‘People are entitled to full respect for their opinions. But before I live with others, I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.’
That’s what Atticus tells his daughter Scout in Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, when she questions his decision to defend a black man against the opinion of practically everyone in the town they live in. It’s my favourite quote and it’s from one of my most favourite books – which is celebrating its golden jubilee today. The book was first published exactly fifty years to the date on July 11th, 1960 and has never gone out of print since then. The Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has been translated into 40 languages and was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Gregory Peck in 1965. The novel also constantly figures on almost every poll of favourite books, rated by both readers and scholars across the world.
With the United States in the midst of a civil rights movement when it was first published, the book became renowned for its central theme of racial injustice. The story revolves around Atticus Finch, a lawyer with a liberal attitude. He is a widower with two young children: Jem and Scout. When Atticus is appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl, Jem and Scout are forced to confront the reality of racial prejudice in the small fictional county they live in – Maycomb.
My own reasons for treasuring the novel however, go beyond its central premise. It’s the characterisation and universal values that strike a chord. From Scout and Jem’s loss of innocence to lessons on how courage and tolerance never go out fashion, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ always has something that you can learn from or reminisce about.
One of the things that takes me back to my own childhood is how the narrator Scout faces the fallout of being a little-miss-know-it-all at a young age. Here’s Scout describing her first day at school –
As I read the alphabet a faint line appeared between her eyebrows (the teacher Miss Caroline), and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile Register aloud, she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste. Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to teach me any more, it would interfere with my reading.
Scout being rebuked reminded me of instances, such as the time I was asked not to use big words like ‘humongous’ in the classroom, as other children had never heard of them.
The relationship Scout shares with her elder brother Jem, is one of the most captivating factors throughout the novel for me and brings back fond memories of how I was the constant (and sometimes unwanted) sidekick to my elder brother – whether it was running around and coming up with secret games or plotting against nasty neighbours; we, just like the Finches, always presented a united front.
Jem condescended to take me to school the first day, a job usually done by one’s parents, but Atticus had said Jem would be delighted to show me where my room was. I think some money changed hands in this transaction, for as we trotted around the corner past the Radley Place I heard an unfamiliar jingle in Jem’s pockets.
Scout is appalled when Jem is sent to apologise to a mean neighbour for ruining her garden in retaliation to her vitriolic attack on their father –
For the life of me, I did not understand how he could sit there in cold blood and read a newspaper when his only son stood an excellent chance of being murdered…Of course Jem antagonised me sometimes until I could kill him, but when it came down to it he was all I had.
Scout’s puppy love with her childhood pal Dill (who befriends them while spending his summers with his aunt in Maycomb) is another heart-warming relationship that runs through the novel –
Dill was becoming something of a trial anyway, following Jem about. He asked me earlier in the summer to marry him, then he promptly forgot about it. He stalked me out, marked as his property, said I was the only girl he would ever love, then he neglected me. I beat him up twice but it did no good, he only grew closer to Jem.
The core of the novel is Atticus’s words of wisdom that are reserved for his children and always demonstrated through example –
If you can learn a simple trick Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand
a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.
Through the example of their old neighbour Mrs Dubose, Atticus teaches his children about the true meaning of courage –
I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win but sometimes you do.
When Scout and Jem receive air-rifles for Christmas, Atticus takes the opportunity to explain to them how wrong it is to persecute those who are nothing but innocent and good which is then reiterated in the novel through the characters of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.
I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.
Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us and sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.
The childlike innocence combined with the adult language of the narrator Scout who is recounting a story from her own childhood in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is something that without doubt appeals to readers of all ages, so I suggest if you haven’t read the book yet, it’s time to go pick up the 50th anniversary edition.
That was so beautiful. I love the book already and you make me love it all the more!
wow wat a gr8 piece of info…im an ardent lover of dis book nd hv read it hundreds of tym…nd evry tym learn sumthing meaningful frm it…d most imp thng dat d book teaches without being preachy is :we shud let our conscience be alive nd voice it combating all social stima nd pressure…nd belive in ourslf…
congrats on dis masterpiece turning 50…
this is the best book i’ve read..made me cry in the end…
I have read this book twice, long back and feel like wanna read again. So touched with childhood innocence and the moral value the book talks about. I would highly recommend this book for every parents and every child.
A beautiful book and a powerful movie.There are people who still love such type of books and movies.
i love the book soooo much.it is one of the best books EVER and a must read for ALL book lovers..a very inspiring tale..sing on,mocking bird!
Thank you Jharna for the very absorbing account of the book and the movie.
I had heard so much about the book and always wanted to read it but never had the patience or time to read and savor it the way you have done.
Having read your brief, I believe I have read the whole book.
It is certainly a refreshing way to get introduced to a subject that is so timeless as this .
thank you once again .
Shekar
Shekhar…thanks so much…but don’t just stop at my post…go ahead and pick up the book…it’s well worth your time…and then tell me how you liked it
Hi ,
Thanks for your review..
I bought the DVD of TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD 2 yrs back …but never seent it so far.
