To Kill a Mockingbird

When we discussed To Kill a Mockingbird in class, I immediately felt like the odd man out. The majority of our class had read the novel in high school. For some, Lit & Civ II was the third time they read the book. I, however, had never picked it up. I also had never seen the classic film adaptation. My To Kill a Mockingbird knowledge began and ended with the Atticus clothing brand, which was basically some company started by two of the dudes from Blink 182 whose name originated from the novel.

Overall I had a very positive first experience with the book. I didn't breeze through it, but there's definitely a good pace to the novel. One of the high points in the novel for me was the whole courtroom scene in which Atticus defends Tom Robinson. Lee's writing was fairly cinematic and had a good flow to it; I was lying down reading in bed, and even though I was about to pass out and go to bed, I kept reading until the jury gave their verdict. In my everyday life I don't find legal proceedings to be very fascinating, but the courtroom scene was enthralling nonetheless. I enjoyed how Atticus kinda tricked Bob Ewell into revealing that he was left handed. It reminded me a lot of the Phoenix Wright video games series (in which you play a lawyer who relies on surprising courtroom antics like Atticus does) or that scene in Legally Blonde where she tricks the pool boy into revealing that he's gay to win the big case or something like that.

Legally Blonde

Phoenix Wright

Another part of To Kill a Mockingbird that I liked and really stuck with me was the morphodite. I think the reason I enjoyed this symbol so much was that I discovered its meaning as I was reading that passage. Generally when I read a book for the first time I'm mostly just picking up on the basics: story beats, character arcs, and that sort of thing. In most cases I don't discover any symbols, motifs, or deep hidden meaning within a novel during my first time reading through it. I usually need a second read through, a teacher's insight, or SparkNotes before I pick up on things like that. I think that maybe because I was able to determine the symbolic of the morphodite on my own, that I felt partial ownership of it, which is why I liked it so much. But beyond that, it has a pleasant meaning in and of itself.

During my time with To Kill a Mockingbird I particularly enjoyed its exploration of the themes of racism. I've read other novels that dealt with this touchy subject; books like Rolling Thunder, Hear My Cry, Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Kite Runner, and obviously The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from this semester come to mind. As a white male I have rarely been the target or victim of racism, but having grown up in the South, I've certainly encountered it. Usually when I read novels like these, I feel this underlying sense of white guilt. Usually. But not this time. To Kill a Mockingbird has such heavy ethical and moral content that I just simply felt good reading it. I'm not a religious person at all, but I've heard plenty of people's testimonies about the good feelings that it creates within you, and this book was kind of like that in a way.

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch

I think the most obvious reason for this is Atticus Finch. Everybody likes Atticus. Everybody wants to have a dad like Atticus, and many of the people in our class have said they see parts of their fathers in Atticus. He's certainly one of the most inspiring characters. As a character, Atticus serves as a refreshing reminder that there are good people in this world too. Another reason why I liked Atticus so much was that I found his thoughts on courage to be particularly profound:

"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. Mrs Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew."

I really took that quote to heart, and I actually almost ended up using that quote for my Neeley Fellows application.