To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

Hardcover, 1982

Status

Available

Call number

F Lee

Call number

F Lee

Barcode

3369

Publication

Warner (1982), Edition: 1990 edition, from 1982 layout

Description

The explosion of racial hate in an Alabama town is viewed by a little girl whose father defends a black man accused of rape.

Original publication date

1960

User reviews

LibraryThing member atimco
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee's amazing Pulitzer-winning novel, is a rare and luminous novel that cannot be made trite no matter how many times it is assigned in high school. This book is quite funny in places, incredibly sad in others, and just plain real everywhere. It's our sad imperfect
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world seen through the eyes of a child — and thus rendered hopeful.

It seems silly to summarize the plot of such a well-known work, but briefly, this is the story of two white children in Alabama circa the 1930s whose father, a respected lawyer, is appointed to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. The subject matter sounds brutal but it never descends to the merely ugly for several reasons. One is because of the narrative voice: funny, honest, innocent, eight-year-old Scout. Another reason is that the evil is balanced — overshadowed, even — by the good people in the story, especially Atticus. But more on him later.

Lee is leisurely in her pace and tells all kinds of anecdotes about Maycomb County and its inhabitants before getting down to what we might call the real story. But as I savored the anecdotes this time, I realized that they are an essential part of Lee's world-building. I felt as though I had been given a slice of 1930s Alabama, tasting as good and as bad as real life.

The characters are perfectly written, always believable in their complexity and motivations. There are a lot of "good" characters who are imperfect and display prejudice at times, and some "bad" characters who turn out not to be so bad after all. There is a character who seems completely irredeemable, without a spark of virtue to spice his wickedness. And then there's Atticus.

Atticus Finch is one of the greatest heroes I've ever met in literature, the kind of man you want to name sons after. I've heard Atticus called the worst kind of Southern patriarchal white supremacist, because instead of starting a revolution and demanding change, he worked within and appeared to accept the flawed system of his time. This, of course, is rubbish. There is a time and place for militant demands... and there is also a time and place for personal integrity lived out quietly and without fanfare. Atticus does what he does because it is his best chance for saving Tom Robinson. Starting a public campaign to remedy all the ills ever suffered by the black population in Alabama and America and the world would not help Tom. Leading by example is such a cliché, but a character like Atticus Finch restores meaning to it. He is the moral center of this story and yet never loses his humanity.

One profound thing about To Kill a Mockingbird is that it has something to say not only about the evils of racism, but also about the honorable way to treat those who subscribe to views we would consider prejudiced. There are plenty of books out there that rail against prejudice, but very few that offer an unflinching ideal for interacting with both its victims and perpetrators. Again and again Atticus affirms that the people of Maycomb are still good people at heart, despite their ugly and illogical racism. He says that their views are worthy of respect even if he doesn't agree with them. Sometimes this seems a little unfair; letting Mrs. Henry Du Bois off the hook for her nastiness just because she is a sick woman doesn't seem right to me. But maybe this is grace in action, and Atticus almost a Christ-figure — forgiving even (and especially) when forgiveness is not deserved.

Religion is a thought-provoking theme in the story. Hypocrisy and legalism receive their due by being shown for what they are. And there are some very funny caricatures of religious sentiments (J. Grimes Everett and the missionary society come to mind here). But religion is not universally condemned; Atticus is certainly sincere in his faith and sits alone in church every Sunday so as not to be distracted by his children. It's clear that his faith is intensely personal and heartfelt. Calpurnia's church is a place where the people are earnest in their beliefs and exhorted — strongly — to live out their faith by helping one another, even sacrificially. I love the part when Reverend Sykes orders that the church doors be closed until they have collected enough money to help Helen Robinson! In several places, Atticus and Miss Maudie talk about being Christian as a good thing, a standard that many fall short of. Atticus' final plea to the jury on Tom's behalf invokes the name of God.

For this reread, I listened to Sissy Spacek's narration on Recorded Books audiobook. It was superb. Her gentle Southern drawl was just enough and not too much, and she really understood the characters. I could tell that she enjoyed the humorous parts, and was fearless in the heavier moments. I know there are a couple audiobooks out there for this book, but this has to be one of the better ones. Spacek is fantastic and her work perfectly complements the story.

To Kill A Mockingbird is a brilliant book, the kind that stays with you forever. Powerful and compelling.
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LibraryThing member theokester
Well, this is another classic novel that I hadn't yet read….hadn't seen the movie…didn't really know much of anything about it at all. I basically knew that this was a book set in Alabama in the 1930s and it involved a legal case with some sort of racial tension. In honor of its 50th
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anniversary, I decided it was high time I pick it up and get to it.

