Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

“The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it…”

Lee once said she wanted to be known as the Jane Austen of the South and I (for one) think she succeeded admirably. While different in style, both have a unique clarity of tone and knack for capturing an entire scene with a few telling details and perfectly turned phrases. Lee’s story is set in a small southern town and Austen is, of course, famous for setting her stories within the confines of a small country neighborhood. Both deal with deep running prejudices–often held between neighbor and neighbor.

Finishing it, I think the biggest thing I glimpsed this first time around was the lengths to which an ordinary man (ordinary people) will go to avoid confronting the truth. There can be no band-aid fixes for prejudice, because the problem lies much deeper–at the heart of what we believe about God. Sin isn’t merely a matter of the sweeping and dramatic. We are all sinners. And ‘ordinary’ people–sinners–blinded by their own preconceived ideas–are capable of awful things. Condescension, superiority, hypocrisy–can all veil the same bitter root of hatred. And ordinary people, desperate to cover their own hatred (which they know is wrong) will often search desperately (albeit with a “we’d better just move on” attitude) for a scapegoat. They’re willing to let someone else take the disgrace (or endure horrendous lifetime consequences) rather than confront their own sin.

Honest self-examination is both dangerous and costly. We may find out uncomfortable things about ourselves–and there’s a chance we might lose our own (if it's self-satisfied) good opinion. It may even necessitate change–change on our part. And that’s often painful.

And yes, I loved the townspeople: Jem (probably actually now one of my favorite literary characters), Scout, Sheriff Heck Tate, the Judge, Uncle Jack, Atticus, Aunt Alexandra, Miss Maudie, Calpurnia, Mr. Link Deas…

So, all in all, when I began it, I didn’t know exactly what to expect and it was quite different than I’d imagined, but my final take is that I quite enjoyed it, found it thought-provoking, and would highly recommend it!

(Some) Favorite Lines:

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

“Atticus and my uncle, who went to school at home, knew everything–at least, what one didn’t know the other did… Jem, educated on a half-Decimal half-Duncecap basis, seemed to function effectively alone or in a group, but Jem was a poor example: no tutorial system devised by man could have stopped him from getting at books.”

“There are just some kind of men…who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one.”

“I scurried to my room and went to bed. Uncle Jack was a prince of a fellow not to let me down. But I never figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said.”

“I repeated my part for Calpurnia in the kitchen and she said I was wonderful. I wanted to go across the street and show Miss Maudie, but Jem said she’d probably be at the pageant anyway. After that, it didn’t matter whether they went or not. Jem said he would take me. Thus began our longest journey together.”

“Jem was carrying my ham costume, rather awkwardly, as it was hard to hold. I thought it gallant of him to do so.”

(And note: I know this is assigned reading in schools, but personally, I would recommend it more for adults or at least older high school reading.)