History YMMV / ToKillAMockingbird

* CompleteMonster: Bob Ewell: racist, abusive father, and [[spoiler: attempted child murderer]].
** Let's elaborate on this. Okay, he [[spoiler: condemns an innocent man to death to try and avoid the shame of his daughter's sexual advances towards a black man and of the beating he gave his daughter after he walked in on said advances made public]] because he knows that Maycomb County's racist population will play along. And later, after he is publicly humiliated in the wake of [[spoiler: Tom Robinson]]'s trial, he lashes out at those involved with the trial, and among other things [[spoiler: sexually harasses Tom's recently widowed wife]], [[spoiler: breaks into the judge's house with the implied intention of lying in wait to ambush him]], and [[spoiler: attempts to slit Scout and Jem's throats with a switchblade as they walk home from a school play]].
** In the film at least (haven't read the book), after Atticus has [[spoiler: brought the news of Tom's death to his family]], Ewell has the gall to call Tom's father 'boy' and order him around. And the father has no choice but to go along with it.
** Let's not forget that [[spoiler: Mayella definitely implies that that he sexually abuses her. She's never kissed a grown man before, because what Papa does to her don't count?]]

* ValuesDissonance: Examined. The teacher Miss Caroline is quite displeased that Jem learned reading at a young age because it goes against the school system.

* CompleteMonster - Bob Ewell: racist, abusive father, and [[spoiler: attempted child murderer.]]

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming - Boo Radley.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome - Terrific [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5cKSMI6_8k masterpiece]] composed by ElmerBernstein.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny - A YoungAdult ComingOfAgeStory about a {{Tomboy}} growing up in a QuirkyTown in TheDeepSouth during the CivilRightsMovement, and her heroic HotDad who braves communal scorn to [[{{MightyWhitey}} help the oppressed black man.]] Sounds like a ClicheStorm from TheNineties, but was groundbreaking when first published in 1960.
* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped - Treating people unfairly because they have a different skin color from you is wrong. A similar moral in empathy is dropped with Boo Radley, who is shunned for being different.

* ToughActToFollow - Lee avoided this trope by never writing another book.

* ValuesDissonance- Examined. The teacher Miss Caroline is quite displeased that Jem learned reading at a young age because it goes against the school system.
* TheWoobie - Tom Robinson. He's a nice quiet family man who minded his own business, and occasionally helped Mayella.
** Also, Tom's wife. [[spoiler:She does her best to make ends meet for her children after her husband is framed and killed, only to be endlessly harassed by Bob Ewell and considered to be living in "sin and squalor" by the local white women]].

* TearJerker - The film: I know I cried when Scout talked to mr. Cunningham in the lynch mob, when the black community stood up as Atticus left the court room even though he lost the case, and even harder when the reverent told Scout to "stand up, miss Jean Louise, you're father's passin'", when Atticus receives the news that Tom Robinson has been killed and tries to convince himself the deputy sherrif didn't murder him, when Tom's father slouches into the house, moments after hearing his son is dead, being ordered around and called 'boy' by the man primarily responsible, and when Atticus, a man so fiercely protective of his children, trusts Boo Radley, a mute shut-in with a violent reputation, enough to leave him alone in a room with Scout and an unconscious Jem.

** In the film at least (haven't read the book), after Atticus has brought the news of Tom's death to his family, Ewell has the gall to call Tom's father 'boy' and order him around. And the father has no choice but to go along with it.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome - Terrific [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t98LWNwUhI masterpiece]] composed by ElmerBernstein.

** Also, Tom's wife. [[spoiler:She does her best to make ends meet for her children after her husband is framed and killed, only to be endlessly harassed by Bob Ewell and considered to be living in "sin and squalor" by the local white women]]. As noted above, Mayella could be considered a JerkassWoobie. Yes, she caused the court case, but she tried to seduce Tom because he was the only person who ever showed her any sort of affection or kindness and it's implied that she only goes along with the rape story because she's terrified of her father and because she just wants ''some'' kind of acceptance in the community.

*** Why is this in the YMV section?

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped - Treating people unfairly because they have a different skin color from you is wrong. A similar moral in empathy is dropped with Boo Radley.

** Also, Tom's wife. [[spoiler:She does her best to make ends meet for her children after her husband is framed and killed, only to be endlessly harassed by Bob Ewell and considered to be living in "sin and squalor" by the local white women]]. As noted above, Mayella could be considered a JerkassWoobie. Yes, she caused the court case, but she tried to seduce Tom because he was the only person who ever showed her any sort of affection or kindness and it's implied that she only goes along with the rape story because she's terrified of her father.

* JerkassWoobie: Mayella is ''not'' a likable person at all, but it's ''extremely'' [[TearJerker difficult]] not to feel bad for her and hope she can grow up and somehow turn her life around [[spoiler: once her father gets what he deserves.]]

*** In that same vein, [[spoiler: why are there so many young children in the Ewell family when Mayella was so young when her mother died as to barely remember her and there are no references to a stepmother?]]

* YourMileageMayVary - As any high school student could tell you, the book has its detractors.

* YourMileageMayVary - As any high school freshman could tell you, the book has its detractors.

** It's hypocritical to defend one group from persecution and then persecute another, as shown when Scout is utterly confused when her teacher talks about how horrible Hitler is for his genocide of the Jews, but had cheered on [[spoiler:Tom Robinson's death sentence]] and then insulted the African American community at large.

* LawfulGood - Atticus Finch is a ''perfect'' example of this CharacterAlignment. The American Legal Society chose this as the best law movie ever made because of him. Superman's favorite book is To Kill A Mockingbird even.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome - Terrific [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t98LWNwUhI masterpiece]] composed by ElmerBernstein

** Also, Tom's wife. [[spoiler:She does her best to make ends meet for her children after her husband is framed and killed, only to be endlessly harassed by Bob Ewell and considered to be living in "sin and squalor" by the local white women]]. As noted above, Mayella could be considered a JerkassWoobie. Yes, she caused the court case, but she tried to seduce Tom because he was the only person who ever showed her any sort of affection or kindness and it's implied that she only goes along with the rape story because she's terrified of her father.