Right from the start I was drawn in by the youthful, vibrant voice of Scout, the 8 year old narrator. I absolutely loved the way she described the town, the county, the people and everything in her life. She has such an innocent and honest way of drawing the reader in. Her simple storytelling narrative is humorous and disarming (which comes in handy as the theme gets heavier). She did a wonderful job of painting an accurate description (at least as far as I'm concerned) of 1930s Alabama. I really felt like I was there…like I knew and understood (at least through the eyes of a child) the people of Maycomb.

As I read, I kept waiting for "the shoe to drop." I knew that there was a trial somewhere in this book and that it had some climactic underpinnings in the plot. As the story continued, I kept telling myself not to worry about the trial…that it would come eventually and that I should just enjoy the wonderful writing. Harper Lee made it easy to forget the other problems that were coming up (the trial) and keep us engaged in the intrigue and curiosity of Scout, Jem and Dill. I loved the various "side stories" along the way. They gave great insight into the characters in the town as well as the character of the society/community.

Slowly (but very interestingly) we finally arrive at the trial. The tension is huge naturally and Scout is worried. Because of her young age, some of the details she focuses on and her reactions are a little different than might be expected. It was cool to see Jem's reaction through her eyes (as he gripped the railing so tightly his knuckles turned white). I absolutely loved her confused and innocent reaction to the outcome of the trial.

What I found even more interesting is that when the trial ended, there were still a considerable number of pages left in the book. I thought perhaps it would follow an appeals process or something but was glad that the rest of the story was much more engaging than just more courtroom drama.

I loved (and at the same time was disgusted) by the hypocritical action and behavior of the townsfolk after the trial as compared to their behavior before hand. Most telling was the conversation at the afternoon meeting of the ladies that Scout was compelled to join with her aunt. The way they almost acknowledged Tom's innocence and Atticus's benevolence and saying that Tom would have been fine if he'd been patient.

Then the conversation about Hitler and the Jews was an excellent counterpoint to the racial tension. I loved the way that Scout could sense that there was a disconnect in the behavior/talk/action of the townsfolk as they discussed Hitler after behaving the way they did towards Blacks. She could sense something was wrong and could almost quantify the nature of the disconnect, but she had a hard time acknowledging that there could be such a broad disconnect in the minds of people.

As we reach the end of the book, another climactic event sets events into turmoil. I "predicted" one potential "sad" ending for the book and was actually relieved to see the book turn out the way it did. There was still a degree of ambiguity as to exactly what happened, but I agree with Heck that there are times when things should be left alone. Regardless of what actually/definitively happened, the end result is good for the community. I'm a little concerned to know what happens to the Ewells and to Boo, but those sort of "loose ends" are to be expected in a novel with such an extensive depth.

There are so many wonderful themes in this book. The racial tension and description of southern life and souther racism are at the forefront. But Lee also explores themes of class and family structure, moral courage and the nature of innocence. The idea of innocence was especially interesting to me and felt especially poignant with the book coming from the voice of a young child going through such adult ordeals. Scout's innocence about the world slowly fades as she watches the destruction of Tom's innocence as well as having her conceptions of Boo Radley transform from one of horror/monster to innocent and heroic.

I am very glad I finally got around to reading this book. I feel like it is a great commentary on culture, society and prejudice. I loved the narrative voice, the humor and fun way such a heavy bunch of themes were presented. I really enjoyed the discussions between Scout, Atticus, Jem and the others. The characters were deep and very well developed and provided great depth to the story. There are so many small threads running through the story that I'm sure there is a lot to digest beyond the first read (aspects such as the fire, the teaching methods in the school, the various gifts in the tree, the other inhabitants on Scout's street, etc). This is a rich and wonderful novel that I will gladly read again.

*****
5 out of 5 stars
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LibraryThing member reading_fox
Charming and delightful, and at times heartwrenching. Set in 1935 but written in 1960 it features a couple of years in the life of 8yr old Jean Louise Finch, called inexplicably Scout. She lives with her brother Jem in a small town, Maycomb in Alabama. Her father is a lawyer, and one day is
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appointed to defend a Negro who is accused of raping a white trash family's oldest daughter.

