<P> Scholars have characterized To Kill a Mockingbird as both a Southern Gothic and a Bildungsroman . The grotesque and near - supernatural qualities of Boo Radley and his house, and the element of racial injustice involving Tom Robinson, contribute to the aura of the Gothic in the novel . Lee used the term "Gothic" to describe the architecture of Maycomb's courthouse and in regard to Dill's exaggeratedly morbid performances as Boo Radley . Outsiders are also an important element of Southern Gothic texts and Scout and Jem's questions about the hierarchy in the town cause scholars to compare the novel to Catcher in the Rye and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . Despite challenging the town's systems, Scout reveres Atticus as an authority above all others, because he believes that following one's conscience is the highest priority, even when the result is social ostracism . However, scholars debate about the Southern Gothic classification, noting that Boo Radley is in fact human, protective, and benevolent . Furthermore, in addressing themes such as alcoholism, incest, rape, and racial violence, Lee wrote about her small town realistically rather than melodramatically . She portrays the problems of individual characters as universal underlying issues in every society . </P> <P> As children coming of age, Scout and Jem face hard realities and learn from them . Lee seems to examine Jem's sense of loss about how his neighbors have disappointed him more than Scout's . Jem says to their neighbor Miss Maudie the day after the trial, "It's like bein' a caterpillar wrapped in a cocoon...I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that's what they seemed like". This leads him to struggle with understanding the separations of race and class . Just as the novel is an illustration of the changes Jem faces, it is also an exploration of the realities Scout must face as an atypical girl on the verge of womanhood . As one scholar writes, "To Kill a Mockingbird can be read as a feminist Bildungsroman, for Scout emerges from her childhood experiences with a clear sense of her place in her community and an awareness of her potential power as the woman she will one day be ." </P> <P> Despite the novel's immense popularity upon publication, it has not received the close critical attention paid to other modern American classics . Don Noble, editor of a book of essays about the novel, estimates that the ratio of sales to analytical essays may be a million to one . Christopher Metress writes that the book is "an icon whose emotive sway remains strangely powerful because it also remains unexamined". Noble suggests it does not receive academic attention because of its consistent status as a best - seller ("If that many people like it, it can't be any good .") and that general readers seem to feel they do not require analytical interpretation . </P> <P> Harper Lee has remained famously detached from interpreting the novel since the mid-1960s . However, she gave some insight into her themes when, in a rare letter to the editor, she wrote in response to the passionate reaction her book caused: "Surely it is plain to the simplest intelligence that To Kill a Mockingbird spells out in words of seldom more than two syllables a code of honor and conduct, Christian in its ethic, that is the heritage of all Southerners ." </P>

To kill a mockingbird by harper lee plot