Atticus Finch and the legal profession
editOne of the most significant impacts To Kill a Mockingbird has had is Atticus Finch's model of integrity for the legal profession. As scholar Alice Petry explains, "Atticus has become something of a folk hero in legal circles and is treated almost as if he were an actual person."[1] Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center cites Atticus Finch as the reason he became a lawyer, and Richard Matsch, the federal judge who presided over the Timothy McVeigh trial, counts Atticus as a major judicial influence.[2] One law professor at the University of Notre Dame stated that the most influential textbook he taught from was To Kill a Mockingbird, and an article in the Michigan Law Review claims, "No real-life lawyer has done more for the self-image or public perception of the legal profession," before questioning whether, "Atticus Finch is a paragon of honor or an especially slick hired gun".[3]
In 1992, an Alabama editorial called for the death of Atticus, saying that as liberal as Atticus was, he still worked within a system of institutionalized racism and sexism and should not be revered. The editorial sparked a flurry of responses from attorneys who entered the profession because of him and esteemed him as a hero.[4] Critics of Atticus maintain he is morally ambiguous and does not use his legal skills to challenge the racist status quo in Maycomb.[5] However, in 1997, the Alabama Bar Association erected a monument to Atticus in Monroeville, marking his existence as the "first commemorative milestone in the state's judicial history".[6]
Controversy
editChallenges and bans
editTo Kill a Mockingbird has been a source of significant controversy since its being the subject of classroom study as early as 1963. The book's racial slurs, profanity, and frank discussion of rape have led people to challenge its appropriateness in libraries and classrooms across America. The American Library Association reported that To Kill a Mockingbird was #41 of the 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990–2000.[7][8]
One of the first incidents of the book being challenged was in Hanover, Virginia in 1966: a parent protested that the use of rape as a plot device was immoral. Johnson cites examples of letters to local newspapers, which ranged from amusement to fury; those letters expressing the most outrage, however, complained about Mayella Ewell's attraction to Tom Robinson over the depictions of rape.[9] Upon learning the school administrators were holding hearings to decide the book's appropriateness for the classroom, Harper Lee sent $10 to The Richmond News Leader suggesting it to be used toward the enrollment of "the Hanover County School Board in any first grade of its choice".
The controversy that has surrounded the book has not been limited to the United States. In the late 1990s, school districts in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada attempted to have the book removed from standard teaching curricula, stating:
The terminology in this novel subjects students to humiliating experiences that rob them of their self-respect and the respect of their peers. The word 'Nigger' is used 48 times [in] the novel...We believe that the English Language Arts curriculum in Nova Scotia must enable all students to feel comfortable with ideas, feelings and experiences presented without fear of humiliation ... To Kill a Mockingbird is clearly a book that no longer meets these goals and therefore must no longer be used for classroom instruction."[10]
The response to these attempts to remove the book from standard teaching was passionate across Canada and the United States, and many of the initial complainants were labeled as overly sensitive and "benign censors."[10] Isaac Saney, who supports attempts to ban the book, concludes that the media response to the removal effort was a form of institutionalized racism: "The media's editorialising against all 'censorship' and 'banning' includes vigorous hostility to the censorship and banning of racism. Its advocacy of freedom of speech includes freedom of speech for racists and fascists."[10]
Canard of Capote authorship
editLee's childhood friend, the author Truman Capote, wrote on the dust jacket of the first edition, "[s]omeone rare has written this very fine first novel: a writer with the liveliest sense of life, and the warmest, most authentic sense of humor. A touching book; and so funny, so likeable."[11] This comment has been construed to suggest that Capote wrote the book or edited it heavily.[12] The only supporting evidence for this rumor is the 2003 report of a Tuscaloosa newspaper, which quoted Capote's biological father, Archulus Persons, as claiming that Capote had written "almost all" of the book.[13] The rumors were put to rest in 2006 when a Capote letter was donated to Monroeville's literary heritage museum. Writing to a neighbor in Monroeville in 1959, Capote mentioned that Lee was writing a book that was to be published soon. Extensive notes between Lee and her editor at Lippincott also refute the rumor of Capote's authorship.[14] Lee's older sister Alice has responded to the rumor, saying: "That's the biggest lie ever told."[15]
Honors