The story is potently told from the view of the 8yr old Scout, small town events set the scene in the year before the trial. Large as life characters play out the small dramas that fill any minor town; Scout starts school and various neighburs are introduced and predudices confrimed. People of Colour are either Negros or n*gg*rs depending on a person's background. The looming war in Europe merits two paragraphs, but the plight of the jews is interestingly compared to that of the blacks. the trial which is what the book is 'about' features surprisingly little in the life of Scout, and it's only on the actual day that she goes to the court to see what's happening. Scout's life is dominated by a passing friend called Dill - Jim Baker Harris, and attempts to see her reclusive and terriffying neighbour Boo (Arthur) Radley.

Perhaps the actual point of the book is focus on the consequences of people's outlook and attempts by an 8 yr old with very occasional older commentry to understand why people behave as they do. The older commentary is rare but the switch in tense is occasionally annoying, and the only very minor downside of the entire story. The prose is delicate but can be very moving, and captures the innocense and intensity of childhood very well. The story is quite short for a work of this magnitude. The title is one of the many many pithy sayings the various characters say to Scout as part of her education in becoming a lady "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they do all day is sing for plesaure".

A massive shame that this is the only work by Harper Lee, there has to be some suspician that it is at least in part biographical. A wonderful tale, full of insight into what life was really like in 1930s southern america.
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LibraryThing member CBJames
I think everyone in America reads To Kill a Mockingbird before they're allowed out of high school-- I know I did. It has large international following and the movie is also a classic, so I'll be brief about the plot. The novel follows the lives of young Scout, her brother Jem and their friend Dill
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over the course of several years spent growing up in a small southern town in the 1930's under the guidance of Scout and Jem's father Atticus.

Throughout the first half of the novel the children have a series of adventures, some fanciful some serious. They learn a series of lessons through the example of Atticus who is without a doubt the best father, maybe the best parent, ever to be portrayed in literature maybe in any medium. I challenge you to find a better father anywhere. In fact, I could go so far as to say that you'll simply not find a better man.

He's so good that after a while I began to doubt him. Can anyone really be as wonderful as Atticus Finch? The narrator, Scout, is a devoted daughter who has not yet reached the age when she would begin to find fault in her parents. But, to her credit, Mr. Lee does us show Atticus's weak spots. He is not free of racism, nor sexism. (No man in 1930's America could be.) But you'll have to be a careful reader to spot these faults and basically merciless not to forgive them. This is Atticus Finch we're talking about after all.

Reading the book this time around, I found close links between To Kill a Mockingbird and Huckleberry Finn . Both novels are about white children dealing with black adults. In both novels this distancing is used to promote an anti-racism message and to make it safer to critique American society. At the time of their publication, both novels were set in the recent past, when things were much worse "than they are now." (One could argue a character by character match-up: Scout = Huck, Dill = Tom Sawyer, Mr. Ewell = Huck's father.) And both novels feature a strong dramatic shift about halfway through when they stop being a series of adventures and start to develop a traditional story line.

It is only once Atticus begins to defend Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman, that To Kill a Mockingbird begins to follow a clear plot arc. I am a sucker for courtroom drama, and the courtroom drama in Mockingbird is excellent. (It must have been the easiest part of the book to adapt for the screen.) An innocent family man wrongly accused, a stalwart defense attorney, unreliable witnesses for the prosecution, a curmudgeon judge with a short temper. It's great stuff.

But I'm not gushing. Not me. Okay, I find that I am, maybe a little. Which may just be an example of why To Kill a Mockingbird enjoys the success it does. It has the ability to win over readers in spite of themselves. What won me over this time is finding how much I like the character of Atticus Finch, how much I want him to be real. He deserves his place in the pantheon of great American characters.
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LibraryThing member Smiler69
What more could I possibly say about this novel that hasn't been said before? That it's brilliant? Check. That it surpassed my expectations? Check. That Harper Lee's insight and keen observations on human nature can be both sublime and painful to read? Check, I'm sure. So I'll just share a couple
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of quotes. The first stood out to me because it was so simply expressed, but in that simplicity, all the tension of the scene was immediate. It almost felt like a scene from a classic Western movie, as the two opposing factions are about to face off. The second scene, featuring some brilliant dialogue was—on the surface anyway—very funny to me. But I felt I also shared Scout's bewilderment to be listening to this most Christian of ladies speak so patronizingly of the blacks of Africa and Maycomb alike:

"Nothing is more deadly than a deserted, waiting street. The trees were still, the mockingbirds were silent, the carpenters at Miss Maudie's house had vanished. I heard Mr. Tate sniff, then blow his nose. I saw him shift his gun to the crook of his arm. I saw Miss Stephanie Crawford's face framed in the glass window of her front door. Miss Maudie appeared and stood beside her. Atticus put his foot on the rung of a chair and rubbed his hand slowly down the side of his thigh."

