The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Life Lessons From "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Okay I meant to get back to this earlier but time and tide etc..
Okay first objection is your reference to a heavenly angel standing next to Atticus, your assumption here is that Lee held to some sort of idea of protecting angels, but there is no evidence of that in the story at all. We know nothing of Atticus Finch's beliefs or lack there of, although there is some evidence of it in chapter five, where Scout discusses Arthur Radley and Miss Maudie confides that she would be in hell because she wasn't a foot washing baptist. The upshot being Scout doubting the "pulpit gospel she was told.

Also it was known that Lee was a Methodist, and a companion of Capote and others so it is doubtful that she would be that "spiritual" in her view of how Scout backs down the crowd. More likely that she had shamed them by revealing their behavior for something that wasn't fitting for Southerners. Not to mention the one "guardian angel" there, Mr. Underwood, covering the group from the Tribune window with his shotgun.

So while there are plenty religious allusions in the book, and how could there not be seeing it was about a small Southern town, the question has to asked what was Harper Lee's purpose in writing this book? Was it to write of spiritual warfare or to point out the closed-minded bigotry that existed during the time?