To Kill a Mockingbird

Its been a few days since I finished reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee a second time. I read it the first time a few years ago and loved it and reading it the second time just strengthened my love for this classic.

The beauty of the writing lies in how this book describes childhood in the most untainted innocent way and balances it so eloquently with a mature story around it. The little games and pranks of Jem, Scout and Dill are written as honestly as the court room drama and Atticus's speech. The book puts heart into every thing and hence there are so many things in this book that tug at my heart.

For the uninitiated, this book is set in the southern American state of Alabama's Maycomb county in the 1930s. Atticus Finch is a lawyer and a single parent to his two children - Jem and Scout trying to raise them with love, honesty and morals that he exemplifies and believes in. While the society around them is divided into Whites and Negroes, Atticus just sees people as being good or bad irrespective of their color. When Atticus takes over a case to defend a Negro accused of raping a White woman, he knows things will not be easy for him or his kids in Maycomb anymore. The story warmly describes the childhood of Jem, Scout and their summer friend Dill, their wonderful relationship with their dad Atticus, their innocent obsession with trying to get their secretive neighbor Boo Radley to come out of his house and the trial that shows Jem, Scout and Dill a glimpse of the way the world has grown to be. 

You are introduced to the world of Jem and Scout and Dill (who visits them every summer). You get to play along their afternoon games of rolling in the tyre, play-acting, enjoying cakes at their neighbor Maudie's house, taking a swig of cool lemonade made by their helper Calpurnia. You get to hear them share stories of their uber-secretive neighbor Arthur Radley whom they call Boo. The kids have never seen Boo step out of his house. They believe he walks around in the night and looks through people's windows. They are afraid to even go close to the Radley house, they always run by it and never ever walk past it. Their curiosity makes them try to send Boo a letter using a fishing pole or go to his place via the backyard at night all in the hope of luring him out and catching a glimpse. All these and much more transform me into days of my childhood, of catching butterflies in the afternoons, wandering near a deserted storage house in the compound and weaving scary stories around it, ringing neighbors' door bell while they were taking a nap and then running away as hard as we could, petty fights at school and so many memories. The beautiful contradiction about being a kid is having so many questions in your head and at the same time unquestioningly believing so many things with your heart. 

The other beautiful facet of the book is the relationship between Jem, Scout and their dad Atticus. There is a huge transparency and honesty with which Atticus talks to Jem and Scout. There is never a question that he leaves unanswered for them. He never treats them as immature kids but more as understanding friends. He inculcates in them the same morals that he lives his life with. The reciprocation from Jem and Scout is equal, if not more. During the court trial, Jem and Scout watch the trial from the balcony sitting amidst the Negroes showing how much they embrace everything their father stands for and not caring the tiniest bit about what the world around them believes in. For them, their father is the world. 

In Atticus, we see a graying man who is trying to raise his kids in the best possible way he can. He is a lawyer above par. He understands people. He respects people, even the ones who wrong him. His ability to be so un-prejudiced lends him the purity of a child, but the wisdom of the world. He makes me miss that kind of a father-figure in my life who would know the answers to every question on my mind and who would help me see the world and my own actions with unjaundiced eyes.

The book introduces you to Boo Radley who is never understood, talked to or heard by any one, not even his own father. But Scout sees him for who he is. She recognizes him even though she has never met him and smiles and talks to him like a friend. Atticus shows his respect towards Boo and you see Scout displaying the same respect later. Its one of the most poignant moments of the book and reiterates the inherent goodness of people and of an amazing ability of kids to see through things the way even the most experienced adults won't.

This book is described as the one that "takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos" and to me its something that has left an incredible impact on my heart. It won the Pulitzer prize in 1961. The book has made me laugh and made me cry. It reminds me of the childhood we have left behind and made ourselves busy trying to play wise adults. But all we have managed to do is leave our innocence behind and let our prejudices take over. We have overcome the fears of our childhood only to be engulfed by larger fears of life and instead of turning braver, we have just turned more coward. There is a wonderful quote from the book which talks of courage:

"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".

I wish we continue to have the courage to be the children we were.