* note....the comments that follow this blog are more interesting and moving-than the blog itself
Make sure you read them!
I've always thought that Harper Lee's " To Kill A Mockingbird" was an adult book for children. I say this because I have a feeling that although like many other people , I have re read the novel many times during my lifetime, I will never really forget reading it at school when I was a child of 12.
Mockingbird is essentially an exploration of childhood innocence and the moral nature of people. The children, Scout and Jem have to face the dark side of racism, bullying and the unfairness of small town life but do so under the wing of a father who is sympathetic to all. Atticus Finch is the father all children wish they had when they were twelve.
From what I can gather the theme of Harper Lee's second novel " Go Set A Watchman" is one of disillusionment, namely Scout's disillusionment in her father, who turns out to be as bigoted as most of the other inhabitants of Maycombe and although the " falling from grace" of a parent through the eyes of an adoring child is something that most people experience sometime in their lives, the toppling of Atticus from his pedestal seems a step too far.
I grew up with parents that disappointed me. It's seems a terrible thing to say but it was true. When I was twelve I ached for a father or mother like Atticus.
My parents were too wrapped up in their own issues to really be bothered with the moral dilemmas in side their kids' heads.
Having said this I do remember one Atticus moment amid a brown 1970s childhood.
I had gone to bed , but had got up to listen to a family discussion from the safety of the top of the stairs. The discussion was centred around someone known to the family who had been caught in a gay clinch so to speak and it is important to remember here that in the 1970s, this sort of thing was deemed rather shocking to say the least.
Amid the head shaking and the " shame" comments one voice proved to be the voice of reason and balance and that was the voice of my mother.
Like Henry Fonda's juror number 8, in Twelve Angry Men , she calmly stuck up for the person involved, patiently giving a human face to the whole situation and pouring oil on a very stormy sea.
Even at twelve , I remember being rather proud of her individual stand against a tide of small mindedness...and even at twelve I knew that she was right and they were wrong.
What was your Atticus Finch moment?
I'd be interested to Know!
Make sure you read them!
I've always thought that Harper Lee's " To Kill A Mockingbird" was an adult book for children. I say this because I have a feeling that although like many other people , I have re read the novel many times during my lifetime, I will never really forget reading it at school when I was a child of 12.
Mockingbird is essentially an exploration of childhood innocence and the moral nature of people. The children, Scout and Jem have to face the dark side of racism, bullying and the unfairness of small town life but do so under the wing of a father who is sympathetic to all. Atticus Finch is the father all children wish they had when they were twelve.
From what I can gather the theme of Harper Lee's second novel " Go Set A Watchman" is one of disillusionment, namely Scout's disillusionment in her father, who turns out to be as bigoted as most of the other inhabitants of Maycombe and although the " falling from grace" of a parent through the eyes of an adoring child is something that most people experience sometime in their lives, the toppling of Atticus from his pedestal seems a step too far.
I grew up with parents that disappointed me. It's seems a terrible thing to say but it was true. When I was twelve I ached for a father or mother like Atticus.
My parents were too wrapped up in their own issues to really be bothered with the moral dilemmas in side their kids' heads.
Having said this I do remember one Atticus moment amid a brown 1970s childhood.
I had gone to bed , but had got up to listen to a family discussion from the safety of the top of the stairs. The discussion was centred around someone known to the family who had been caught in a gay clinch so to speak and it is important to remember here that in the 1970s, this sort of thing was deemed rather shocking to say the least.
Amid the head shaking and the " shame" comments one voice proved to be the voice of reason and balance and that was the voice of my mother.
Like Henry Fonda's juror number 8, in Twelve Angry Men , she calmly stuck up for the person involved, patiently giving a human face to the whole situation and pouring oil on a very stormy sea.
Even at twelve , I remember being rather proud of her individual stand against a tide of small mindedness...and even at twelve I knew that she was right and they were wrong.
What was your Atticus Finch moment?
I'd be interested to Know!
