Sunday, July 11, 2010

Thank You, Harper Lee

I was reminded, this morning, that today is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Harper Lee's groundbreaking novel of prejudice and tolerance "To Kill a Mockingbird."

It's amazing, really, to think that I probably haven't read it since high school, since so much of the story of Scout and Jem and Boo and Atticus is still vividly imprinted on my brain. Of course, part of that is probably caused by seeing the movie version starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch - the movie solidified so many of the images from the novel, making them even more unforgettable.

I grew up in a small town in South Dakota. To say that it was "primarily white" at the time would be an understatement. When we talked about diversity, the discussion focused on which of the seven churches in town we all went to. An "outsider" was anyone who couldn't find relatives in any of the local cemeteries. The idea of racial injustice or intolerance was pretty much unheard of.

But we still read "To Kill a Mockingbird" and watched the movie in our English classes. And all of us kids spent time talking about how horrible the outcome of Boo Radley's trial was - and how important Atticus's stand for justice was. Something in the text of the book allowed us to understand these situations which were so far removed from us. There was an ease to the storytelling, and that simplicity may have been what made the story even more immediate - even to those of us who couldn't have imagined any of it on our own.

I saw, in a news story on "CBS News Sunday Morning," today, that Harper Lee never wrote another novel after "To Kill a Mockingbird" because she didn't feel she could ever do as well, and could only go down. Thank god she had the nerve to write the one that she did write.

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