Everyone fights sometimes, but in some books, everyone seems to fight all the time. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of these books. The main character, Scout, sees the world through a young child’s eyes, which is a refreshing, yet sad viewpoint to see so many traumas. Scout may not understand everything that is going on, but when she describes what happens, you feel like it happened to you. The entire format of this book is amazing, with layer after layer of story, all surrounding the main plot. A major theme that is repeated time after time in this tale is this: jobs that no one wants still must be done.  

 An example of my theme is Atticus shooting the rabid dog. Atticus never enjoyed shooting living things when he was younger, so it was probably difficult for him to shoot this dog, which was like a pet to the neighborhood, but he knew the danger which his family and friends were in. He shot the dog to save everyone else, not thinking of himself. The same is true with Atticus taking Tom Robinson’s case. It was a case no one else would try -who cares if a Negro dies- but Atticus cared, so he took the case. At the very end of the book, there is another wonderful example of a character taking a job no one wants. Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell, but he probably did not want to. He did it to save Scout and Jem, who were, at the time, the only people who realized that he was not a monster. If they had not been there, Boo would have done nothing violent to Mr. Ewell. Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird have almost impossible choices sometimes, but the right choice is usually made.   

                The county of Maycomb has a rich history, with some interesting turns, and a few harsh jobs. Maycomb seceded from Alabama, which they might not have wanted to do, but they knew that it was the right thing. Also, the time period is the early great depression, which no one asked to live in, but the town survives, even flourishes, in the hard times. They never give up. Another thing, from a purely environmental standpoint, is the large dump. This dump seems to symbolize the growing problems of Maycomb County. Some support for this is that the Ewells live right next to the dump, and in the story they are a huge controversy- they hunt out of season and depend on welfare-but they are still there. What I took from that observation was this. Everyone knows that adding to the dump is bad, but no one wants to be the one to stop it because it is too much work. It is the job that everyone thinks is too important to lose, but not important enough to give their full attention.