The Lessons Learned from To Kill A Mockingbird.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is the book I just finished and enjoyed very much. I would like this book to stay as a part of the high school curriculum because there are so many great lessons in it. Many, however, around the United States have different opinions and believe it is outdated. The book teaches about overcoming prejudice, stereotyping and having respect for others, especially your parents. These are all valuable lessons for today’s youth.

 The main theme of this book is based on a belief from Atticus. He said, “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.” This theme helped Scout, the main character of the novel, to not have prejudices of other people and to understand them; not judge them.  A great example of this is their neighbor Arthur Radley because the whole town had a prejudice of him without even knowing the facts. The town thought he was a scary man that was locked in his house. They nicknamed him Boo even though no one really knew him, but based their opinions on what others had made up. Even Scout and Jem, were afraid and curious about “Boo Radley.” In the end, “Boo” saved their lives and Scout realizes the truth in Atticus’ wisdom as she meets Arthur Radley and sees things from his point of view. In the last scene of the book, Scout is viewing the neighborhood from Arthur’s house. This shows how she finally realized Atticus’s truth.

Boo Radley from the motion picture.

 It also says in the book, “People generally see what they are looking for, and hear what they listen for.” This teaches us to have an open mind and not see or hear what we expect from certain people. This would eliminate stereotyping. High school students could learn from this novel’s lessons because in today’s society we stereotype people based on their race, moral standards, dress and social class.  This lesson is taught perfectly by Dolphus Raymond who chooses to be with black people. People stereotype him as a drunk and don’t associate with him because he is around black people. Scout learns that Dolphus really doesn't drink and that he knows the world is very judgmental and knows that children are the only ones that see people as they really are. He chooses to do things that uphold the town’s perspective rather than confuse them with the truth.

This book can also teach today’s high school students to have respect for their parents like Scout and Jem had for Atticus. This respect was shown in many different examples throughout the book. One being, as Atticus was doing Tom Robinson’s case, the family got persecuted for him standing up for a black man. Jem and Scout respected him by obeying what he said, excepting his answers, and calling him Atticus.  A specific example of this is when Scout and Jem were being bullied at school. Scout wanted to beat up the kids who spoke against their dad, however she didn't because she promised Atticus she wouldn't fight. She did beat up her cousin for calling her father a name, but took the blame for the fight rather than confessing what she had done. She wanted to maintain respect and honor him.

Scout and Atticus from the motion picture.

I believe these lessons are important to today’s high school students because the world really needs to work on these issues. These issues aren’t outdated like many people think this book is. These issues are still relevant.