Of Mockingbirds and Harry

Two things lead to my writing this post.

One: I recently re-read for the nth time TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.
Written by Harper Lee.
This edition published by Arrow publications.
Ages: young adult.

Image: Courtesy Flipkart.

The book was published on 11th July 1960, the only book written by Harper Lee, and will complete 50 years. It is an iconic book, which should be required reading for everyone above 16yrs. I first read it as a teen, and at every reading, I learn something new, both about the book, and about myself.

The story is set in Alabama, USA, or the Deep South as it was called, in the 1930s. Racial problems were the norm. Atticus Finch is a white lawyer, who is the only person with the courage to defend in court Tom Robinson, a coloured man charged with raping a white woman. Tom claims that he is innocent, and Atticus believes he is, as he knows him very well. It is just his word against that of a white woman and her father. In the end, as racial matters stand, the jury rules against Tom. While being shifted to another jail, now as a convicted man, he makes an attempt to escape, and is killed by the sheriff's men.

The story is told from the point of view of Scout, Atticus' 8yr old daughter, her brother Jem, 4 years older than her, and a neighbouring child, Dill. The book is said to be autobiographical, with Scout being the young Harper Lee. Their mother is dead, and they are being brought up by Atticus with help from the coloured housekeeper, Calpurnia, who is more than just a housekeeper to the family. She is a valuable member, who does not shirk from disciplining the children. There is a very telling incident in which a child from school is visiting them for dinner, and Scout laughs at him for something that he would like to eat. Without making her feel small in front of the guest, Calpurnia calls her into the kitchen, and tells her, "...this that boy is your guest. He could eat the whole tablecloth if he wants to."  In many ways she reminds me of Mammy, the coloured housekeeper in "Gone with the Wind," who is a mother figure to Scarlett O'Hara.

There is a man in a neighbouring house, who has a history of being jailed in his youth for some misdemeaners, who is kept behind closed doors by his father. Myths about him abound among the children. Arthur "Boo" Radley becomes a monster in their eyes, a person to be frightened of. Courage, for the children, is in touching the door to Boo's house and running back. Scout is the only child who meets Boo in the book, and realises that there is nothing really to be afraid of. It is prejudice about Boo that made them fear him, just as prejudice against a coloured man, Tom, makes the white people believe in his 'crime.' As a German proverb says, "Fear makes the wolf seem bigger than it is."

Atticus is a gentle person, with a core of steel. He takes on the town single-handedly. Jem and Scout, who are witnesses to the courtroom proceedings, see their father with new eyes. They are old enough to understand a lot of what is going on, so of course, they come to their father with questions. In a talk he has with them, he says,  "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."

It is a summer of revelation, a time of growing up and the loss of innocence. As Scout later says, "It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived."  There are many kinds of courage it deals with. The 'courage' of Jem in touching Boo's house door and running back, the courage with which Calpurnia and Atticus deal with the rabid dog in an incident in the book, the courage of his convictions that Atticus displays in his handling of the children and his single-handedly taking on of the whole town's prejudices. The courage with which Tom faces the court and the lack of courage displayed by Mayella, the white woman who accuses Tom. It is a wonderful book, one which I have gifted to many friends and relations.

Two: I saw the trailer of the next Harry Potter movie. I am an avid fan of J.K.Rowling, In her book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, she quotes Franklin D Roosevelt when a major character applauds Harry for his choice of the thing he fears-"There is nothing to fear but fear itself." Harry is all too human in his attributes. Flawed, incomplete in many ways. He knows for a long time now that he is on borrowed time. Inspite of that, he meets his destiny head-on, with courage. Just as Harper Lee has said in her book. Courage here is not the lack of fear, but inspite of it.

This movie, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, will be released in two parts, in 3D. Part 1 is due for November 2010, and Part 2 for July 2011. Are you all fans reading this? Waiting for it.