Theme Of Artistry In Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

Fiction, the imagination, arguably stems from natural human instinct, but can the same be said for art? Are they one in the same or can they be distinguished? Dutton’s thesis gives biological credit to art and fiction’s role in the evolution of human beings, but fails to make a distinction between child’s creative role-play and works of art such as To Kill a Mockingbird. He proves his theory of fiction as instinct quite well, but there are still questions left unanswered. The artistry in Harper Lee’s novel is not an instinct that we can all tap into. We all have creative capabilities, but we are not all artists that can weave a story thick with metaphorical value so seamlessly. This does not necessarily mean artistry is a learned behavior, but surely it is not an instinct we can all muster up from nowhere. Having an imagination does not make you an artist, but every artist has an imagination. This is a critical distinction that Dutton does not stress. He takes a worldwide, cross-cultural approach while examining artistic experiences and their origin in human evolution. I cannot argue that this theory is invalid; it is a matter of clarifying things that he leaves the reader to question. …show more content…
Stories give people a way to act out scenarios that in some sense are a rehearsal for real life experiences. Stories prepare people for the unexpected because they provide us with the answers to the “what if” questions in our minds. Stories can also be a source of resourceful, factual information, as well as broaden our social capacity and create boundaries for social behavior in society. This creates a survival advantage for humans, but it does not make them artists. Dutton argues that “…life imitates art,” but I disagree (110). Art most often times imitates life, is inspired by real life experiences, and resonates with learned ideas or opinions formed from knowledge and not natural