This timeless novel emphasizes the importance of standing up for what is right and how effective it can be for a person to see things from another person's point of view before making judgments. The examples in the novel that illustrate these principles are much more serious than things we may experience through our lives, but each lesson to be learned from this story can certainly be applied to each of us individually.
An effective part of reading American literature is learning about America's heroes. The character Atticus in To Kill A Mockingbird is considered an American hero because of his goodness, humility, and for standing up for things because it was the right thing to do. He sets the stage for all of the lessons taught in the novel. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Having people to look up to, real or fictional, can make an impact on students behavior and help them strive to be better.
This book also circles around how society treated individuals because of their race, their differences, their social status, etc. A large portion of this novel circles around people being judgmental and insensitive to others because of things that classify them as different from everyone else. One example from the novel is when a man in town is thought to be strange because he is married to a black woman and has mixed children. He goes to great measures to convince them that he does what he does because he's under the influence of alcohol, because he knows they would never understand why he lives the way he does. "I try to give 'em reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whisky - that's why he won't change his ways. He can't help himself, that's why he lives the way he does" "...they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that's the way I want to live."
From my personal experience reading this classic novel, I found it extremely eye-opening and it really caused me to ponder about each situation from the novel. It's so sad to think that society in America could be so cruel, but it's important to reflect back on it to realize the seriousness of things back then. Reading about a role model like Atticus, although he wasn't a real person, made me wish that everyone could have that point of view and be as humble and kind as he is portrayed. To Kill A Mockingbird is too valuable to be taken from school systems, and I think that a lot of opportunities for students' to learn would be missed out on.
