Fiction fuel for the soul & mind. Review on To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

B> TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - HARPER LEE

When I started to write my experience with To Kill A Mockingbird I faced a dilemma for there were 11 previous reviews in mouthshut ,so why bother and put another one especially I could find none badmouthing the author . However the temptation of getting associated the book in the end was too tempting to refuse and so I got down to the task of adding my humble praise to the already overflowing cup containing the accolades showered by so many critics to Harper Lee.

The story starts in the little town of MAYCOMB,ALABAMA 1932 during the depression era witnessed by the United States. During the course of the next few years the events taking place in this sleepy town will turn it into a hotbed for politics ,intrigue ,honour and courage .The story is told from the viewpoint of Jean Louise Finch or Scout as she grows up along with her brother Jem in the household of the FINCHES originally from the LANDING,ALABAMA under the guidance of ATTICUS FINCH and the care of their colored cook CALPURNIA .Joining them in the literary hall of fame are DILL,BOO RADLEY ,MISS MAUDIE ATKINSON and other residents who are transported by actions, ideas, perceptions and convictions that will influence one and all in ways that will ring true for years to come.

If critics felt the choice of the narrator was somewhat inappropriate I feel it’s one of the most significant contribution of Harper Lee in stoking our conscience .When during the course of the unfolding of the story the children manage to see the wrong in treating a man differently just because of the colour of his skin in spite of their naivety it makes us wonder how come older folks with all their wisdom and experience can”t see through this veil.

Harper Lee starts the book by serving an appetizer in the form of the various adventures of the three kids experiencing the growing up process and then goes into the more important subject of the accusation made by a certain white woman MAYELLA EWELL who charged a negro TOM ROBINSON of raping her.While recording the unjust bias of the residents of MAYCOMB , JEAN FINCH who basically is the mouthpiece for HARPER LEE SAYS “ in the secret courts of men’s heart ATTICUS had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed”

(On an irrelevant note readers would draw the parallel of the case with the infamous ROSEWOOD massacre.)

Despite the underlying sexual content the book never trespasses from the childish viewpoint to the journey in the adult world, Harper Lee only uses it to speak about the injustice to which the poor Negro is subjected; she doesn’t use it as a tool to spice up the narrative.

No review is ever complete without delving into the characters and the book describes the various characters lovingly and the way in which the importance and relevance of the mockingbird parable is shown at a number of different levels with the different characters is also one of the imaginative literary genius found within the pages of this book. The economic and social relationship between Atticus Finch and the colored cook Calpurnia also shows the possible interdependence and harmony that can exist between the two portions of the society. It is probably the character of Atticus Finch who stands out amongst all – a forty something widower trying to raise his two children during the depression era in the South according to his own principles, a man who would later become the ideal model of modern American manhood for all who read or watched his story unfold. ( During a recent survey Atticus Finch was named the model American Superhero beating out the likes Batman & Spiderman)

When at the end the various paths of the story get intertwined we don’t begrudge the ending ,rather we get a joy a satisfaction of reading an all time great classic and a pang of disappointment that the journey with the residents of Maycomb is over with .Harper Lee’s style of writing is the most lucid one that one can ever come across ,the unaffected young narrator uses adult language to explain the matter she speaks with, but the point of view is cunningly restricted to that of a perceptive, independent child.

Golden rules of modern day marketing strategies require that the book include some quote from the leading literary critics as if to so the greatness of the book .One caught my fancy as the best that can describe the book and I conveniently use it to end my own review

Minneapolis Tribune “The reader will find an immense satisfaction …… and a desire, on finishing it, to start again on page one.”