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Michael Finocchiaro's Reviews > To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
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I knew this book first from the spectacular film from the 60s, but read the book several times and found it incredibly moving. Harper Lee, who assisted her friend Truman Capote with his epic IIn Cold Blood, was from the south and found a way to contribute to the rising cause of Civil Rights by exposing the moral bankruptcy of racism through the eyes of her young protagonist Scout. besides the difficulties for being a woman writer at this time, she also managed to write this short masterpiece which is in parts utterly terrifying and totally endearing and absolutely unforgettable. One of my favorite characters was, of course, Boo Radley, for whom it was Robert Duvall's first on-screen performance (the same actor from the epic helicopter scene with Wagner blaring from the helicopters over the jungle in 'Nam.)
It has lost neither its power nor its relevance even over 60 years after it was first published. However, be warned, Go Set a Watchman does not light a candle next to its predecessor.
One of the greatest works exposing the horrors of racism in the south, To Kill A Mockingbird was recently banned in a US state because it was deemed “too controversial (). It is an epic novel by Harper Lee who was a close friend of Truman Capote and helped him during his work on In Cold Blood. There are truly few books that pack such a lucid and powerful punch as Mockingbird. Rather than being banned, it should, as it was in my high school in the 80s, be required reading along with the film. Little can better prepare teens for the harsh realities of racism and close-mindedness than Lee’s masterpiece. A critical and important classic.
It has lost neither its power nor its relevance even over 60 years after it was first published. However, be warned, Go Set a Watchman does not light a candle next to its predecessor.
One of the greatest works exposing the horrors of racism in the south, To Kill A Mockingbird was recently banned in a US state because it was deemed “too controversial (). It is an epic novel by Harper Lee who was a close friend of Truman Capote and helped him during his work on In Cold Blood. There are truly few books that pack such a lucid and powerful punch as Mockingbird. Rather than being banned, it should, as it was in my high school in the 80s, be required reading along with the film. Little can better prepare teens for the harsh realities of racism and close-mindedness than Lee’s masterpiece. A critical and important classic.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
November 25, 2019
– Shelved
November 25, 2019
– Shelved as:
pulitzer-fiction
November 25, 2019
– Shelved as:
pulitzer-winning-fiction
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Serena
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Dec 09, 2019 08:22AM
I adore this book! A true masterpiece.
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I love the book too, and when I taught the novel I largely ignored the racist and sexist and class stereotypes. I was not surprised to learn that in the sequel dear old dad was racist. The bigotry is there if you are willing to see it. The film is also the example used in industry-created teaching aids about film—the opening credit alone!
Yes, I know. That actually is to the credit of Harper Lee’s realistic lense when she is writing I think. Thanks Jan
I agree with your thoughts on TKAM and the sequel.
Michael wrote: "Yes, I know. That actually is to the credit of Harper Lee’s realistic lense when she is writing I think. Thanks Jan"You think so? Lee chose to spend the entire first chapter establishing the class credentials of her main character. Yes, the prejudices are entirely realistic for the time and place, but nowhere does she question those biases or that privilege. She consistently reinforces stereotypes. The "white trash" family is entirely trashy, the loyal housekeeper places her employer over her own community, the black man cannot think far enough ahead to wait to be released.
I love the book warts and all, but I won't pretend I do not see the warts. You're welcome, Michael.
Ok, I see your point. There are lots of non-ironic stereotypes in there. I wonder though, before she wrote this, the white trash stereotype didn’t really exist. I mean there were Steinbeck’s Oakies and Faulkner’s Ok County crazies, but wasn’t her depiction the one that became iconic? As for the black man, I felt he was portrayed as poorly educated (a product of Jim Crow lack of education), but not ignorant or particularly impulsive. And one has to give her credit for exposing social unjustice at a time when she risked being shot for doing so
Absolutely, she did a service. The stereotype of "white trash" (a term my husband aligns with the n-word) is not new to the 20th century or Lee but dates back to the early 19th century. It is a pejorative, was always a pejorative, and is itself a racist term, implying that people of color are inherently trashy, but poor whites who are uneducated are thus trashy like black or brown people—look it up. This isn't my explanation but what can easily be found online.
Tom Robinson is depicted as a good man, a decent family man, but also as rather stupid as well as ignorant (uneducated), and impulsive, which is why he dies. He is the stereotypical "good boy." That's pretty offensive.
All of this to say that the novel touches most readers and has a significant place in our literary history. It was immediately latched onto as an appropriate text for young teenagers (this happens to many novels simply on the basis of having a central child character). It is one of the most widely assigned texts in the U.S. Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch is the national standard for a "good father." (Seriously, his performance has been voted as best father.)
I enjoyed teaching the novel for years, but like Catcher and Lord of the Flies, it is often viewed through rose-colored glasses. It is a great novel of its time. We want it to be more than it is, we want it to be perfect. It doesn't need to be perfect.
Thank you for the spirited discussion!
Great points. And, alas, I would have killed to have had a father like Peck’s Atticus!Thank you!
Michael wrote: "Great points. And, alas, I would have killed to have had a father like Peck’s Atticus!Thank you!"
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Wow, it was banned in the 80s? Where did you go to school? I graduated from LHS in Atlanta in 1979. This book was emotionally powerful for me at the time but I now have a more jaundiced view which makes me think that I should reread it and see if I think it’s better or worse!
