To Kill a Mockingbird

I have spent literally several hours thinking about what favorite thing I wanted to blog about this week. I don't want to do a repeat of something that I just blogged about and I would do a blog about my favorite music to listen to, but it is either hugely dependent on my mood or it's purely vocal or *seriously* opera (as I type this, a particularly angelic version of the hymn 'Down to the River to Pray', sung by Katherine Jenkins, is playing in the background). So, I guess you are stuck reading about one of my favorite books. Now just give me a few minutes to decide which book is my favorite

-7 hours later-

Ok...I think I've got it. While I will not claim that this is my favorite book of all time, I do find myself reading this book again and again, once for school and other times for fun. I first read it in ninth grade and at least three times for fun. Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is the quintessential story of life in small town Alabama in the Great Depression. The story is told through the eyes of Scout, a young girl, as she learns to deal with racism and prejudice, imagination, and growing up. Scout, her older brother, Jem, and their neighbor's nephew, Dill, spend their summer telling stories about their reclusive neighbor, 'Boo' Radley, with each story getting just a bit more exaggerated and imaginative. Then they realize that Boo is leaving them small presents in the knothole of the tree in the front yard.

When Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping a young white woman, Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem's father, is appointed to defend Tom. Regardless of the many citizens that look down their nose and think less of Atticus for defending Tom, he agrees to defend him to the best of his abilities. When it becomes public knowledge that Atticus is defending Tom, other children taunt Scout and Jem for their father being willing to do something that others would consider below them. Scout is willing to defend her father's honor by fighting the kids, disregarding her father's request to not fight. An lynching is attempted, with Atticus standing up to the mob, but it is ultimately dispersed when Scout, Jem, and Dill show up and talk the mob down. Much more happens during and after the trial, culminating in a murder in self-defense, but I don't want to give it away.

In my mind, Atticus Finch is one of the premier father figures in literature. He is willing to put his honor on the line by defending Tom, something that most other lawyers would have considered career suicide. He is willing to put his life on the line when the crowd comes to lynch Tom. And he is wise, stating that "you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it". This is a book that I would encourage everyone to read at least once. But be warned, in keeping with the vernacular of the day, that there are a few choice phrases that some may find offensive, specifically a racial slur that is used quite a bit.  I would also recommend checking out the 1962 film with Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck starring as Atticus.