Sep 28, 2008 05:21 AM
3869 Views
(Updated Sep 28, 2008 05:28 AM)
"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases." with each reading - *I might add to this Robert Frost poem - to describe this book by Harper Lee.
Harper Lee has crafted a masterpiece - every word, phrase and sentence has been crafted with a rare wordsmith precision. Each time I read this book, I discover some facets which were as yet hidden. It could also reflect on my inability to grasp it all in one read. I read this book again recently and thought I should pen my thoughts in MS. So with my apologies to Ms Lee I put forth my humble opinion on this Pulitzer winner.
*What I like about this book:
a.** The book is written as seen from a 6-9 year old child's(Scout) perspective - a ploy which allows the author to put forth an unbiased point of view including situations that Scout does not understand. Harper Lee leaves it to the reader to interpret the prejudices and hypocrisy which an innocent child is incapable of understanding. I think the success of this book is vastly due to its ability to touch its readers and without lecturing - teach us all lessons about compassion, empathy, courage and discrimination. That by itself is an extremely powerful strategy. It is up to the reader to take as many moral, social and character lessons out of this book!
b. Another ploy used by the author is the effective use of dual parallel plots - one childish, that involves Bo Radely and the children’s fascination for drawing him out of his house and a secondary plot involving the racial trial of a black man falsely accused of a terrible crime. Both plots converge at the end into one. I feel that Lee has utilized the first plot to draw out the innocence of the children while the second plot kills their innocence by exposing the children and the readers to the virulent racial hatred and bigotry.
c. At the highest level, is the symbolism utilized by Lee. The symbolism of "Killing a Mockingbird" is well-known and brought out in many of the reviews. Another is the symbolism of the "mad dog" shot by Atticus. I think the author wanted to symbolize the disease that the dog had with that of the racial prejudice and bigotry in existence with the town folk. Atticus could shoot & kill the dog and prevent the spread of this disease as well as protect the rest of the town. However, he fails to rescue a black man from the clutches of all the racially diseased people in Maycomb. He has no other weapon, other than leading by example, in an effort to cure them of this disease.
The author has disguised some of the short-coming of using the approach described in(a.) above. The author needs Scout to see everything to describe it to the reader. In some cases it is not possible. For e.g.: When Atticus goes to Tom Robinson's house, he cannot take Scout along. Lee solves this problem by having Atticus meet Jem & Dill on his way and is forced to pick them up and take them along. This sequence is described by Scout as narrated to her by Dill. Another e.g. is when Atticus is threatened by a mob, Scout is unable to describe to the readers that one of her classmates’ father, a Mr. Cunnigham, may have instigated the mob to conspire against Atticus. However, when the situation is diffused, she subtly conveys to the reader that Mr. Cunnigham had some sway over the mob when he calls off the mob. Another question that some initial readers may have related to this approach is how could a child relate and narrate events, describing everything like an adult? If you pay attention to the line on page 1, *"When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back." *indicating to the reader that the narrator is no longer a child.
*Questions:
One thing that continues to baffle me is why Jem & Scout address their father as Atticus instead of Dad, Pa or Mr. Finch? To this day it is very common in the South for the children to address their parents formally as Mr. or Mrs. One possible reasoning I can come up with is that Atticus may want to convey to Jem & Scout that they are equals in the family and what applies to him, applies to the whole family as is indicated in his dilema in his discussion with Uncle Jack about being chosen to defend the black man - "But do you think I could face my children otherwise?" *Other examples are where he is polite to an elderly neighbor and requests his kids do the same. This elderly neighbor, Mrs Dubose, consistently insults him when speaking to his kids - *"Your father is no better than the niggers and trash he works for!"
Another question that I had for many years, is why Harper Lee never published anything again? I read somewhere that Lee said to someone, something to the effect that - when you have a hit like that, you can't go anywhere but down! I think she is humble and knows what she has accomplished would be hard to repeat. The readers would expect similar or even better fare. Also, if you read about Lee, she has utilized many of her real-life experiences and characters to write this book. She is really Scout while Atticus is her fascination of a father that she longed for. Her real life father was not known to be affectionate to children including his own but Lee looked up to her father. A lifelong experience, converted into a book by introspection of one's lifetime is hard to surpass via research.
I'm sure many readers will echo my sentiments - A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases with each reading! This one is recommended for more than one reading.
