To Kill a Mockingbird

I recently finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird. It's understandably a classic, as it was well written and evokes a vivid story.

The story depicts a family in a small Alabama town in the 1930's. The story is narrated by a sharp young girl who, despite her age, struggles to grasp what she is experiencing: she is able to sense that (even if she does not understand why) there are very core absurdities such as arbitrary social norms and widespread prejudice.

This character, Jean-Marie Finch, clearly grows more mature as she comes to terms with these ideas, which are made concrete by the story.

The title To Kill a Mockingbird refers to a quote by Jean-Marie's father, Atticus Finch, roughly halfway through the book; he tells his children,

"I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

(Spoiler alert)

The meaning of the quote lingers unsettled in the reader's mind for most of the book, never quite clear: it becomes evident that it symbolizes a young black man falsely charged with assaulting a trashy white girl, but the symbolism is not entirely clear. In the last few paragraphs of the story, its full meaning becomes clear not only to Jean Marie, but also her father (who, despite his good character, is shown to have this blindspot). The children are saved by their insular but good neighbor (also symbolizing the mockingbird), who kills the sociopathic father of the trashy girl (symbolizing much, but not everything, bad in the story) attempting to kill the kids. The sheriff covering the case decides to save this neighbor by reporting that the sociopath fell on his knife, to the moderate confusion of Atticus. The story ends with the reader aware that Jean-Marie's wisdom has finally reached a level comparable to her father and brother.