"What did you all study this afternoon?" I asked.
"Oh child, those poor Mrunas," she said, and was off. Few other questions would be necessary.
Mrs. Merriweather's large brown eyes always filled with tears when she considered the oppressed. "Living in that jungle with nobody but J. Grimes Everett," she said. "Not a white person'll go near 'em but that saintly J. Grimes Everett."
Mrs. Merriweather played her voice like an organ; every word she said received its full measure: "The poverty...the darkness...the immorality—nobody but J. Grimes Everett knows. You know, when the church gave me that trip to the camp grounds J. Grimes Everett said to me—"
"Was he there, ma'am I thought—"
"Home on leave. J. Grimes Everett said to me, he said, 'Mrs. Merriweather, you have no conception, no conception of what we are fighting over there.' That's what he said to me. "
"Yes ma'am."
"I said to him, 'Mr. Everett,' I said, 'the ladies of the Maycomb Alabama Methodist Episcopal Church South are behind you one hundred per cent.' That's what I said to him. And you know, right then and there I made a pledge in my heart. I said to myself, when I go home I'm going to give a course on the Mrunas and bring J. Grimes Everett's message to Maycomb and that's just what I'm doing."
"Yes ma'am."
When Mrs. Merriweather shook her head, her black curls jiggled. "Jean Louise," she said, "you are a fortunate girl. You live in a Christian home with Christian folks in a Christian town. Out there in J. Grimes Everett's land there's nothing but sin and squalor."
"Yes ma'am."
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LibraryThing member justchris
I reread To Kill a Mockingbird again this year. I think it's becoming an annual thing because this book is simply brilliant. It may be the only book that Harper Lee ever wrote, but it's a hell of a legacy by itself. I recently heard the author described as essentially the epitome of a Southern
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Democrat.

I think most people are familiar with the gist of the story: Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping a white girl (Mayella Ewell). Atticus Finch is the attorney appointed to defend him in this courtroom drama. But the story isn't just about the trial, which actually takes up very little of the novel. Instead, it's an incredible portrait of small-town southern life and the complex mosaic of relationships and interactions among blacks, whites, rich, poor, educated, and ignorant.

Scout, the eight-year-old daughter of Atticus Finch, is the narrator, and her ignorance and innocence and preoccupation with childish things act as a very effective lens shining a light slantwise on the dark side of human nature and the ills of racism, since confronting these things directly is still so very difficult even today.

Thank you Emily Dickens for your words:
Tell all the Truth but tell it slant---
Success in Cirrcuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightening to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind---

And so it is with this story, building gradually from the normalcy of everyday life of playtime and school, to the pretrial rumors and taunts and attempted lynching, to the crisis of the trial itself, and the aftershocks culminating in the climax and resolution that give the book its title. The way is paved with amazing characterizations and dialogue. The writing is wonderfully evocative of the era. The child's voice and perspective are perfectly portrayed. I can't think of any single flaw, though I'm certainly willing to listen if someone else disagrees.
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LibraryThing member baswood
I had seen the film starring Gregory Peck as Atticus many moons ago and would never have bothered to read the book had it not been a choice of my book club, however having just read [Invisible Man] by Ralph Ellison I wondered how it would compare on race issues in America during the mid 20th
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century. Well the short answer is it doesn't. Whereas Ellison's book was an adult novel, angry at times and encompassing issues of protest against the position of Black people in America, Lee's book is a young adult novel more concerned with issues of raising children in a small town in America's southern heartland, where the position of the black minority is highlighted by the impossibility of a black man to get a fair trial at the hands of an all white jury.

The books central concern is with how the two children of a liberal lawyer cope with the animosity stirred up by Atticus acting as a defence lawyer to a black man accused of raping a white woman. The trial does not so much as divide the community as pitch most of them against Atticus in varying degrees. The position of the black minority is one of stasis, they are despised by most white people living at the poor end of the social spectrum and tolerated in varying degrees by most others. They are accepting of their fate, relying on the church and employment by white people for their economic survival; they are relatively safe as long as they know their place, but when one of their community crosses a line between them and the poor whites then violence against them will be the result. This is America (Southern States) in the 1930's.

