Analysis of the extract from novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Hapter Lee was born in 1926 in the state of Alabama. In 1945-1949 she studied law at the
University of Alabama. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is her first novel. It received almost unanimous
critical acclaim and several awards, the Pulitzer Prize among them.
The extract under study depicts a trial of Tom Robinson, a Negro, who is accused of
assaulting a white girl. His defending counsel is Atticus Finch, experiences lawyer who is going
his best to prove the innocence of the Negro.
The main problem raised by the author is an issue of justice. The message of Hapter Lee
is that in the face of court each and every human should be treated honestly, no matter what his
social status, education or colour of skin is.
The story is told by Jean Louise, seven years old daughter of Atticus who is watching the
trial. It helps to make the narration much more vivid, emotional and real because she knows her
father very well and therefore is able to see each and every unusual detail in his behavior. For
example antisepsis “in public and private”, homogeneous parts of the sentence “he unbuttoned
his vest, unbuttoned his collar, loosened his tie and took off his coat” and an epithet “stark
naked” are employed to show how excited was Atticus on the trial. But despite his excitement,
he did not lose his professionalism what is made clear by the use of simile “he was talking to the
jury as if they were folks on the post office corner” and metaphor “Atticus wasn’t a thundered”.
Characterization of other personages is given indirectly as well. In his speech Atticus
describes defendant Negro using epithets and bitter irony “And so a quite respectable, humble
Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to feel sorry for a white woman”. The girl in turn is
described with a use of stylistic devices with negative connotation, Atticus compares her with
child “she did something every child has done”. And very strong epithets “rigid and timehonored code, a code so severe” and metaphor “..whoever breaks it is hounded from our society”
are used to emphasize the seriousness of the girl’s guilt.
In fact, Atticus’s speach should be analyzed more precise. He as a lawyer tries to win
listeners over his side, that’s why his speech is a vivid example of oratorical style. If to speak
about syntactical devises, the sentences he uses in the speech are long and composite with a
number of attributive and so-ordinate clauses, joined by different conjunctions. This makes a
contribution to the logics of speech. Another distinguished feature is the use of parallel
construction “some Negroes lie, some Nergoes are immoral, some Nergoes are not to be trusted
around women” trying to persuade that not all Negroes are evil and bad. Atticus also makes use
of gradation to emphasize one more time the innocence of the defendant “This case is not a
difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts …this case should never have
come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white”, the simile is also employed in the last
sentence.
The text should be divided into two parts, it is Atticus’s speech itself and development of
narration after he finishes. To my mind, the climax of the story comes when everybody started to
stand up after Atticus loosed the trial and lefte the court. Even though he did not win, he still
tried to do his best to achieve justice. The Negroes respect him for his courage and persistence,
and mostly for his strong believe that all people ought to be equal before the law.