A Post-colonial Interpretation Of To Kill A Mockingbird

A mixture of inheritance and innovation, To Kill a Mockingbird inherits the tradition of American Southern literature and tries to observe the south from a more objective perspective. With a 6-year-old girl as the narrator, this novel acquaints us with the life of the southerners during the Great Depression, especially the ones lower in race and class. Once published, this novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and its author Harper Lee became one of the most popular writers. This novel has been regarded as a classic work revealing the themes of racial injustice and destruction of innocence until now. The status Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird enjoy in the history of American literature is remarkable.Tom in To Kill a Mockingbird is a representative of the blacks who lived bitterly and arduously in the American South in the 1930s. The racism reflected by Tom’s rape case is a focus of this novel, which draws much attention from the public. Lee reveals and castigates racial discrimination and prejudice directly and appeals for justice and morality intensely. However, it is difficult for a white writer to treat the racial issues and the black without bias. Harper Lee is also no exception. She betrays a kind of colonial consciousness in her writing. The exploration of her complex colonial consciousness is a key point in understanding To Kill a Mockingbird comprehensively. Based on the theories of Frantz Fanon and Gayatri C. Spivak, this thesis aims to explore Lee’s conflicting colonial consciousness in the novel. The thesis is divided into six chapters:Chapter One gives an introduction to Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as the reputation and status they enjoy in the history of American literature.Chapter Two reviews the research about this work and finds out where the research gap exists, and then presents the research methodology and the post-colonial theories employed in this thesis.Chapter Three explores the colonial consciousness in To Kill a Mockingbird. This chapter discusses Lee’s colonial consciousness exposed in her characterization of the uneducated blacks and revelation of the ethnic relationship in Maycomb.Chapter Four explores the anti-colonial consciousness in To Kill a Mockingbird. This chapter aims to explore the author’s anti-colonial consciousness exemplified in her characterization of the whites, her criticism against racism and the death of white racist Bob Ewell.Chapter Five tries to detect the narrative strategies employed in To Kill a Mockingbird. The narrative strategies are important in manifesting the theme and revealing the author’s thoughts. So this section will study Lee’s narrative strategies vital in deepening the post-colonial theme and betraying her conflicting colonial consciousness in To Kill a Mockingbird.Chapter Six presents the conclusion that Harper Lee betrays her colonial consciousness and anti-colonial consciousness in To Kill a Mockingbird, with her vivid depiction of the key figures and the ethnic relationship in Maycomb, her criticism against racism and the subtle narrative strategies she employs.