The trial of Tom Robinson while taking up the central part of the book it is not the central issue. We are not made aware of charges against him until well into the novel and he fades from our view long before the novel finishes. The novel ends with a retributory attack on Atticus' children and the solving of the mystery of Boo Radley, which was a feature of the early chapters. This is a book written from a child's perspective, Scout is about 8 years old when the major events take place. Her home life with elder brother Jem their friend Dill their father Atticus, and their black maid Calpurnia is portrayed in some detail. It is written in the first person with Scout looking back over the events that were so important for her formative years and we do not know what she really thinks about them now. Lee wisely does not try and see the events exclusively through the eyes of the 8 year old Scout, but uses her older self to provide some analysis. This works quite well, however where the book runs into trouble is when it has to engineer situations where the 8 year old can be present to witness events, here the readers incredulity is put under some strain. For example the children are allowed in the courtroom to witness the trial, they disobey their father and Scout is instrumental in stopping a possible lynching. This is all kids stuff and what you might expect in a YA Novel.

Atticus is set before us as a shinning light of liberalism, his children are basically good kids, who occasionally get up to mischief. They learn their lessons well and we as readers are expected to do the same and this is where I found issues with the book: It is too simplistic in its down home folksiness. Don't get me wrong Atticus, is a father it would be a privilege to have, but his wise words and upright citizenship, don't quite ring true with the final compromise which means we can all feel good about the ending of the book.

This is a book about growing up in a town in the South of the USA where segregation of the races is normal. What is not normal is Atticus' determination to treat everybody equally and always to look for the good in the most unpleasant characters. He comes across as a heroic and courageous man, a guiding light for his children to live up to and so surely an ideal subject for an excellent Young Adult novel, but great literature it isn't. I would rate this at 4 stars for it's feel good factor (if you are white that is, because guess who is the only person to get shot).
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LibraryThing member BookishDame
I recently decided to reread "...Mockingbird" because of its great impact on our society in the 1950s and '60s, because of the recent debaucle of a trial for Cayle Anthony murder, and because I missed it. Called the best book written in th 20th century by critics, this book is timeless and
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life-changing.

I remember when I first read it in school and how it shocked and delighted. It was the 1960's during the uprisings for equality and civil rights. No better time to read Harper Lee's morality story about a precocious child who didn't see color or "difference."

This is a book for all times, one everyone should read once...and maybe more than once. It's a lesson worth reminding ourselves about. Truth and justice in our society matters a great deal...
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LibraryThing member porch_reader
This is one of the best books I've ever read. (Maybe THE best? Time will tell.) There is little that I can say that hasn't been said before, so I'll just note a few of my reactions rather than writing a "formal" review.

This book was about the characters for me. I feel like I've known them for a
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long time. Even more, it was clear that Harper Lee knew them well and let us into their lives through small revealing details. The relationship between Scout and Jem changed and developed naturally as both grew older. Atticus, as a single father, had an amazing rapport with his kids that brought out the best in them, and Cal clearly served an important role in helping Scout and Jem grow up too. These are characters that I wish I could visit again. What became of them? How did the end up? (Although sometimes I think that those questions are best left to our imaginations.)

Of course, To Kill a Mockingbird also provides a richly textured look at attitudes about race in the South during the 1930s. As Atticus defends a black man accused of raping a white girl, Harper Lee shows that the shades of gray that existed in race relations in the South. The story is captivating. This is an important book, but it is also an accessible book. It was hard to put down.

It is no surprise that this book has received so much recognition and critical acclaim. It is an amazing story. If you haven't read it, don't hesitate. Just dip into the first chapter. Scout will help you find your way from there.
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LibraryThing member mrsdwilliams
It's been years since I read this beautiful coming of age story and it was time to revisit it. Scout is one of my favorite characters of all time. I love how upset she gets when her teacher, horrified that Scout knows how to read at the beginning of first grade, tells her to stop reading with her
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father at home. And her relief when Atticus says they will continue to read together, but they won't tell the teacher...

Even though I have probably read this book about 20 times now, I discover new things to love about it with each reading. This time, I especially appreciated the beauty of Scout's relationship with her father. As my own father has recently resurfaced in my life (an unwelcome event, to say the least), I have been thinking a great deal just lately about the nature of fatherhood.

As Scout gets to know the local crazy man and watches her father defend a black man accused of raping a white woman, she learns about the nature of justice and the dangers of judging others only by what you think you know.

