The book that impacted me in life

Although I have just finished reading the book "To Kill a Mockingbird", I have already felt the great impact it had on me. I have learnt lessons in this book. However, let me start with listing the various themes Harper Lee was trying to convey. They are Racism/discrimination, friendship/acceptance, justice, victimization, and education. I find it very intriguing and unique when Harper Lee used Scout as the main character for such a complicated book. It makes the book very "childish".

The story is about a very upright lawyer, Atticus, who took up a case to defend Tom Robinson, a black, from raping and beating Mayella Ewell. It is very clear that Tom Robinson is innocent as his left hand is crippled, but Tom Robinson was still convicted. As Scout and Jem started to realize that many people in town are very prejudiced against blacks, and as they learn more about the way of I life, I also learnt my lesson.

In the past, I have to admit, I loved to insult and make fun of people I did not like. Unknowingly, I hurt many people. It was very selfish and evil of me, and I made many enemies. However, I did not mind it as I derived a lot of pleasure from this. When I was Secondary 2, I was told that "to kill a mockingbird" was going to be my literature text. And as I read it, I realized that I was no different from the town people, especially Bob Ewell, who discriminated people, in their case, the blacks. I find that the people in maycomb were not doing the right thing, and I also realized my wrongdoings in the past. As the saying goes " Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit' em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird". I insulted others because I do not like them, not because they harmed me.

In this book, three of the themes impacted me. It is discrimination/racism, friendship/acceptance and Education. If I learn not to discriminate other people, I will naturally learn to accept them and develop a friendship with them. I have learnt that other than my academic result, one must also excel in his character. I have to step in other peoples shoes before I can finally empathize with them.

In conclusion, the reason I chose this book is because it has taught me to turn over a new leaf. This is not only my literature text, it is the recipe for me to become an upright person. I want to say sorry to the people I have offended and I hope that they will forgive me.