Racism in Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

by Candice L. Mancini

Presents essays that examine racism and other related issues in "To Kill a Mockingbird," discussing such topics as new and old Southern values, and the connection between class, gender, and racial prejudice.

209 pages, Paperback

First published December 14, 2007

Reviews

[Julia (wortknistern) · Rating 4 out of 5]

good selection of essays (or excerpts of essays), academic but yet easy to understand. I didn't particularly like that a lot of authors seem to include half a page or a few sentences on Harper Lee's background simply for the sake of completion - seems pointless to me to include a few meaningless sentences when there is whole books written about the topic.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not impressed. I picked this up because a school in Mississippi recently took it off the curriculum because "some language in the book makes people uncomfortable." I wanted to read essays about why it's still important and needs to be taught. Unfortunately, there were a couple essays in the collection suggesting it should be banned! Other than that, most of the essays just repeated the same things. By the end, I felt that 95% of the authors were all stuck in groupthink. They even perpetuate that white people should still feel guilty about ancestral racism. I didn't glean anything but rather felt more frustrated toward the topic. If this book causes so much distress, maybe we should find other candidates to teach.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for research. A book of essays about Harper Lee's masterpiece. Some very interesting viewpoints.