This is a classic for a reason (and the movie's pretty good, too).
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LibraryThing member rainpebble
There have been so many good, great, and wonderfully written reviews on this book that I don't really see one more making any difference.
What I will say is that this is a book that does not leave your heart nor your mind when you have finished reading it. It is a work more brilliant than brilliant.
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The characters become immediately enmeshed in your heart and you care about them so very much. Even Mrs. Dubose and Aunt Alexandra and Dill had me wrapped around his little finger from his first appearance on the page.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is a beautiful work of prose and I won't soon forget it. Now I understand why my 91 year old mother reads it several times a year. It is, simply put, a book one falls in love with.
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LibraryThing member peterwall
To Kill a Mockingbird persists as classic literature not because Atticus Finch incarnates modern values in 1930s Alabama—he doesn't—but because Harper Lee wrote into her story the complex problem of cultural change, the resistance of adults, the malleability of children, and the danger of
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acculturating into rigidity by coming of age. Scout is a naïve narrator; she does not comment on the problem of overcoming racism and its resulting iniquities, but describes its manifestations in service of her own story, which might be styled, "How Jem Broke His Arm and Atticus Lost Tom Robinson." The truer story hides in the details: "How a Culture Resisted Good, without its People being Evil."

Modern readers have criticized To Kill a Mockingbird, and Atticus Finch, for failing to be angry enough about the injustice of racism, and have read the book as very nearly a defense of systemic racism. Atticus, the apparent moral center of the story refuses to hate Bob Ewell and Adolf Hitler; he allows cultures and mob mentalities to excuse the acts of evildoers. But the final pages of the book reveal his flaw: his accommodation of Bob Ewell was surely mistaken—the man attacked his children! When Heck Tate insists that Jem will not be accused or exonerated in the murder of Ewell, that Atticus shall not allow his son to stand trial, Atticus' moral code disintegrates. He is no longer the lawyer who had to defend Tom Robinson, or forfeit the right to tell his children what to do; he becomes a father who, instead of laying bare the truth for his children, obscures it by complicity with Tate, and leaves Scout's naïveté intact—Bob Ewell fell on his knife. There is no simple, smooth transition from old ways to new. The torch is passed from Atticus to Jem and Scout, who stand to advance the cause of justice even further than Atticus was able to take it.

Throughout the book, Scout sees and experiences the changes in outlook that come with age, embracing the new ways, even as she feels the pull of acculturation into the old ways. She is puzzled that Aunt Alexandra refuses to let her associate with the blacks or the poor white trash, but, even as she is unable to articulate her reasons, she resists the old ways of the Southern Woman. There are hints that Jem is more susceptible to acculturation, until the conviction of Tom Robinson, contradicting the evidence he weighed in court himself, breaks his faith in the populace. Jem will surely grow into the angry idealist prized by the critical modern readers; but Scout, who seems to believe in democracy, will probably be a more innocently color-blind adult.

And the old ways are troublesome. Families, and "old" families, are socially constructed from nothing but gossip and endowed with "streaks" to favor certain vices. Only Atticus and the children perceive individuals where everyone else sees Ewells and Cunninghams and Finches. And even as the other children, toward the end of the book, recognize the problem with Hitler rounding up the Jews, Cecil Jacobs reveals how hard the old ways die: "They're white, ain't they?" he says of the Jews, demonstrating both his capacity for charity when applied to circumstances abroad and his abject failure to recognize the circumstances of his own community.

To Kill a Mockingbird is not a tragedy of racism, but a tragedy of the human failure to overcome its homegrown evils. Culture constrains progress, perhaps even by definition, and makes its participants and creators, apparent free will and all, blind to the alternatives that might be clear to outsiders. And we, the readers, are obviously outsiders; we see clearly the shortcomings of everyone in the story, including Atticus Finch, who is not the apex of justice, but only an earlier step in the long march to the future.

The ladies' meeting toward the close of the book, to discuss the "sin and squalor" of foreign lands, is a blast of irony, coming just as Scout, the unwitting anthropologist, is completing her own record of the sin and squalor of Maycomb County. To Kill a Mockingbird is not about the evil of the old ways, but about how difficult it is for the new ways to take hold, even when they are obviously better.
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LibraryThing member camillahoel
I held off reading this book for ages. Mainly because someone described it as a book about growing up in the South. While accurate, this is not all it is, and it is not the best selling point when describing a book to me: the bildungsroman has never been my favourite genre, and the American South
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not my favourite region. I also tend to be more drawn to European classics than the American ones (I do not know why; I am sure there is a sensible explanation that does not make me look like a bigot).

