To Kill a Mockingbird

[Robynblanks]

Initially, I was excited about reading To Kill a Mockingbird; however, this quickly dissipated after the fourth chapter. I suppose this was due to the excitement of reading the biography of Harper Lee. I expected a story that was more about the life of Atticus and the racial divide rather than the first half of the book being based solely upon the raising of Scout and her brother and their adolescent encounters. I gathered that it would contain some information about her childhood, but it included a little more than expected and in great detail. This left me wanting to skip ahead and get to the point based off of the biography instead of wanting to take my time and waiting patiently for the text to reach a high point. I enjoyed the content towards the end, but my anticipation fell short in the beginning. I value Harper Lee’s candid view and experiences she had with racism and her life, however the long drawn out details of her and her brothers encounters may deter middle school students in understanding the importance about the impact of racial segregation in that era if their attention is not ignited early in the text. Many of the stories about Scout and her brother had me laughing and interested; however, with all the symbolism that is included in the book, a young reader may not view the importance with too many childhood stories that are focused on primarily in the beginning.

[Jason]

But you finished the book, right? Congratulations. You learned a lesson on patience. Classics rarely start the excitement early. I teach my students that just like it takes time to get to know the exciting things about a person, it sometimes takes time to get to the exciting parts of a book. But it is almost always worth the wait.

I think Harper Lee was trying to set up the atmosphere first, to really draw us into the time and place. The people are what drew me in. There is kindness, fear, compassion, paranoia, and those are dangerous juxtapositions in a small town that seems to have been set in its ways for a long time.

[Joan]

I only read this book recently having missed reading it in school for some reason. If I HAD to name the top ten books I have ever read, and I've read quite a few, this book would be part of my top 10. It truly deserves to be a classic.

[Tanvi]

I think it would be sad if you missed the children's growing up in the beginning, which is a crucial part of the book, for want of 'thrill'.
The book is as much about childhood and learning lessons, and learning the ways of the world, the different species of humans that reside in it as much it is about racism.

In fact, I would like to put it as 'two children, in all their innocence and how they come across racism and hypocrisy in some of its hideous forms...'

As for capturing the interest of young readers, I think they might be able to relate to the children, with all their obsession with 'Boo Radley' and stuff.

[Kathy]

I also read this book later in life than most people. I read it when my son was assigned it in middle school. I tend to lack patience for "classics," but I don't remember struggling with this book. Of course, some classics are easier to read now that I am older. Not all. I'd agree this would go on a personal top ten book list.

[BubblesTheMonkey]

Jason wrote: "But you finished the book, right? Congratulations. You learned a lesson on patience. Classics rarely start the excitement early. I teach my students that just like it takes time to get to know the ..."

I agree with you. Almost all the classics that I have read start slow but do eventually get better.

[Licha]

Tanvi wrote: "I think it would be sad if you missed the children's growing up in the beginning, which is a crucial part of the book, for want of 'thrill'.
The book is as much about childhood and learning lesso..." I totally agree with you Tanvi. The book would not be the same without the chidlren's experience in the beginning of the story. This book does deserve to be a classic and should be mandatory reading in school. Such great family values also, which I think is important for kids to read.

[Tim]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ( Leander, Tx 1973), I read this book. I was enthralled with it and read 5 chapters into it...instead of the 1 assigned. Got in trouble for that,lol, wasn't allowed to answer questions. Since then I've read this one many times, and enjoyed it each time.

[Amy]

One of the things I love most about this book are the stories of Jem and Scout at the beginning of the book. I think Scout is hilarious and such a clever, witty little narrator.

[Mahjabin]

"a book written with such simplicity and innocence..childhood never looked so beautiful,the one portrayed by Jem and Scout...a book on bonding..loved it"

[Angela]

Joan wrote: "I only read this book recently having missed reading it in school for some reason. If I HAD to name the top ten books I have ever read, and I've read quite a few, this book would be part of my top ..."

I read this in school as part of the cirriculum. It's one of those stories that is embedded in my memory. Once we were done the book, we watched the movie which was just as intense. However, I always find a book more enjoyable.

[Jan C]

I was 12-13 when I read this for the first time. And I'm sure some of the nuances did pass me by at the time. But I have had read it several times since then.

I don't recall whether I read it with school, on my own or just because everybody I knew was reading it. The movie was just about to come out then and it had just come out in paperback.

Because the story is told through the eyes of Scout, it is important to tell the story of what happened to her, Jem and Dill. To set the scene for what life was like in a Southern small town in the '20s-30s, when life was somewhat different from a northern suburb in the '60s.

