To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Literary Criticism of Harper Lee 's- To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird holds a unique position in America 's literary canon . It is both one of the most widely read novels of the last century , winning the Pulitzer in the year of its publication . However for about thirty years after its publication it received minimum critical attention , and was largely considered to be a pleasant read rather than a profound statement on America 's social history . After that , however , it started to attract a large amount of critical attention , both

praise and derision , till it was rated as a book that was `most cited as making a difference in people 's life , second only to the Bible (Johnson 14 ) This is the only novel by Harper Lee , and she usually refrained from talking about her work apart from some rare interviews . The work , according to many has deep autobiographical elements inspired from real life settings and incidents . The novel addresses the issue of racism in the Far South , and is considered to be a strong statement against racism . On a purely moral front , Atticus Finch has become a sort of role model for a generation : a veritable symbol of a man standing by his own ideals and beliefs despite widespread social opposition . Some ethnocritics have criticized the book for its use of specific language and terms that , in an inverted way actually re-establishes racism in a subtle way . The book , despite dealing with these rather serious issues , is...