To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

“There are some men in this world who are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us.  Your father’s one of them.”

 “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 see it through no matter what.”

“… but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.  The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”

“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)…”

Few books are as widely read, especially in the United States, as To Kill a Mockingbird.  For most, it was required reading for a high school English class.  But, if anyone has not yet experienced this classic, or it has been decades since you last opened it, you owe it to yourself to have a read.  For those unfamiliar with the book, To Kill a Mockingbird is written from the point of view of Scout, a young girl growing up in 1930s rural Alabama.  The story centers around the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl.  Scout’s father, Atticus, is the lawyer assigned to defend Tom.  As a result, Scout learns life lessons regarding how people should treat others.  She learns these lessons through her father, brother, and the plethora of other colorful but flawed characters this book portrays. 

Picking it up again as an adult, thirty years after my first reading, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  It was one of the few books I enjoyed in school, and I didn’t want a re-read to ruin what I genuinely felt was a great book.  After all, books are experienced differently at various stages in one’s life.  Years ago, I enjoyed the story, specifically the courtroom chapters and Atticus’ profound legal and philosophical arguments, but also the overall message concerning racism and justice.  While those aspects still resonated, I encountered something deeper and more nuanced than what sixteen-year-old me had experienced.  Part of it was nostalgic.  The further away I am from childhood, the more I look back on it as a time of absolute freedom and wonder.  While I cannot personally relate to a childhood in the deep south ninety years ago, I found myself reflecting on the people and events that shaped my youth, making me who I am today.  Nostalgia aside, To Kill a Mockingbird contains so much wisdom I never appreciated the first time around.  What I expected was a new perspective about racism in the old south, the unfair justice system, poverty, morality, or even just a better understanding of Atticus Finch’s best quotes.  What I got was a perspective on parenting and the lasting impact that every word, action, conversation, and interaction has on our children.  Kids are astute and pick up more than we’ll ever know.  And we’ll never know exactly when they are watching and what they will absorb.       

Atticus Finch is a great father, a single dad trying to do the best he can under difficult circumstances.  He is a stand-up person and as gentlemen, he is what we should strive to become.  Atticus leads and teaches by example; his nuggets of truth are sprinkled throughout the book as he explains life to his daughter.  When Scout asks questions, he is ready to provide perspective and context, but he always lives out exactly what he preaches.  He is open and honest, regardless of the topic.  As he points out, “when a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness' sake.  But don't make a production of it.  Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles 'em." 

While Atticus practices what he preaches, this is not the case for other adults in Maycomb, Alabama.  We see rampant hypocrisy among some secondary (and tertiary) characters.  For instance, Scout shows us that kids are much more perceptive than we think.  They catch onto our inconsistencies.  Scout recounts her third-grade teacher, Mrs. Gates, explaining the difference between Germany and the United States.  She says to her class, “we are a democracy and Germany is a dictatorship…over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody.  Persecution come from people who are prejudiced.”  Later, Scout explains her confusion to Jem, her brother, regarding something she overheard during the Tom Robinson trial, “Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Mrs. Gates was – she was goin’ down the steps in front of us, you musta not seen her – she was talking with Miss Stephanie Crawford.  I heard her say it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were gettin’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us.  Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home?” 

Hypocrisy is one of my pet peeves.  I try taking great care to ensure that my thoughts, actions, and words are consistent.  Even so, I am far from perfect in this endeavor.  As a parent, I need to realize that kids see adults’ hypocrisy every day.  Whether it’s discipline, talking about current events, or how we treat others, care must be taken not to be hypocritical.  My daughter calls me out any time she sees a shred of inconsistency between my words and actions.  And, truth be told, I appreciate that.  Because as hard as I try, it’s hard to avoid. 

This isn’t just a problem at the personal level.  Zoom out and one will see that hypocrisy is rampant, especially in our social discourse.  All one needs to do is spend a couple minutes on the 24-hour news networks or any politically slanted social media page.  The absolute hypocrisy in today’s politics and society is maddening.  We cannot move forward in a constructive manner unless we see the inconsistencies and double standards from our favorite political party, pundit, activist, or influencer.  In an ideal world, people would be called out on it, especially from their own side.  So, I ask, as gentlemen: in which areas are you hypocritical?  Where are your inconsistencies?  What mental gymnastics do you perform so that you can justify a position, talking point, or action?  After all, if a third grader like Scout can detect the hypocrisy in her teacher, imagine how your children are impacted by your contradictions.  If I cannot be honest with myself, how do I expect my kids to be honest with me?  It starts at home.  It begins internally.  We need to be an example for the world and for the next generation.  I, for one, resolve to do better.