Book #2: To Kill A Mockingbird
Quick Facts
- To Kill A Mockingbird (published in 1960) has sold more than 30 million copies, been translated into 40 languages, and won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize.
- The novel was made into a hugely successful movie in 1962, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.
- In a 2006 survey of librarians, To Kill A Mockingbird was second only to the Bible in a list of books everyone should read before they die.
- Dill’s character in the book was based on Truman Capote, a childhood friend of To Kill A Mockingbird Author Harper Lee.
- To Kill A Mockingbird is Harper Lee’s only novel, and one of only a few of her published pieces.
My Thoughts
I’ve had quite a few people ridicule me for never having read To Kill A Mockingbird. My wife said I should be ashamed to be a southerner. It’s true; I should be ashamed. That’s why I put this book second on list of the 101. Thankfully, now that I’ve read it, no longer am I a loser southerner.
Some books are just good as books. Maybe they are well-written, with beautiful prose and creative imagery. The authors do their job—which is to entertain you. But To Kill A Mockingbird is a different kind of book. Not only did Harper Lee manage to do all of those things, she also made a social commentary that has impacted millions of people over the last five decades.
You know the story. Or, if you don’t…it’s time you read it. The book is really broken into two parts. The first part centers on the narrator—a six-year-old girl named “Scout” Finch—her older brother, Jem, and their best friend, Dill, who visits every summer. The three spend their summers in the dusty old town of fictional Maycomb, Alabama trying to figure out a way to get the reclusive, rarely-seen “Boo Radley to come out” of his boarded up house across the street.
The second part of the novel follows Scout and Jem as they deal with the repercussions of their father’s court case. Atticus Finch is a lawyer who is representing an innocent black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping the town drunk’s daughter. Atticus and his family endure all sorts of verbal, and even physical, abuse from white townspeople who are livid with him for representing a black man. When Robinson is convicted by an all-white jury, eventually getting killed when he tries to escape from jail, all hell breaks loose in Maycomb.
Very few books that I’ve read have painted such a picture of time and place like To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee dropped me right in the middle of small-town Alabama in the 1930s—a town where everyone knows each other, some families are known to have “gambling streaks” and “drinking streaks,” and white folks love God and hate black people.
I love Lee’s description of Maycomb in the first chapter:
Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.
In my dreams, I write like that.
The book is similar to The Catcher in the Rye in many ways. Both use an adolescent narrator who attempts to “fight the man”—Holden fights against he phoniness of the adult world while Scout, through her father Atticus, look to take a principled stand against a racist town who is bent on killing an innocent man.
Scout develops more as a character than Holden, making To Kill A Mockingbird more of a bildungsroman, which is a fancy literary term that means the protagonist is kid who learned a lot of stuff and grew up. The book’s timeline goes over a series of several years, and we see Scout and her brother Jem both progress as characters into young adults over this period.
Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.
As a Christian, I would even propose that Lee’s book is heavy on Christian principles. To summarize the novel in one sentence, I’ll steal a line from Atticus Finch: “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.”
I’m a Christian who does my best to follow Jesus, and that’s why I love the character of Atticus Finch so much. He didn’t care what the town thought. He didn’t care that he was the lone voice in the wilderness. He followed what he knew was right—even if it meant putting himself in danger. That’s integrity.
Other Stuff
The Meaning: The term “to kill a mockingbird” represents killing the innocent. Maudie tells Scout: “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Mockingbirds are innocent. Tom Robinson was a “mockingbird” who’s only fault was to try and help out a white girl.
Highlights: The prose. As I said above, I’ve never felt like I’ve been catapulted into another time and place quite like I did while reading To Kill A Mockingbird. I rarely re-read books (except for the purpose of completing this list), but when I’m done with the 101, I’ll re-read this one. It’s that good.
The book also has the Animal Farm feel. You know you are reading about something much bigger than the story itself.
Lowlights: On the flip side, it’s sometimes hard to believe the narrator is six-years-old. Her language and understanding of complex issues like justice and racism are extremely advanced. It’s an issue I noticed, but didn’t get too hung up on.
I disagree on this issue, so it’s not really a lowlight, but some critics believe the black characters are too one dimensional and are props to set up Atticus Finch as the hero. I thought main black characters like Tom Robinson and the Finch’s housekeeper, Calpurnia, were actually more complicated and complex than their white counterparts.
