To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

"It is not what an author says, but what she whispers which is most

important.

In other words, one must read in between the lines to discover the

subtler meaning of novels. This is true for To Kill a Mockingbird by

Harper Lee.

Understanding of the many themes in To Kill a Mockingbird is attained

only by reading in between the lines. A major one of these themes is

dignity as Harper Lee presents a clear picture of which characters are

dignified. She does not clearly state which characters are dignified,

but she utilizes actions to differentiate between the dignified and

the undignified. Amongst the poor folk, the Cunninghams have dignity

and the Ewells lack it. The Cunninghams pay back everything they

borrow. One Cunningham turned the racist mob away from Atticus and Tom

Robinson; another almost voted for Tom's innocence at his trial. This

virtuous behavior proves the Cunninghams to be dignified. While the

Cunninghams' good deeds demonstrate their dignity, the Ewells' actions

prove them undignified. They live unhealthily off the town's welfare

and the father, Bob Ewell, selfishly causes the death of an innocent

man and tries to kill two innocent children. Of the rich people in

Maycomb, Atticus holds dignity while Miss Stephanie lacks it. Miss

Stephanie lies, exaggerates, and gossips about the town's affairs.

Harper Lee whispers Miss Stephanie's dignity deficiency through her

undignified actions, but never labels Miss Stephanie as undignified.

Although the author does not describe him as dignified, Atticus is a

moral man who considers all possible implications before he acts. He

also undertak...

... middle of paper ...

...ertain similarities between Mrs. Dubose defeating her morphine

addiction and Atticus defending Tom Robinson.

"It is not what an author says, but what she whispers which is most

important." This holds true for To Kill a Mockingbird. It contains

themes such as dignity which are not obvious in the text, but which

Harper Lee implies. She also does not clearly state the connection

between Mrs. Dubose overcoming her morphine addiction and Atticus

defending Tom Robinson, but she whispers the metaphor through the

characters' similar qualities and motivations. Another implicit aspect

of the book is its title's subtle relevance to the text. To kill

either Tom Robinson or Boo Radley is to kill a mockingbird because

they are metaphorical mockingbirds. None of these ideas is explained

in the text; Harper Lee softly whispers them.

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