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| Gregory Peck (kinda love him) |
I'm going to say straight up that my favourite character is (drum roll please) Atticus Finch. Yes, he may be everyone's favourite character, but he's mine too. He strikes me, not only as a fantastic user of common sense, but a loving man who takes good care of his children and always does what he knows is right. The simple fact that the accepted the Tom Robinson case demonstrates this to perfection. I bet that no other lawyer within the whole of Alabama would have touched a case like that in the time this book was written, but Harper Lee, by making this decision for Atticus, instantly sanctifies him within the hearts of many modern readers. Having learnt about the difficult experiences of black people during the thirties, all of the attitudes of the townspeople seem totally alien to me, but I admit that, as they were the norm, it must've been difficult for people like Atticus Finch, with opposing views, to speak out against the injustice they saw so plainly. The character of Atticus Finch was based upon Harper Lee's father, who, like Atticus, was an attorney. In 1919, he defended two black men who were accused of murder. He lost the case, the two men were hung and mutilated, and he never tried another case again. This autobiographical aspect of the book makes its message particularly poignant for those of us modern readers trying to put the happenings of the book into perspective with what we know happened.
The whole book is based roughly around Harper Lee's life. It was set in 1936, when Lee was ten years old. The character of Dill was based upon Truman Capote, who used to live next-door to Lee and her family during the summer with his aunts, whilst his mother visited New York for the few months of summer holiday. Scout herself is based very rigidly upon Lee herself. Harper Lee was a tomboy and had a very quick temper. As in the book, both Lee and Capote loved to read as children, and as a result of that and other factors, both were ostracised by their peers. Hence, a strong friendship sprung up between the two. They acted out stories on Lee's front porch (like Dill, Jem and Scout acting out their story of the Radley tale) and typed up stories on an old typewriter given to them by Lee's father. Harper Lee did have an older brother named Edwin, who, like Jem, was four hears older than her. Inspiration for the Radleys came from a family that lived up the road from Harper Lee in her childhood. Their house was always boarded up, they kept themselves to themselves, and, after the youngest son got into trouble with the law, the father locked him up and kept him in the house for twenty four years. With all of this combined, it is very easy to draw parallels and say that this book is an indirect autobiography.
The book itself is pure genius. Simply fantastic. Amazing. Stupendous. Beautifully written. Well-characterised. Beautiful style. Marvellous. If I come up with any more positive adjectives to describe it, it would be a dictionary blog, not a blog about reading. I can't find the words to analyse this book. Just read it, people.
Next, I'll be reading Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell, which is 1010 pages long... So I'll also be reading The Night Cleaner, by Florence Aubenas at the same time! Wish me luck!
