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To kill a mockingbird
By FRANKLIN DAHTU KOLMA
If you want a story filled with adventures of a normal scale told
in a most extraordinary way, read, To Kill a Mocking Bird. This
book is a timeless literary classic hard to put down.
To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of two children, Scout and Jem
Finch, and how they see situations in a time when their father, 'Atticus
Finch', a lawyer, takes on the intolerably, unpopular job of
defending an impeccable black man charged with the rape of a white
girl.
Atticus' words: 'Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit
'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird,' sets the plot
for this classic. His defense of the black man is the perfect
example of the killing of a mockingbird in the real world and is a
major event in these two children's imaginative, exciting and
eventful childhood.
Though the story uses Jem Finch on some occasions, you mainly slip
into the shoes of Scout Finch, adopting her personality, strengths
and ways of thinking. Being a seven year old girl and growing up
with boys all around her, she doesn't turn out to be your average
country girl. No, with a bottom layer of hardheadedness, a top
layer of imaginative ingenuity, some icing of love and respect for
her friends and family and a sprinkling of innocent childishness,
Scout Finch is a cake in a league of her own; unknown to adults
but easy to relate to when thinking of your seven year old days.
There isn't any blockbusting, gun touting characters or action
scenes that we have all come to love to a certain extent in our
movie diluted mind settings. However, what keeps you turning the
pages is the mysteries due to the erratic imaginations of the two
little Finche's, like Boo Radley, the intolerably, ever absent
neighbor who is suspected to be a night prowler, the candy and old
pre-war artifacts that are replaced in the tree outside the Finche
house everyday and the dozens of people who seem to talk to their
father at nights in secluded areas. The humor found in almost all
the pages is also a driving force, the discoveries that the little
duet ready, brother and sister uncover in their own time also
pastes you to the book and just the colorful outlay of a rather
deep and melancholy main event, being the defending of a Blackman
(The Mockingbird).
Another wonderful thing about the book is the court room account.
Written so grippingly, dramatically and vividly that for the
duration of the court proceedings, you will forget that you are
just reading a book and will start to think that you can hear what
is being said in the court room.
Yet another highly impressive factor that makes this book so
unique and worthwhile is the bond that you make with the little
Colonial Town and its inhabitants. I think the main reason why the
bond takes place is because, almost all the things that Scout sees
is made known to you; meaning, everyone on the street in the book
will seem to be on your street.
Harper Lee, the author of the book is probably one of the most
vivid and detailed writers that I have come across in my brief
life as a reader of novels. His innovative way of describing or
telling you about the smallest things that you look over in your
everyday life situations gives you a sense of relativeness and an
appreciation for those little things. The way in which he writes
dialogue from the story and spells the words so that you are
forced into an early, Colonial American, country accent just
cracks you up, because you don't realize the accent until you
stop. I found myself rereading parts like this, in the story six
or seven times before they stopped being funny. What adds to the
humor is the authors undoubtedly, undiluted sense of humor that
shows out in almost all the characters no matter how different
they are in personality. Personally, the mostly appreciated fact
about the author is his surplus inventory of words that he used so
generously. I must have learnt more then twenty new words in that
one novel. I read 'To Kill a Mockingbird', with a dictionary
always at arms reach. It's a brilliant learning experience for all
and a goldmine waiting to be exploited for word smiths.
If you haven't read 'To Kill a Mockingbird', I suggest you read
it. If you have read it, read it after a few months, for as I have
heard from a reliable source, the experience is always a little
different every time. I'm certainly looking forward to trying this
certified theory out.
Thanks for reading and have a pleasant weekend.
 
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