Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

As this is posted, it’s 66 years since the publication of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel was a major success, although some critics thought that Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch as narrator sounded too precocious. The character is, after all, only six as the story begins. Still, it has become an important novel (many say a classic). And of course, the 1962 Robert Mulligan film, starring Mary Badham as Scout and Gregory Peck as her father, Atticus, has become a classic film. The novel has been placed into various categories. It’s a coming-of-age story, a Southern Gothic story, and an exploration of racism, intolerance, and bridging the gaps between people. But can we also call it a crime novel? I think there’s an argument that we can.

One major plot line is the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell by a man called Tom Robertson. Mayella and her father claim that Tom is responsible for the rape. He says that he is innocent. The nature of the crime is enough to infuriate the public. To add spark to the proverbial flame, Mayella is white, and Tom is Black. This in itself is enough to convict him in the eyes of many. Atticus Finch is tapped to defend Tom, and it’s not going to be an easy task. To begin with, there are people who think that Atticus should not take this case, and they make their feelings known. What’s more, the Ewell family is respected in the town, and it’s simply assumed that Mayella and her father are telling the truth (or, perhaps better, are accurate in what they say). Nonetheless, Atticus is determined to make the best case he can and defend his client to the best of his ability. In this plot thread, we have an alleged crime and a trial – both elements of a crime novel.

There are other crimes in the book, too, including the attempted lynching of Tom by an angry group of people. That’s not the only other crime, but I don’t want to give spoilers, in case you haven’t read the book (or it’s been a long time since you did). Suffice it to say that the alleged rape and trial have repercussions that lead to more crime.

Many people also think of this as a legal novel – a sub-genre of crime fiction. And that makes sense. As Atticus prepares his case and works with Tom, there’s a discussion of how the law works and the law that applies in this case. Lee also touches on questions of what we mean by justice, and what counts as fairness. And in both the novel and the film adaptation, there is courtroom drama. In fact, there’s such a strong element of legal fiction that the University of Alabama School of Law and the American Bar Association Journal established the annual Harper Lee Prize for Best Legal Novel in 2010. The prize was discontinued in 2020, but even so, it shows the impact of this novel on legal fiction.

The novel also explores the impact of the crimes in the story. That, too, is a characteristic shared by a lot of crime fiction. It’s not a light story with a ‘happily ever after’ sort of ending. There are terrible consequences of some of the things that happen in the novel, and, like other crime fiction, the novel shows what happens to those around victims, perpetrators, and others involved in a case. Certainly it all has a strong effect on Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill. One could even argue that this novel has hints of the noir in that sense.

Another aspect of many crime novels (although this is certainly not universal) is that they address larger issues. Of course, many novels do this, whether or not they’re crime novels, but crime fiction often uses those larger issues as the backdrop for the crimes that are central to the plot. To Kill a Mockingbird addresses racism, bigotry, and vigilantism, and those factor into the way the various crimes and alleged crimes are viewed, handled, and play out as the novel goes on.

To Kill a Mockingbird is usually considered a coming-of-age novel, and there is a strong element of that in the book. After all, the story is told from Scout’s point of view, so we see how everything that happens in the novel impacts her. There’s also a plot line that concerns her, Jem, and Dill, and their friendship in the course of the story. Many people also see it as a Southern Gothic story, and there’s certainly that element in it. But if we consider the alleged rape, the other crimes that occur in the story, the legal aspects, and the courtroom drama, there’s also an argument that one can look at it as a crime novel. At the least, it can be argued that this is a hybrid that includes crime fiction. What do you think?

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Supertramp’s The Logical Song.