editDuring the years immediately following the novel's publication, Lee enjoyed the attention its popularity garnered her, granting interviews, visiting schools, and attending events honoring the book. In 1961, when To Kill a Mockingbird was in its 41st week on the bestseller list, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, stunning Harper Lee.[16] It also won the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews in the same year.[17] Starting in 1964, Lee began to turn down interviews, complaining of monotonous questioning. She has declined ever since to talk with reporters about the book. She has also steadfastly refused to provide an introduction, writing in 1995: "Introductions inhibit pleasure, they kill the joy of anticipation, they frustrate curiosity. The only good thing about Introductions is that in some cases they delay the dose to come. Mockingbird still says what it has to say; it has managed to survive the years without preamble."[18]
In 2001, Lee was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor.[19] In the same year, Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley initiated a city-wide reading program through the city's libraries, and chose his favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird, as the first title of the "One City, One Book" program. Lee declared that "there is no greater honor the novel could receive".[20] By 2004, the novel had been chosen by 25 different communities for variations of the citywide reading program, more than any other novel.[21]
In 2006, Lee was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Notre Dame.[22] During the ceremony, the graduating class and audience gave Lee a standing ovation, and the entire graduating class held up copies of To Kill a Mockingbird to honor her.[23]
Lee was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 5, 2007 by President George W. Bush. In his remarks, Bush stated, "[o]ne reason To Kill a Mockingbird succeeded is the wise and kind heart of the author, which comes through on every page.... To Kill a Mockingbird has influenced the character of our country for the better. It's been a gift to the entire world. As a model of good writing and humane sensibility, this book will be read and studied forever."[24]
Adaptations
edit1962 film
edit The book was made into the well-received film with the same title, starring Gregory Peck in 1962. The film's producer, Alan J. Pakula, remembered Paramount Studios executives questioning him about a potential script: "They said, 'What story do you plan to tell for the film?' I said, 'Have you read the book?' They said, 'Yes.' I said, 'That's the story.'"[25] The movie won three Oscars: Best Actor for Gregory Peck, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for Horton Foote. It was nominated for five more Oscars including Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Mary Badham, the actress who played Scout.[26]
Harper Lee was pleased with the movie, saying: "In that film the man and the part met.... I've had many, many offers to turn it into musicals, into TV or stage plays, but I've always refused. That film was a work of art."[27] Peck met Lee's father, the model for Atticus, prior to the filming. Lee's father died before the film's release, and Lee was so impressed with Peck's performance that she gave him her father's pocketwatch, which he had with him the evening he was awarded the Oscar for best actor.[28] Years later, he was reluctant to tell Lee that the watch was stolen out of his luggage in London Heathrow Airport. When Peck eventually did tell Lee, he said she responded, "'Well, it's only a watch.' Harper - she feels deeply, but she's not a sentimental person about things."[29] Lee and Peck shared a friendship long after the movie was made. Peck's grandson was named "Harper" in her honor.[30]
In May 2005, Lee made an uncharacteristic appearance at the Los Angeles Public Library for an event in her honor. It was hosted by Peck's widow Veronique, who said of Lee: "She's like a national treasure. She's someone who has made a difference…with this book. The book is still as strong as it ever was, and so is the film. All the kids in the United States read this book and see the film in the seventh and eighth grades and write papers and essays. My husband used to get thousands and thousands of letters from teachers who would send them to him."[31]
Play
editThe book has also been adapted as a play by Christopher Sergel. It debuted in 1990 in Monroeville, a town that labels itself "The Literary Capital of Alabama". The play runs every May on the county courthouse grounds and townspeople make up the cast.[32] White male audience members are chosen at the intermission to make up the jury. During the courtroom scene the production moves into the Monroe County Courthouse and the audience is racially segregated. Author Albert Murray said of the relationship of the town to the novel (and the annual performance), "It becomes part of the town ritual, like the religious underpinning of Mardi Gras. With the whole town crowded around the actual courthouse, it's part of a central, civic education - what Monroeville aspires to be."[33]
According to a National Geographic article, the novel is so revered in Monroeville that people quote lines from it like Scripture; yet Harper Lee herself has refused to attend any performances, because "she abhors anything that trades on the book's fame".[34] To underscore this sentiment, Lee demanded that a book of recipes named "Calpurnia's Cookbook" not be published and sold out of the Monroe County Heritage Museum.[35] Despite her discouragement, a rising number of tourists have come to Monroeville, hoping to see Lee's inspiration for the book, or Lee herself. Local residents call them "Mockingbird groupies", and although Lee is not reclusive, she refuses publicity and interviews with an emphatic "Hell no".[36]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Petry, p. xxiii.