A few years ago, I was at my mother's and the movie came on and she didn't think she had ever seen it or read the book. So for her birthday I sent her the book and for Christmas I sent her the movie.

She said she sat down to read the book, intending to only read a chapter or two. And, except for getting up to fix dinner, she read in one sitting. And then immediately started to read it again.

[Whitney]

Robynblanks wrote: "however the long drawn out details of her and her brothers encounters may deter middle school students in understanding the importance about the impact of racial segregation in that era if their attention is not ignited early in the text...."

I think it would be a mistake to try and reduce the book to a single theme of the effects of segregation and racism, since it’s about so much more. To me the central theme of the book was Scout’s relationship with Atticus, and her growing awareness of the real meaning of strength and integrity as personified by her quiet, unassuming father. The following passage never fails to bring tears to my eyes:

I looked around. They were all standing. All around us and on the balcony on the opposite wall, the Negroes were getting to their feet. Reverend Syke’s voice was as distant as Judge Taylor’s:

“Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’."

[Alsjem]

"The following passage never fails to bring tears to my eyes:

I looked around. They were all standing. All around us and on the balcony on the opposite wall, the Negroes were getting to their feet. Reverend Syke’s voice was as distant at Judge Taylor’s:

“Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’."


It even brought tears to my eyes reading it here, out of context.
I couldn't agree more that this book cannot be reduced to a single theme. I experience it as a real coming of age book and find it to be no less relevant today than ever before. (I named my own son Jem after this book and my husband hopes we'll never have a girl!)

[Jan C]

Alsjem wrote: ""The following passage never fails to bring tears to my eyes:

I looked around. They were all standing. All around us and on the balcony on the opposite wall, the Negroes were getting to their fe..."

I have a friend named his son Atticus (he's a lawyer).

[Natalie]

this was a great book althoo it took patience i loved and it would totally go on my top 10 out of all the books i have read

[Randall]

Frankly, I think too much can be made of Atticus' stand, courageous as it was, on behalf of Tom Robinson. After all, Atticus wasn't challenging segregation, or impediments to voting, but just the lack of simple justice for a man falsely accused. And I don't think, realistically, that Atticus could have challenged those other, fundamental issues. That would be, as always, up to those who were oppressed, themselves.

One problem I have about "Mockingbird" (but, really, with the movie rather than the book) is that it's so easy to focus on the evil of the Ewell clan, and how "sorry" they were (as people in the South would say). Racism, then, is confined to the poor, the ignorant, the hateful white trash: the "other" that all of us, "liberal" and informed by subsequent history, can so easily look down upon. But, as Harper Lee says, racism was deep in the bones of the community itself -- it was respectable. And also, what she doesn't say: it could only be dealt with by the likes of Rev. Syke, and not, in the final analysis, by the likes of Atticus Finch.

To me, the most enduring quality of Mockingbird is the world of Scout, and Jem, and Dill. Scout's observations of Jem's growing up, in particular, are masterfull. Harper Lee has Scout confused, as she would be, by the changes in Jem, but the details Lee has Scout relate are so telling, the reader knows more than Scout does.

Scout's narrative itself is that of an adult remembering her earlier days. Thus you have a mixture of a child's confusion and discovery, together with an adult's understanding. It's quite a tightrope to walk, and I think Harper Lee pulls it off brilliantly.

[Kathy]

One problem I have about "Mockingbird" (but, really, with the movie rather than the book) is that it's so easy to focus on the evil of the Ewell clan, and how "sorry" they were (as people in the South would say). Racism, then, is confined to the poor, the ignorant, the hateful white trash:
excellent point.

[[deleted user]]

It wasn't my favorite book but it was worth reading, i wanted to know more about atticus though :)

[Jason]

Claire - Louise wrote: "It wasn't my favorite book but it was worth reading, i wanted to know more about atticus though :)"

I also wanted to know more, but I think it is the mystery that makes him so interesting, both to the reader and to Scout.

[Brian]

I had somehow missed this book and just read it two summers ago. I'm 44 now. I couldn't put it down. I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed it so much, in my youth, because of the lack of baseball references, as that was all I wanted to read about at the time. Now, older, wiser, and unable to leg out an infield single, I have a much broader taste in reading material.

I would recommend it to anyone who asked.

[[deleted user]]

Jason wrote: "Claire - Louise wrote: "It wasn't my favorite book but it was worth reading, i wanted to know more about atticus though :)"

I also wanted to know more, but I think it is the mystery that makes h..."

