Night Bookers Book Club's Discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird

The group had an interesting discussion about To Kill a Mockingbird. First, they discussed the controversy of the use of the "N" word in the book. Most people thought they were taking the word out of context of the book and the times the book was written. One another note one woman said she had read the book before and hadn't understood the big deal about the book. Now, the second time around, she loved the book. People agreed that this book needs to be read more than once to get everything out of it. Some thought books like these are wasted on kids. People though it was clever how the author captured seeing things from Scout's, a child's, point of view. People like the character Atticus who was a single parent with an open line of communication with his children. One woman remembered discussing this book in high school, and there was a lot of prejudice outside the classroom. Another woman had lived in Georgia and had seen first hand the discriminatory attitude toward African Americans. The group also discussed besides racial issues that there were class issues, and issues in confronting the neighbors. Atticus goes against his neighbors by defending Tom Robinson, an African-American accused of raping Mayella. (Even though Tom Robinson is innocent, he is found guilty, which surprised many in the group. Because he was found guilty it meant death by capital punishment for Tom). One woman felt sorry for Mayella because she was sexually abused by her father, but she couldn't tell anybody because she was a poor woman. The group found it interesting that it was worse to be raped by an African American than a white man. People also thought it was interesting that the strongest woman character was Calpurnia, the African American maid of Atticus. People spent some time how race and class are still issues today. Some saw hope that race would be less of an issue today with all the interracial marriage. People also brought up some of the animosity has shifted to new groups Latinos and people from India/Pakistan. The group talked about Scout's friend Dill who had no real home, and spent time visiting his relatives. His character based on the childhood of Truman Capote. One woman said she had seen children like Dill who had no real home, and he reminded her of children who had no home and who had been abused and taken advantage of. The group concluded that we haven't moved on from the issues of race, class, and capital punishment brought out in the book.