respecting the sanctity of life in the context of the children's learning how to operate firearms. Knowing that Jem and Scout will be tempted to shoot at birds, Atticus advises them,

Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a "coming-of-age" story told against the backdrop of the racism that tore at the moral fabric of the United States. Even the resolution of the mystery surrounding Boo Radley involved the racist attitudes of most of the town's people. It is also, however, the story of a young girl growing up and becoming aware of life's complexities.