Yeah, i see what you mean his and scout's relationship is lovely the way it is. He would be such a good dad lol

[Jenn]

Randall wrote: "Frankly, I think too much can be made of Atticus' stand, courageous as it was, on behalf of Tom Robinson. After all, Atticus wasn't challenging segregation, or impediments to voting, but just the ..."

I totally agree with Randall that aspects of the novel seem to place racism on a fringe groups of people. I also think it's important not to lose sight of who actually did the work of challenging and ending segregation and other forms of discrimination. To me, that's actually critical and has to be brought into any discussion of TKAM.

As far as the early details about Scout, Jem, and Dill growing up, I think they are critical to the book. The book isn't the one I would choose as a representative depiction of what the segregated South was like. At its heart, I think TKAM is about the grown-up, sometimes cruel, aspects of the outside world encroaching on the innocence of their childhood. To care about that, we need to first be a part of that innocent childhood, I think.

[Randall]

Jenn wrote: I think TKAM is about the grown-up, sometimes cruel, aspects of the outside world encroaching on the innocence of their childhood...."

I think you've hit it here. When you look at the structure of the book, Part One is mostly about the children, Dill, going to school, Boo, and the other neighbors on the street -- the innocent, and closely-bound, childhood you speak of. Only near the end is there a reference to the upcoming trial. Part two starts with Scout's confusion over changes in Jem as he's growing older, the arrival of Aunt Alexandra, and then the trial. I think Lee was doing exactly what you said, setting up a secure and innocent childhood upon which the adult world will encroach.

[Nancy]

To Kill a Mockingbird has been my favortie book for many years. I read it as a teenager. I was spending my summers in Texas, and it was the first time I had seen the evils of segreation. I certainly do feel that Atticus was taking a stand against segregation. The story is written from the view point of young Scout. She and her brother, and Dill learn so many lessons through their childhood experiences. Atticus teaches his children to respect individuals.

The city of Beliot Wisconsin honored Harper Lee a couple of years ago. They were giving free paperback copies away, plus a CD on Harper Lee on her writing of To Kill a Mockingbird. I read the book again, and gained new perspectives as an older person.

I loved the movie, and thought it was the best translation of a book to movie, that I had ever seen. I am usually disappointed with movies, if I have read the book first. I have watched the movie numerous times. I also watched a film on Harper Lee.

[Kathy]

I grew up in South Carolina in the 60s and 70s. Schools were just beginning to be integrated. My parents were active in the civil rights movement, but as I six year old, all I cared about was that if I went to the integrated school, I wouldn't have to ride the bus. Later I rode busses to integrated schools. There were many life lessons that came from going to school with both white and black children who were different from me, but mostly I just worried about the zit on my forehead.
Which is to say, I think this is a book about growing up in a place and time where great issues were being played out. But it's still about growing up.

[Nancy]

Good comments.

[Veronica]

My Sister Recently Acted In The American River College Production Of This Book. It Was Gudd, Yet The Story Is Still Somewhat Boring And Plain

[Shawn]

This is a great book and one I think every southerner should read. I also think maybe some people are trying to "read" too much into it. Instead of looking for hidden meanings, perhaps you should just read it for enjoyment.

[Wendy]

I used to teach this novel when I taught high school English. It is still one of my favorites!

[Kathy]

I think I'll read it again. My youngest son has been assigned it, and so I might see if he wants to read it with me. Veronica, I think I like plain stories, but I don't find them boring. I used to. Now I can only take so many vampires, serial killers, and raucous adventurers before I need a nap.

[Silvia]

I never had a problem whatsoever reading this book.
I have read it a few times and find it entertaining each time. I read in my twenties for pure leisure just like the other classics I have read through the years. Atticus Finch remains one of the most honest and enduring characters that I have ever come across (in fiction). A most unforgettable book for sure. One of my favorites!

[Emanuel]

Spoiler warning...

When I had completed the first few chapters of this book, I was convinced that the mockingbird was Atticus and that he would be killed after having Robinson acquitted.

Who do you suppose is the mockingbird? And who are the blue jays?

[Kathy]

Emanuel wrote: "Spoiler warning...

When I had completed the first few chapters of this book, I was convinced that the mockingbird was Atticus and that he would be killed after having Robinson acquitted.

Who do y..."
I'm not an English major or teacher, but I'm pretty sure you are reading too much into that. It's just considered bad luck to kill a mockingbird. I don't think anyone cares if you kill a blue jay.

[Emanuel]

Kathy: I'm not convinced it's just about bad luck. Atticus as the mockingbird is still strong in my mind, although he wasn't killed.