To Kill a Mocking Bird (1960)
By Harper Lee

It is with joy that I find that I am still filling some of the gaps in my education. Granted gaps are not something to boast in, but at this point, having read much more than I had previously, I find that I am really enjoying this novel that I missed. This being a rather ubiquitous book I won’t trouble you with details. The film based on the book does a good job in capturing the same spirit and goals of it’s literary counterpart if you want a good synopsis.

One thing I will focus on. Heroism. This concept is brought forth through out this book. The reader is repeatedly transported to nobler thoughts by Atticus who chooses to do what is right despite the flow of the world around trying to pull him down. This admiration continues to the very end. Where we are lead to believe that the answer to the problem is outside the law. This is a failure by Atticus. This endorsement by our hero lends credence to us that this final wrong choice is really the right choice. This is further reinforced by layering the simile of killing the mocking bird (Tom Robinson) into destroying the peace of Arthur Radley another mocking bird. The law failed one thus we shouldn’t let the law fail another. Atticus does make an argument to do what is right, but finally is cowed to the decision of another. And in the end we are left with a validation for the end justifies the means as long as good people are making the decision.

I still love this book and will highly recommend it. Great portions of it’s content brought perspective and illuminated me to what is right. Maybe the point of this isn’t so much that hero’s fail. But rather a focus on the failure in us. We grasp for the heros: that perfect person to hold true in our life. Atticus is just like the rest of us, a human who makes mistakes.