Atticus, Scout, Jem, Dil,Calpurnia, Boo Radley and Tom Robison are all the wonderful characters in the book that has become a classic: To Kill A Mockingbird.
Set in the fictitious town of Macomb, AL, the story is about racial injustice and growing up in a small southern town. Published fifty years ago, it has never been out of print and sold over thirty million copies. Gregory Peck played the immortalized Atticus Finch in the Oscar winning movie.
Harper Lee based Scout on herself and Macomb on her hometown of Monroeville, Al. Dill is based on Truman Capote, Lee's childhood next door neighbor in Monroeville. He was the famous author of In Cold Blood. Atticus was based on Lee's father.
The courtroom in the movie is identical to the old Monroeville courtroom.
A first edition signed copy of the book has gone for $25,000.00 on Ebay. After learning about the sales Lee has stopped signing.
To Kill A Mockingbird has always been one of my all time favorite stories. The humorous Dill and Scout, the widsom of Atticus, the innocence of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, Calpurnia's relationship to the family--all make for a great story.
It is scary in parts but also poignant, sad, funny, and uplifting.
How can Atticus be so wise?
The world needs more Atticus Finches!!!
Scout:
"I told Calpurnia to just wait, I'd fix her: one of these days when she wasn't looking I'd go off and drown myself in Barker's Eddy and then she'd be sorry. Besides, I added, she'd already gotten me in trouble once today: she had taught me to write and it was all her fault."
Atticus: "'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.'"
More Atticus-isms
"'The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.'"
Last but not least: the extraordinary Christian Benevolence of Atticus Finch-
Atticus goes out of his way to be polite and kind to Mrs. Dubose. she is suffering from morphine addiction withdrawals and in severe agony.
She is mean to Atticus' children and says horrible things about him. However, he chooses to be kind and intstructs Scout and Jem to do the same.
He knows she's in pain and requires Jem to read to her every day- thus teaching acceptance and compassion rather than vengeance.
Atticus:
"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew."
- spoken by Atticus Finch to Jem,
She is mean to Atticus' children and says horrible things about him. However, he chooses to be kind and intstructs Scout and Jem to do the same.
He knows she's in pain and requires Jem to read to her every day- thus teaching acceptance and compassion rather than vengeance.
Atticus:
"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew."
- spoken by Atticus Finch to Jem,
