Introduction
To Kill a Mockingbird is a book that causes controversy among readers of all ages. Due to its language, the issues it delves into, and the way these issues are tackled in the work, it is not considered appropriate for middle and high school students. The interpretations of the book can vary, and some interpretations indicate that this piece should not be taught in schools. However, despite the discrepancies, To Kill a Mockingbird should be studied in high schools, as it accurately portrays the historical reality, teaches fundamental human values, and helps develop students’ critical thinking.
Accurate Portrayal of Historical Reality
Making students study readings that correctly depict the past is necessary, and To Kill a Mockingbird captures that reality in detail. The language of the book is one of the things that makes it banned, as it is considered to affect young readers negatively. It is clear that exposing children to harsh language and slurs needs to be done with caution; however, it is impossible to teach youngsters the darker side of history without including the language that was prevalent back then. That is why students’ attention should be drawn to how language is one of the indicators of social injustice.
The same goes for the violence illustrated in the book. The harshness of its illustration can be seen as inappropriate for teenagers; nevertheless, this violence is integral to the events of those years. Mulligan’s movie (1962) depicts the harsh language, the violence, and the injustice of the legal system with precision, which submerges viewers into the cruelty these details were meant to demonstrate. This submersion is necessary for children to understand history better, which is why teaching Lee’s novel is a good way to achieve that.
Teaching Fundamental Human Values
There are literary works that are fundamental for teaching students core values; such works are hard to replace, and To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those pieces. By creating a contrast between the systematic injustice and the protagonist who somehow opposes this injustice, the author focuses attention on the values of the protagonist. These are such values as respect, kindness, empathy, fairness, and others (Dhaliani, 2020).
According to Dhaliani (2020), the main character, Atticus, is the most respectable person in the town, and he holds the strongest moral values; he also always shows respect to others. That sets a positive example for young people, as they see that being respected comes from respecting the people around them. Kindness and empathy are two more values the book is based on, and these are the characteristics that the protagonist continuously demonstrates. The book succeeds in teaching all these values as they are opposed to the system’s unfairness and, thus, should be taught to young people.
Developing Critical Thinking
Over the years, the book has been interpreted differently, and the variety in the possible interpretations is what makes this work suitable for teaching students to think critically. The critics of the book argue that the protagonist is depicted as the white savior, and the whole story is told from a white man’s perspective (Dalton, 2022). Dalton (2022) argues that despite the fact that the intention was to show how important it is to be humane, it focuses exclusively on the virtues of a white man.
At the same time, the experiences of black people and their suffering are set aside. Indeed, even in the movie (Mulligan, 1962), it was the white protagonist Atticus and white characters who took most of the screen time, while black characters were somewhat neglected and shown in a small number of scenes. The character of Tom Robinson is only present in the courtroom, and even though he is shown as a good man, his goodness is only discovered thanks to his lawyer, Atticus Finch (Dalton, 2022). This shows that the book’s primary focus is, indeed, on the white protagonist rather than on black characters.
It is important to note that most anti-racist works of the time were mainly focused on the perspective of white people, and Harper Lee’s novel is not an exception to this rule. Nevertheless, this is precisely why it is essential to teach students this book and encourage them to look at it from different viewpoints, including the critical one. It is necessary to point out that any literary work can have its flaws and can be criticized. Hence, it is only beneficial to include such controversial books as To Kill a Mockingbird in school curricula.
Conclusion
To conclude, even though there is a lot of controversy around Harper Lee’s novel and whether it is an acceptable reading for students, it is apparent that it is a high-quality literary piece that should be taught to children for various reasons. It is necessary to show students the dark side of history by learning novels from that time. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most accurate books. Moreover, the primary goal of teaching students literature is to educate them on the importance of having values and to teach them to think critically. Lee’s novel is appropriate for both of these aims.
References
Dalton, D. (2022). Considering the audience for a comprehensive understanding of “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Journal of Student Research at Indiana University East, 4(1). 10-20.
Dhaliani, M. (2020). The character and moral values in “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Journal of English Language Teaching, 3(1), 81-87. Web.
Mulligan, R. (1962). To Kill a Mockingbird. Brentwood Productions.