BOOK REVIEW: To Kill A Mockingbird

In anticipation of the publication of Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman, the Friday afternoon book group at the Centre County Library decided to read TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.  TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD has been considered an American classic for its fifty five years. It has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, been named the best novel of the century by the librarians of the country, has sold over thirty million copies, and been made into a very popular movie. It had been Harper Lee’s only published book until this year.

More personally, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD  has stayed in the top position on my favorite book list for all of its fifty five years. It is one of the few books that I have read several times, led discussion groups on, taught to high school seniors, and seen the excellent movie as well as a play based on the courtroom scene.  I would have thought that I knew this book.  Rereading it, I still found little gems of delight.

In case you are not familiar with its story: In the deep South, in the 1930’s. lawyer Atticus Finch is raising his young children, Scout and Jem, to be honorable people. The center of the story revolves around Atticus being assigned to defend a black man who has been charged with the rape of a young white woman.

The events are told entirely through the eyes of nine year old Scout. The young girl does not always understand the behavior of the adults in her town and is quick to be in the middle of any fight in the school yard. She worships her father and her big brother who do their best to help her grow up. She is confused by the hateful actions and name calling that comes with having a father who is defending a black man.

Scout is probably the most delightful young girl in literature. Her reasons for not wanting to stay at  school make perfect sense to me. Her first grade teacher is appalled by the fact that Scout can read and write. The teacher’s solution is to demand that Atticus stop reading with Scout. Scout is devastated. Her opinions on everything from attempts at being taught to be a young Southern lady, to why some people are not  accepted in polite society are so right on that you will smile in agreement.

Each time that I have read TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, I have identified with a different character. The first time it was Scout who questioned the hypocrisy of so many of the town’s people. A later reading brought Atticus, the father into focus. I was now a mother and could relate to his challenge. For some reason, this last time my focus was on Jem, the teenager who faced his loss of innocence.

The lesson of the book is so perfectly summed up in its title. It is a sin to kill a mockingbird. They do no harm and exist only to provide beauty. It is exquisitely used to explain the ending of the book.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD will stay as my all time favorite book and I hope that I get another excuse to read it again someday.