I do, however, feel drawn to the Truman Capote/F. Scott Fitzgerald New York scene of American writing, and it was via this avenue that I finally discovered Nelle Harper Lee for myself. She was a childhood friend of Capote, and I had heard that one of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird was based on him. Naturally, I had to read it. Thus my discovery of one of the truly great books of the world.

It reminded me of all that is lovely about the American South; equally importantly, it dealt with the difficult questions of the region without becoming tiresome. I quickly lost sight of my original reason for reading it (the Capote character), although the semi-autobiographical side to the book kept my interest up in the beginning.

Words like "compelling" have lost much of their meaning through over-use, which is sad because it suits the book perfectly. It is also perfectly plotted, quite apart from the important themes it deals with. Each strand of the story, which is skilfully made to seem like simply an episode or moment of small town life becomes important in the story as a whole: Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, the pride of the Cunninghams, the difference between the Cunninghams and the Ewells, Mrs Dubose, the rabid dog, Atticus' sense of honour and his ability to do what is necessary, all come together; and I cannot find fault with the claim that opens the book, that to make sense of Jem's broken arm, the story must begin where it does. The variety of impressions and local sketches, then, do not only have a value in their own right as creating an image of a particular time and place, they also have a place in a tightly constructed plot. Still, I would argue that the road to the end is still the main point.

The treatment of racism is of course a central theme, and one which makes it all the more mind-boggling that people keep trying to have the book banned for its use of the word "n*gg*r". It is so clear in its denunciation of the racism as the blight on an otherwise good society, that one must question whether those who object to it can read at all (as I believe Harper Lee did at one point). Still, reducing the book to its treatment of race is as problematic as presenting it as a book about growing up. Its many-facetedness is part of its particular charm: it deals with gender, class, ethics, law and morals as sides to the same problem as the question of race.

I cannot end this without noting that I loved her language. I have always had a secret love for the Southern American dialect (some versions of it, anyway; and Alabama is high on the list, as is Louisiana), and I could hear it while reading. This is rare. It is not the dialect I fall into while reading, usually; I must therefore conclude that it is due to the rhythm of the words themselves. In addition, the voice of the narrator, that of a little girl who has grown up, held a particular appeal for me. The story, which weaves through terrible questions of a travesty of justice founded in racism, domestic violence, terrible poverty, class distinction, gender questions, education and crime, does so in such a light, simple and straightforward way, and with lovely such humour and ironic treatment of absurdities, that you are left with all your energy intact. As I said, I love the style.

More than all this, however: I love Atticus Finch. I defy anyone not to.
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LibraryThing member rboyechko
Not much to say here that others haven't already said. Suffice it to say that I wish I had read it earlier, and that I'm writing this at 9am after having stayed up all night reading it.
LibraryThing member mikemillertime
An elegant, natural, charming comin-of-age narrative set in the South, Lee writes such pleasant little exchanges of small-town life, that only at the end do you realize the tight, interwoven and magnificent epic that "Mockingbird" really is.
LibraryThing member datrappert
Have re-read this at least twice, and now as an adult, it still brings the same deep emotions. I can see of course that Atticus is almost too good to be true - but then the book shifts a little and becomes just as much a story of a daughter's love for her father as a story of a single man fighting
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against a terrible injustice. The town of Maycomb, Alabama is a fictionalized version of the author's home town of Monroeville, Alabama. The character of Dill is modeled on Truman Capote, a childhood friend of Harper Lee.
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LibraryThing member stafinois
Best book ever. Period. This is the third time that I've read it, and it still affects me the same as the first time I read it.

The book is heavy and lighthearted at the same time. It covers very serious topics, but is told from the perspective of a young girl.

If you haven't read it, do.
LibraryThing member janiep
My all time favorite book. This book is the reason I went to law school! The characters are rich and the story is moving. Harper Lee's story of racism, honor and justice is one everyone should read.
LibraryThing member Osbaldistone
The recollections of a young girl in a small southern town during the depression. Harper Lee adopts a near pitch-perfect voice of 'Scout' Finch as a narrator thinking back over the events and able to summon the 8-year old Scout to help tell them.
Though often subtle, Lee keeps her eye on the subject
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of bigotry - bigotry of race, sex, class, education, family - and, through Scout's eyes, shines a spotlight on its cruelty and shows how the seeds are being planted for tidal changes that are on the way.
It's hard to imagine a better storyteller.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
I remember loving To Kill a Mocking Bird when I was a lot younger--though I'm not sure how young--as a child or teen. I had remembered the story best for the tale of the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman in 1935 Alabama who is defended by Atticus Finch.