Memorable Line: “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” –Scout Finch
Final Thoughts: Much like The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill A Mockingbird is a must-read if you really consider yourself an avid reader. You’ll take away a lot from this book. It really caused me to reset my mind and realize how far this country has come in terms of civil rights. No doubt, a far more subtle racism still exists here in America, but the type of angry mob that Tom Robinson faced, and Atticus Finch fought against, every single day is a thing of the past. Read it.
Up Next: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Question: Have you read To Kill A Mockingbird? Hate it? Love it?
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- Book #4: Lord of the Flies | 101 Books
- Famous Opening Lines | 101 Books
- The Plan | 101 Books
- Book #5: Gone With The Wind | 101 Books
- I’ll Rank Them For You, Time Magazine | 101 Books
- What Is One Book You’ll Never Read? | 101 Books
- Harper Lee Will Not Be Mocked | 101 Books
- Another List of Top Reads | IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SMILE, I'LL GIVE YOU ONE OF MINE
- Book #18: The Assistant | 101 Books
- Breaking Down the Next 83 Books | 101 Books
- The Poet And The Prophet | 101 Books
- Repost: Book #2: To Kill A Mockingbird | 101 Books
- The Spy Who Went To The Movies | 101 Books
- Yesterday’s Contest Winner Is… | 101 Books
- 101 Books FAQ | 101 Books
- Fess Up: The Book You’ve Never Read | 101 Books
- Next Up: Beloved | 101 Books
- Authors Best Known For Their First Novel | 101 Books
- Authors Best Known For Their First Novel «
- What Do Harper Lee And Captain Underpants Have In Common? | 101 Books
- The 101 Books Christmas Giveaway! | 101 Books
- Bigger Thomas: Growing Up In A White World | 101 Books
- My Five Favorite Blogs of 2012 « Paucis Verbis
- Next Up: The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter | 101 Books
- Next Up: The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter | 101 Books
- The Great Gatsby Returns | 101 Books
- Confessions of a Recovering Contrarian | 101 Books
- Book #40: The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter | 101 Books
- The First 40: A Look Back | 101 Books
- Ranking The First 40 Novels | 101 Books
- Beach Reading Strategy Revisited | 101 Books
- Harper Lee Lays The Smack Down | 101 Books
- 5 Famous Authors & Their Controversies | 101 Books
- 10 Manly Books All Fathers Should Read | 101 Books
- What Classic Novels Were Almost Called | 101 Books
- How Do You Decide What Your Kids Read? | 101 Books
- Next Up: Invisible Man | 101 Books
- Literary Characters As President: The Good & Bad | 101 Books
- The Whiniest Teenager In Literature Returns! | 101 Books
- Next Up: The Great Gatsby | 101 Books
- 7 Famous Novels That Became Musicals | 101 Books
- Should You Name Your Kid After Literary Characters? | 101 Books
- Book 50: The Great Gatsby | 101 Books
- 101 Books At The Halfway Point | 101 Books
- A Map Of Literary America | 101 Books
- “Let us welcome controversial books and authors.” | 101 Books
- To Kill A Mockingbird Reimagined | 101 Books
- A Golden Notebook Full Of Good Quotes | 101 Books
- 7 Parenting Lessons From Literature | 101 Books
- My 2-Year-Old Judges Books By Their Covers | 101 Books
Great review, R. Looking forward to number three.
Very insightful! It makes me want to read this book again.
And I told you that it was one of the best books ever!!
Another great review, Berto! Guess I’m a loser because somehow I managed to graduate without reading this book. However, I’m currently working on fixing that problem. I picked up the book a few weeks ago so I can cross it off my reading list.
I just read Mockingbird for the first time myself. I thought it was wonderful, both the story and characters. Nothing wrong with the writing either.
My mom grew up in Monroeville, AL which is what the fictional “Maycomb” is based off. She actually walked to school just like Scout and went to school next door to Boo Radley’s house. Cool huh?
Very cool. Did she peek in Boo’s window?
Reading this book right now! I’m blogging about my own list of books to read, and this is one of the first that I am reading from my list. It’s good to see that someone else sees Lee as such an amazing writer.
When you said ‘in my dreams I write like this,’ I felt the exact same way!
I am looking forward to seeing what you have to say about other books I have read or am going to be reading.
Read this for my project.
Loved it.
Glad its currently on the top of your list (:
I loved this book, loved, loved it, and I am not American. I guess this is one of those timeless books.
