Prose claims that reading To Kill a Mockingbird equals considering issues of race and prejudice from a “safe distance” (Prose 187). Nevertheless, she does not give any viable alternatives to consider such relevant and prevalent narratives, as described by Harper Lee back in the sixties. In Prose’s opinion, To Kill a Mockingbird does not provide a lot of insight into human morality (Prose). The characters in To Kill a Mockingbird illustrate how fast we are to criticize others and how little we grasp each other. History tends to be cyclical, and spreading information on the subject is the only way to stop past mistakes from happening again. Yet, Francine Prose seems as if she cannot see the value in reading stories about events that previously happened. If not, Harper Lee’s work would not have had the same immediate impact when it was first released in the twentieth century.
Although Prose assures us that we, the readers, will never embrace the racist beliefs held by the lowlifes of the novel, we nevertheless encounter virtually the same difficulties with racism in our contemporary realia (Prose). Hence, students will only be able to advocate for change or notice challenges in the real world if they comprehend the fundamental problems raised in American literature. The book, the Prose argued, is “freighted with tons of sociopolitical ballast,” and not enough attention was paid to the composition and language (Prose 188). There is no reason a novel with a moral message has to be boring. Of course, To Kill a Mockingbird is not meant to be a lecture. The lessons are delivered with an air of casual ease, yet they tackle the thorny topic of race with astonishing clarity and a firm grasp of reality.
Work Cited
Prose, Francine. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read, by Francine Prose.” Harper’s Magazine, 1999, Web.