'Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a Mockingbird.'
A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.
--back cover
We never read this in highschool. I guess my homeschool curriculum focused on different stuff than most.
It's an enjoyable, easy read. Lee's opinions come through the voices of the child protagonists a bit more heavy-handed than I like. Despite agreeing with his message, I strongly dislike putting your opinions into the mouths of babes, as if they are the natural truths a pure and innocent child is born knowing.
I wish my daughter will look at me as Jem and Scout look at their father, Atticus Finch. There are a few things I have learned from him.
“Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can look squarely back at him.” Atticus knows his kids are looking at him, observing what he does and learning from him. So he has to keep his head straight, do the right thing, no matter how ugly it is. Only that he can earn their kids’ respects.
You also need to understand the kids, and know how to give them a lesson when they did something wrong. So when Jem cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned because she said Atticus is a nigger lover, Atticus said to Jem, “Son, I have no doubt that you’ve been annoyed by your contemporaries …
I wish my daughter will look at me as Jem and Scout look at their father, Atticus Finch. There are a few things I have learned from him.
“Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can look squarely back at him.” Atticus knows his kids are looking at him, observing what he does and learning from him. So he has to keep his head straight, do the right thing, no matter how ugly it is. Only that he can earn their kids’ respects.
You also need to understand the kids, and know how to give them a lesson when they did something wrong. So when Jem cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned because she said Atticus is a nigger lover, Atticus said to Jem, “Son, I have no doubt that you’ve been annoyed by your contemporaries about me lawing for niggers, as you say, but to do something like this to a sick old lady is inexcusable. I strongly advise you to go down and have a talk with Mrs. Dubose.” There is no harsh words, only advise. What a father!
And you also need to know when to not overreact to kids behaviors. When uncle Jack was mad at Scout speaking dirty words, Atticus was fine because he knows that “Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they’re not attracting attention with it.”
Oh, you also have to have something which your kids can boast about. Atticus was the deadest shot in the county!
Mrs. Dubose is another figure in the book I found admirable. She was addictive to morphine because her doctor prescribed it as the pain-killer (similar tragedies happen pretty frequently in the U.S. today). When she knew that she only had a few months to live, she decided to break the addiction and die free! The process was unbearable, but she died “as the mountain air,” and was" conscious to the last". We all know that breaking a bad habit is very difficult, not mentioning the morphine addiction. Maybe it’s the time for us to say no to our own addictions, as Mrs. Dubose did, and to be a confident freeman?
read this in highschool so maybe i was just an idiot. but i dont really like reading about racism told through some white guys perspective. "white savior narrative" or so they say
1) '''Atticus, you must be wrong...' 'How's that?' 'Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong....' 'They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions,' said Atticus, 'but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.'''
2) '''She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe...son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I'd have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her#-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 …
1) '''Atticus, you must be wrong...' 'How's that?' 'Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong....' 'They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions,' said Atticus, 'but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.'''
2) '''She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe...son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I'd have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her#-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.''