What I'd
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forgotten is that this is primarily the story of Scout, the daughter of Atticus, who is eight-years-old when that trial begins--at the opening of the book she's not quite six. And that child point of view is pitch perfect. Until Chapter Nine about 100 pages in, the trial isn't even mentioned--although the theme of race relations is a thread running through from the start. I also completely forgot how much humor there is in this book--particularly in Scout's experiences in school. All through the first third of the book, Harper Lee builds this picture of a small Southern town with great affection, so the later ugliness is thrown into even higher relief. There are eloquent statements about justice in the novel--but Scout's child point of view saves the novel from preachiness, and the trial scenes when they came (only a few chapters of the entire novel) are written with a rare authority; the short biography mentions Harper Lee attended law school. This is no "historical novel." Lee, an Alabama native, would have been exactly Scout's age in the year this novel ends. Lee lived with people like those in the book--she didn't research them. Even portrayals of minor characters such as Dolphus Raymond and Mrs. Dubose are vividly drawn, telling and thematically relevent.

The novel is just a marvel. It's a classic and so often too that means dry, grim and if not pretentious, still a slog to read. It's one I could relate to as a youngster and love so surely it shouldn't pass muster as a mature adult. It was published in 1960--over fifty years ago--so surely it's horribly dated. It's none of those things. This was an absolute pleasure to read from beginning to end with believable, memorable characters, a wonderful voice in Scout, a terrific father/daughter relationship; it's a novel that's warm and dark, often funny that moved me to tears--despite knowing what was coming in the plot. And there are subtleties within that sailed over my head when I was younger. After rereading this, I have to put To Kill a Mockingbird at the top of my list of favorite novels. I can only regret this is the only novel by the author. But what a legacy that one book!

Made into an excellent film with Gregory Peck worthy of the book--but even it shouldn't be a substitute for reading the novel.
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LibraryThing member GCPLreader
Congratulations, Harper Lee, on the 50th anniversary of your masterpiece.

thank you
thank you
thank you
LibraryThing member trinibaby9
This is actually a good book. I would have enjoyed it much more if I hadn't first read it as a compulsory reading and had to tear it apart. I hate being pigeon holed into someone elses view points. People should be able to take from a book what they will. I would say this is definitely worth
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reading a second time on your own if you were forced to read it before as part of a curriculum.
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LibraryThing member Motherofthree
Hum....nothing I say will do it justice. Rarely can a book make me weep, but this one did. The scene that did it to me is where Robinson has just been given a guilty sentence and Atticus leans over him, says something, then walks down the aisle. Then someone in the balcony leans over to Atticus'
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daughter and says, "Stand up your father's passin".

This books speaks of respect for every man and doing the right thing even when others are not. It demonstrates a man who stands up against injustice, yet doesn't villify the one who is unjust. It manages to realistically and believably portray a person who manages to respect the human dignity of his enemy and those who are unkind.

One cannot help but be inspired while reading this book. And to walk away from this book without some sincere contemplation of respect, standing up against injustice, placing one's self in another's shoes would be a sad affair.

This is a book I will have all my children read and we will talk and discuss; for I believe it has great potential to be impactful upon the lives of my children.
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LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
Wow! I have NEVER had this kind of experience coming back to a book after ten or eleven or whatever it's been years and remembering so, so much, like vales of childhood and sh*t. Not the plot - I got Boo Radley completely mixed up with Tom Robinson in my head, and if you remember the book you'll
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know how hard that would be - but the dialogue: "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win" and "Ain't no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c'n make me do nuthin'!" and "Old Adolf Hitler has been prosecutin' the Jews" and Jee crawlin' hovas and an entailment is a condition of having your tail in a crack aaand a whole bushel of others. The dialogue is Platonic in its pleasance, and that is just one of the foremost of this book's delights. It is the cornbread-that's-just-greasy-enough-but-not-too-greasy of world fiction, and Atticus Finch is one of our literature's great noble lions.
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LibraryThing member LibraryOMidas
I don't know how I never read this growing up, but now that I have I am glad I made the time for it. A truly unforgettable tale told by the young Scout Finch that will have you turning the pages until the very end without ever wanting to put it down.

Rating

(21500 ratings; 4.4)

Pages

281
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