[寫作指導] 文學分析：種族、階級 Race and Class｜潤稿 Copyediting｜學生作品成果 Writing Clinic

  

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee about the childhood of the main character, Scout. The story presents a first-person, observant perspective from a White girl in the problematic era flooded with hatred against African Americans in the state, bringing out the theme of racism. This story was adapted into a movie in 1962 with some scenes deleted due to the limit of time. To present the very authentic social and cultural structure, two essential scenes are strongly suggested to be included in the visual representation in my opinion.




Due to the unfair way whites treated the black community, flashbacks appear whenever blacks encounter a white person. The intense confrontation between Jem and Scout, two White kids who have no evil intention towards the African American community, and the Black people in the church is a highlight. This scene vividly paints how Whites trigger the fear and fight reaction of the Black community because they have long been suffered, suppressed and shamed by the society, and how they feel deprived with an “outsider” stepping into the sanctuary that merely protects them from the chaotic world.



A kind action would not be valid without full understanding and mutual respect. Both are crucial before making a kind move for others, especially if you come from different backgrounds and faiths, race or class. Scouts defended the Cunninghams' tradition–always give and take, no matter how economically challenged they are–when Miss Caroline, the White teacher who gives money to the Cunnungham, raged at Scout to defend her kindness for the underprivileged students. Miss Caroline not only caused Cunningham's dignity to be offended, she also showed her savior complex by giving Cunningham money without asking if he is comfortable with it.


Even though the movie deleted the two featured scenes from the original piece, I still believe the film is a valid interpretation of the novel and shouts out anti-racism. The evidence is that Scout and her uncle does justice for Tom, a Black victim sexually assaulted by a White woman and later was falsely accused, and was eventually sent into jail. Being a white child who isn’t familiar with how severe racism is in their society, Jem was heartbroken and weeped for Tom when he knew the tragic news of Tom being sent to jail.


In conclusion, the movie ignored a few significant parts but still thoroughly elucidated the situation of that period in the novel. It effectively helped us understand the condition of racism that the book wanted to tell us.