I never understood that part about the mockingbird, and always wondered why the book was named like that (I don’t remember if the book itself explained it). Thanks for sharing.
Just found your blog. Love it! This is the book that I read in 7th grade that got me hooked on reading. Can’t wait to read your other reviews.
New to your site but decided to follow! I’m an avid book lover and reader myself. I love your review of To Kill a Mockingbird. It made me want to try to pick it up again. I started it about a year or two ago, but put it down. Not really sure why. It’s not that I didn’t like it, but I guess it just wasn’t the book I was supposed to be reading at the time. I firmly believe the book picks you most of the time. Good luck and keep up the good work! Looking forward to reading more from you.
Nice review. But I have to disagree on that Tom Robinson was the Mockingbird only.
Boo Radley was the/a Mockingbird. If Heck Tate would have told the whole town that he saved those kids from a murderer, every single person would have been barging down his front door. That would have “killed the mockingbird” of Boo, as he wanted to keep by himself.
I enjoyed your review. I have wondered when is the perfect age to pick up Mockingbird. My son in High School didn’t enjoy it at all and my daughter in Jr. High loved it. Perhaps she was ready for the social intricacies and he was not.
I’m looking forward to reading more of your thoughts. Thanks.
I love TKAM and get to teach it every year with a new group of high school freshmen. We’ve just started, and these jaded youths are caught so off guard by the silliness and sweetness of Scout that they laugh out loud in class and sit quietly as she delivers deep truths.
I think the adult Scout looking back and narrating through her child-self does add more depth than is realistic for a kid, but there is a childlike innocence in the approach to issues like justice, racism, and tolerance that are endearing and effective.
Thanks for sharing your post, and I’m glad you’ve gotten to cherish TKAM!
I’ve only started following your blog a couple of weeks ago; I just want to say that I’m really enjoying it. I am a complete list-aholic, and I’ve managed to come up with a list of over 200 books (all from before 2005) that I want to read, amongst which are the Time’s 100 books, of course.
I love reading your reviews; as soon as I’ll finish “The Finkler Question” I’ll follow your suggestion and finally read “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
Great post. I am also reading The List; I started it in 2006 and have 17 more to go. I don’t ONLY read books on the list which is why I haven’t finished sooner. I’m also a runner and an avid knitter which takes a lot of my time…I try to find books on CD (hope that’s not cheating). I just happened on this blog when researching how to read Infinite Jest and am thrilled. To Kill A Mockingbird is my secret favorite novel…I say secret because it’s not dense or necessarily intellectual, but there is just something about the writing, the characters, perhaps my channeling Gregory Peck when I read it that makes it a magically thrilling experience.
This is my FAVOURITE novel. It is amazing, and your review sums it up perfectly
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Lee does a wonderful job of simplifying the matter so that middle schoolers (i read it in middle school) can understand it, but leaving an understanding that the issue goes beyond this particular instance with Robinson and is more complicated than the book could explain. This issue of justice for the sake of what is right is something that everyone regardless of ethnicity will have to deal with at some point in their life. This is an issue that seems to, in part, define who we become.
If I were to be stranded on a desert island I’d hope to have To Kill A Mockingbird in my back pocket. It would be a welcome friend with which to spend my lonely hours. I’ve read TKAM several times; I re-read it each time I teach it to my high school English classes. It has captivated me, delighted me, wooed me, and frustrated me each time I’ve gone back to Maycomb for a visit. I love the richness of the characters. Scout, Jem, and Dill are delightful children, and their antics are a joy to read. I especially love the scene when Jem loses his pants in the fence. The wisdom of the adults in the novel, people like Calpurnia, Maudie, and Atticus, inspire me and remind me of how important it is not only to teach values to our children but to be willing to live out those values in our own lives as well. We never know who may be watching! I think the scene in the courthouse when the minister in the balcony has Scout stand up because Atticus is leaving the courtroom is one of the most inspirational of all time. And every time I read the novel I want Tom Robinson to be acquitted. I’m still breathless with the shock of his death, and I know it’s coming!
By the way, there are three mockingbird figures in the story – Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Mayella Ewing. Her life was a horror, and she was just as much a victim as Tom.
I can’t say that I agree with Time Magazine’s list; too many of these novels are dark and depressing. I prefer to read things that resonate with hope, but I do applaud your efforts to read through them. Some are most definitely worth the time.