Dear Editors,

My younger brother is in seventh grade this year, and it’s very clear to me that he is able to grasp complicated, deep–rooted concepts, especially in literature. We have discussions about our views on many different systems in place in our school, home, and the United States. To say he, or any other seventh grader, is ill–equipped to handle the complicated discussions that arise from reading a novel as sophisticated as “To Kill a Mockingbird” is inappropriate.

That said, and in contrast with some of the views of the students who were taught the book in seventh grade and were interviewed for this article, I do not believe “To Kill a Mockingbird” should be used as a historical depiction of events in the 1930s. Claiming that the novel provides a complete insight into what life was like then flattens a reader’s understanding of the time period; readers see through the lens of Atticus Finch, the white man who the novel focused on, rather than Tom Robinson, the black man who was on trial.

In seventh grade, “To Kill a Mockingbird” was one of the first exposures many people in my grade had to discussions about race relations. When students are learning about race through the sole lens of the white hero, Finch, they completely miss any of the perspective of Robinson, when in fact Robinson’s views would be much more revealing of the time period.

Young readers are led to believe that Finch is the savior, and so they can safely close the novel feeling as though the prejudice has been resolved. Readers can be satisfied not knowing anything about Robinson’s life or family–just that Atticus saved the day. The prejudiced system that exists in the novel before and after the trial is hardly discussed.

I do believe “To Kill a Mockingbird” should continue to be read and talked about, but it should not be the novel that first exposes Parker students to the history of racism in the United States. Students should learn the history of the 20th century before reading the novel, and then the novel can be discussed as a single lens on the issue. There are many other aspects to a piece of literature besides the plot of the story. It’s unfair to implement the idea of a white hero and a resolved case about racism in students’ heads before they formally learn about the systems of racial prejudice present in the past and the current time.

Zoe Laris-Djokovic ‘19