Why have some critics described To Kill a Mockingbird as using a white savior trope?

Some critics have argued that Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird employs the white savior trope, a narrative device in which a white protagonist is portrayed as the necessary rescuer of nonwhite characters who are depicted as unable to overcome their predicaments on their own.12

In the context of the novel, this criticism often centers on the character of Atticus Finch, whose role as a white lawyer defending a Black man, Tom Robinson, is seen by some as placing the focus on the white protagonist's moral struggle rather than the agency or lived experiences of the Black characters. Furthermore, critics have noted that the Black characters in the story are sometimes portrayed as one-dimensional, lacking the depth and complexity found in works by authors such as Toni Morrison.23

While these critiques highlight significant concerns regarding racial representation and narrative focus, others point out that the novel was written in the 1950s, reflecting the specific social and historical world Lee knew while attempting to confront the systemic racism of the Jim Crow era.2