- ^ Petry, p. xxiv.
- ^ Lubet, Steven (May 1999). "Reconstructing Atticus Finch". Michigan Law Review. 97 (6): p. 1339–62. doi:10.2307/1290205. JSTOR 1290205.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Petry, p. xxv - xxvii.
- ^ Metress, Christopher (September 2003). "The Rise and Fall of Atticus Finch". The Chattahoochee Review. 24 (1).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "'Mockingbird' Hero Honored in Monroeville". The Birmingham News. Alabama. 1997-05-03. p. 7A.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000". American Library Association. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ "Banned and/or Challenged Books". American Library Association. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ Johnson, Casebook p. 208–213.
- ^ a b c Saney, Isaac (2003). "The Case Against To Kill a Mockingbird". Race & Class. 45 (1): p. 99–110. doi:10.1177/0306396803045001005.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "First Edition Points to identify To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee". Pulitzer Prize First Edition Guide. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
- ^ "National Endowment of the Arts. "The Big Read: To Kill a Mockingbird (About the Author)."". National Endowment of the Arts. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
- ^ Windham, Ben (2003-08-24). "An Encounter with Harper Lee". The Tuscaloosa News.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Scheible, Sue (2006-02-27). "To kill a rumor: Capote letter helps solve 'Mockingbird' mystery". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
biggwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Shields, p.199–200.
- ^ Bain, Robert (1980). "Harper Lee". Southern Writers: A Biographical Dictionary. Louisiana State University Press. pp. p. 276–277. ISBN 080710390X.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Tabor, May (1995-08-23). "A 'new foreword' that isn't". The New York Times. p. C.11.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Bellafante, Ginia (2006-01-30). "Harper Lee, Gregarious for a Day". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Chicago Launches City-wide Book Group". Library Journal. 2001-08-13.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "To Read a Mockingbird". Library Journal. 129 (14). New York: 13. 2004-09-01.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Brow, Dennis (2006-04-11). "Honorary degree recipients are leaders in diverse fields". University of Notre Dame. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Commencement 2006". Notre Dame Magazine. University of Notre Dame. July 2006. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "President Bush Honors Medal of Freedom Recipients". White House press release. 2007-11-05. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Nichols, Peter (1998-02-27). "Time Can't Kill 'Mockingbird' [Review]". The New York Times. p. E.1.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "To Kill a Mockingbird (film)". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2008-03-29..
- ^ Jones, Carolyn (2002). "Harper Lee". In Carolyn Perry (ed.) (ed.). The History of Southern Women's Literature. Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 9780807127537.
{{cite book}}:|editor=has generic name (help) - ^ Bobbin, Jay (1997-12-21). "Gregory Peck is Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird". The Birmingham News. Alabama. p. 1.F.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ King, Susan (1997-12-22). "How the Finch Stole Christmas; Q & A With Gregory Peck". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ King, Susan (1999-10-18). "Q&A; Film Honors Peck, 'Perfectly Happy' in a Busy Retirement". Los Angeles Times. p. 4.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Lacher, Irene (2005-05-21). "Harper Lee raises her low profile for a friend; The author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' shuns fanfare. But for the kin of Gregory Peck". Los Angeles Times. p. E.1.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Literary History of Monroeville". Monroeville Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ Hoffman, Roy (1998-08-09). "Long Lives the Mockingbird". New York Times Book Review. New York. p. 31.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Newman, Cathy (January 2006). "To Catch a Mockingbird". NationalGeographic.com. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Robinson, David. "The One and Only". Scotsman.com. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
- ^ Pressley, Sue (1999-06-10). "Quiet Author, Home Town Attract 'Groupies,' Press; To Live With 'Mockingbird'". The Washington Post. p. A.3.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
Bibliography
edit- Johnson, Claudia. To Kill a Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries. Twayne Publishers: 1994. ISBN 0805780688
- Johnson, Claudia. Understanding To Kill a Mockingbird: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historic Documents. Greenwood Press: 1994. ISBN 0313291934
- Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. HarperCollins: 1960 (Perennial Classics edition: 2002). ISBN 0060935464
- Petry, Alice. "Introduction" in On Harper Lee: Essays and Reflections. University of Tennessee Press: 1994. ISBN 1572335785
- Shields, Charles. Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee. Henry Holt and Co.: 2006. ISBN 080507919X
Category:1960 novels Category:American novels Category:Southern Gothic novels Category:Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Category:Southern United States in fiction