But now you have triggered me to go for it.
Thanks and good day ..
tell me how you liked it…and do read the book..you won’t regret the time spent
The best book ever. I have read it several times each time carry home something more.
This is a truly touching story told by two young children of a white lawyer in a deep south small town in USA. A black was on trial for raping a white woman – a crime punishable be death sentence. But a white man was not if his offence was raping a black woman. Total inequality in law – all citizens were not equal. The lawyer – a widower played by actor Gregory Peck defends the man which was a sensation in the town – white lawyer defending a black rapist of a white woman. His young son and daughter would sneak into the oourt room after school hours to watch the proceedings and their father in action as a lawyer. Bewilderd by what was happening they start whispering loudly amongst themselves which catches their father’s attention. And the scene that followed at home – a black family nanny who is in charge of bringing up the motherless children fiececely taking up cudgels for the children against their father’s anger.
Truly a modern day classic much like Uncle Tom’s Cabin and other stories about the injustices against the blacks in USA which persisted for well over 150 years till the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s & 60s led by Rev Martin Luther King’s ” I have a dream” slogan and the enactment of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson. This bill was as important in America’s history as the Abolition Of Slavery signed by Abraham Lincoln.
Subrata Datta
There’s this different laid-back attitude about reading this book. At the same time it being truly honest and to the point for the readers. Superb read for a weekend.
Indeed a timeless classic
Jharna, another aspect which makes this book/movie so endearing and Atticus Finch a ‘true’ hero is his ability to command respect. Sample one of my all time favorite cinematic moments:
After the jury verdict in the court room, everyone (the whites) have left and Atticus is collecting all his stuff and trudging along the court room aisle. The entire Mezzanine full of blacks stand up in pin drop silence and the Reverend tells Scout – Jean Louise. Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passing.
This scene captures the essence of ‘Atticus – the hero’ like nothing else
aah…lovely moment…Atticus is a rockstar
[…] Pulitzer prize winning book has completed 50 years, on July 11, 2010. And Jharna Kukreja Chauhan’s post on the book, has made me realize the essence of it. So, I do not have a review on the book […]
thanks for the mention…hope have inspired you enough to read the book soon…tell me how you liked it
[…] Harper Lee’s widely acclaimed ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ celebrated the 50th anniversary of it publication even as Suma pointed out, it faces backlash by male journalists for being “sugar-coated” and, as they call it, “a woman’s book”. Criticism aside there’s no denying that the novel has left an everlasting impression on millions across the world. Here’s a personal tribute to the book. […]
They dont make movies like that anymore .
That was a great review of the book – thanks for this. Reminded me that I need to read the book once again. I have loved the film too.
Wonderful review, Jharna.. Will read the book again for the nth time..
Jharna,
I loved this review. One of my favorite books and of course, there are so many aspects to it that one could probably never ever do justice to it in one blog post. But u have done wonderfully and captured the essence, its more than the central theme, its about character and the lessons learnt while growing up. Loved the write-up.
Regards,
Rahul
This is a truly touching story told by two young children of a white lawyer in a deep south small town in USA. A black was on trial for raping a white woman – a crime punishable be death sentence. But a white man was not if his offence was raping a black woman. Total inequality in law – all citizens were not equal. The lawyer – a widower played by actor Gregory Peck defends the man which was a sensation in the town – white lawyer defending a black rapist of a white woman. His young son and daughter would sneak into the oourt room after school hours to watch the proceedings and their father in action as a lawyer. Bewilderd by what was happening they start whispering loudly amongst themselves which catches their father’s attention. And the scene that followed at home – a black family nanny who is in charge of bringing up the motherless children fiececely taking up cudgels for the children against their father’s anger.
Truly a modern day classic much like Uncle Tom’s Cabin and other stories about the injustices against the blacks in USA which persisted for well over 150 years till the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s & 60s led by Rev Martin Luther King’s ” I have a dream” slogan and the enactment of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson. This bill was as important in America’s history as the Abolition Of Slavery signed by Abraham Lincoln.
really a very touching story,i have recently read this book and was touched by child innocence.but i am sure there is no racism now in u.s.a
I liked ur review.It has been a favourite of mine ever since I read it while I was in school.I read it a couple of more times late and i have been gifting people with this whenever I could.The movie is equally good.Gregory peck as Atticus is amazing!The only actor I can imagine as Finch.The mocking bird’s call will always be alive in my heart! As a child I cried so much at the injustice.But I imagined I heard the laughter of the Mocking bird and that made me feel there would be justice, there would be fairness,there would be light at the end of the tunnel.After all we r created in God’s image!
haven’t read the book and don’t remember seeing the movie so did the black man get the justice. from the comments looks like it. should be a good book i guess.
I had the occasion to see the moovie when I was very young, but did not understand most of it. At the age of 62 I chanced upon its DVD in a shop and on impulse bought it. My wife,teenaged son and myself watched it and thoroughly felt uplifted. To our surprise even my son liked it. After reading Jharna’s splendid review I was tempted to leave a reply which I normally don’t. Keep on reviewing.