To Kill a Mockingbird

Wow. I am in awe again. I firmly believe that the best book ever written is "To Kill a Mockingbird", but the movie, a gift for my birthday, is phenomenal too! I watched it over a span of two days, Paige's head in the crook of my arm while Tony demanded food every seven seconds and vroomed his cars and helicopters and toys around the room.

The movie was way over their heads, although they did stop to stare at the screen when the climactic music began, and Paige would ask questions throughout the whole thing - is that the bad guy? Is Atticus the good guy? (Oh yes!) And she was enthralled with Scout and Jem, claiming that they were "bad" because they stood defiant in front of the crowd of people outside the jailhouse where Atticus set up camp to protect the prisoner. When Atticus told Jem to go home, Jem crossed his arms, and said, "No Sir." I explained to her that their presence there turned the bad men around, that the protection (what little of it they gave) was a reminder to these men that Atticus was a stand-up guy and deserved their respect despite the fact that he was defending a black man (falsely accused, I might add), and they were so backwards-minded that they didn't understand.

And Atticus! Oh Gregory Peck was sensational... when he stood in the courtroom and pointed to the girl who accused Tom Robinson of raping her, and said that he pitied her! He pitied her because she was so ignorant and ashamed of her own behavior that she had to accuse an innocent man of this crime so that she could live with herself, that she had to redefine the truth of what really happened so that she could live with herself!

Atticus tells Scout to step into the skin of others and walk around in it for a while, and because he follows this rule of compassion, when the ignorant Mr. Yule spits in his face, he reaches into his pocket, after a tense moment, pulls out his handkerchief (Side Note: "fazzolari" means roughly, handkerchief in Italian - didn't know that, did you?) and wipes the spittle from his face and walks away, leaving Mr. Yule with egg on his face!

Atticus tells Scout that killing a mockingbird is a sin because the mockingbird does nothing but make music; it is not an unkind animal. (Boo Radley is a mockingbird in this story, as is Tom Robinson).

Oh my, and Boo Radley! Robert Duvall, I don't even think he had a line, rescues Jem and Scout from Mr. Yule's drunken attack simply because he loves the kids. Jem and Scout have tormented this man, and falsified his personality throughout the movie, but when it comes down to it, he is the stand-up guy, and Scout recognizes him immediately and takes his hand.

The story is amazing - so many great features of "character" interwoven, and the greatest of these is compassion, recognizing it, unfolding it and spreading it over ego, and living by it. Amazing. Amazing. The best story ever told. Harper Lee, you are one of my idols, sensational authoring. Atticus, I hope you rubbed off on me, and I pray to be the female version of you as a parent to my children.

How this applies to this blog is this: It's a story about character, and good people, and I share it because you, my dear readers, are some good people! Do yourself a favor, rent the movie or read the book again. There is a reason why it's the best book in the world!