Folks...
"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks."
- Harper Lee
We just watched "To Kill a Mockingbird" - a film, starring Gregory Peck, based on the Harper Lee novel of the same name. I'm not sure how I made it out of Honors English in High School, or through my college Literature courses without ever reading this gem of a book (OK, I still haven't actually read the book yet, but I'll be picking it up at the library during lunch one day this week). I watched the "making of" bonus feature on the DVD, and reportedly this adaptation is really true to the original work, so I can't wait to pick it up.
Certainly, I knew about the book - but by title only; I never knew what the story was about. I knew it was a classic that should be read - if not for enjoyment, then to "broaden my horizons" on popular literature. Well, time and a million other things kept me "putting it off". I had no idea that it was like taking a slice of life from a small Southern town, and putting it under a microscope for a brief time. The film is based in the 1930's, in a small Alabama town (Maycomb), which is not unlike Monroeville, Alabama where Ms. Lee grew up - and not unlike Palatka, Florida, the small Southern town in North Florida where I grew up.
As I watched Scout, a young Southern tomboy/girl (the lead character), I couldn't help but think of how much her, and her brother's daily activities were the same as things that my brother and I did. I couldn't believe that things wouldn't have changed very much from the 1930's South, to the 1970's South. I remember going to my Grandmother's house and playing in the canal, climbing huge oak trees, swinging and rolling across the yard in old tractor tires, or running through the potato & cabbage fields - while our parents & grandparents, aunts & uncles, and my grandparent's neighbors enjoyed cold iced tea and games of cards, or just sitting on the front porch talking. My grandparents lived on a farm, and there was always adventure to be found when we went to visit.
Much like Calpurnia took care of Scout and Jem, we had a lady that took care of us during the day while my parents were at work. Her name was Ruth, and she was the most wonderful lady that I have ever had the honor to know! She practically raised me (she took care of me from about 6 months old through 10th grade). She was always there for me to ask questions of, with a hug when I was sad or had scraped my knee, and with discipline when my attitude needed a little adjusting. She taught me a great deal about wrong and right, and how to be a good person. I credit a lot of who I am today to her (not to take anything away from my parents, but to supplement the things that they taught me). Ruth was all about unconditional love - something that is missing from so many people today. I hope that she is watching over me, and that I'm not disappointing her
too much...
Racial prejudice was just as prevalent in the 1970's as it was in the 1930's in a small Southern town. It never really touched our house - at least not that I was aware of as a child - but it existed in the town. I never really understood that - aren't we all human beings? Why did it matter who your friends were or who you played with at the park? I guess that I've always been inclined to like a person for who they are as a human being, not for the color of their skin, their religious upbringing, or their level of education -- it doesn't matter how "well connected" a person is, what matters is who they are on the inside. Are you nice? Are you genuine? OK, you can stay and "play".
It was interesting to find out that the "Dill" Harris character from the book/movie was based on Truman Capote as a child (he and Harper Lee were childhood friends, and remained close thereafter). There was also a real life case of the "Scottsboro Boys" that happened when Harper was a little girl that influenced her "Tom Robinson" case. (Thankfully, nothing like the "Tom Robinson" trial from the movie ever touched my hometown. Things were actually pretty quiet.) So much of Harper is in this novel and the character of Scout, and in so many ways it was like looking through a magic mirror to my own childhood.
The movie is a little slow to start, but that is exactly how it should be - a slow summer afternoon, sitting on the front porch and sipping a tall glass of iced tea; taking in the world around you, seeking a little adventure, (hopefully) making the right choices and being a good person....
"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."
-Maya Angelou
- Harper Lee
We just watched "To Kill a Mockingbird" - a film, starring Gregory Peck, based on the Harper Lee novel of the same name. I'm not sure how I made it out of Honors English in High School, or through my college Literature courses without ever reading this gem of a book (OK, I still haven't actually read the book yet, but I'll be picking it up at the library during lunch one day this week). I watched the "making of" bonus feature on the DVD, and reportedly this adaptation is really true to the original work, so I can't wait to pick it up.
Certainly, I knew about the book - but by title only; I never knew what the story was about. I knew it was a classic that should be read - if not for enjoyment, then to "broaden my horizons" on popular literature. Well, time and a million other things kept me "putting it off". I had no idea that it was like taking a slice of life from a small Southern town, and putting it under a microscope for a brief time. The film is based in the 1930's, in a small Alabama town (Maycomb), which is not unlike Monroeville, Alabama where Ms. Lee grew up - and not unlike Palatka, Florida, the small Southern town in North Florida where I grew up.
As I watched Scout, a young Southern tomboy/girl (the lead character), I couldn't help but think of how much her, and her brother's daily activities were the same as things that my brother and I did. I couldn't believe that things wouldn't have changed very much from the 1930's South, to the 1970's South. I remember going to my Grandmother's house and playing in the canal, climbing huge oak trees, swinging and rolling across the yard in old tractor tires, or running through the potato & cabbage fields - while our parents & grandparents, aunts & uncles, and my grandparent's neighbors enjoyed cold iced tea and games of cards, or just sitting on the front porch talking. My grandparents lived on a farm, and there was always adventure to be found when we went to visit.
Much like Calpurnia took care of Scout and Jem, we had a lady that took care of us during the day while my parents were at work. Her name was Ruth, and she was the most wonderful lady that I have ever had the honor to know! She practically raised me (she took care of me from about 6 months old through 10th grade). She was always there for me to ask questions of, with a hug when I was sad or had scraped my knee, and with discipline when my attitude needed a little adjusting. She taught me a great deal about wrong and right, and how to be a good person. I credit a lot of who I am today to her (not to take anything away from my parents, but to supplement the things that they taught me). Ruth was all about unconditional love - something that is missing from so many people today. I hope that she is watching over me, and that I'm not disappointing her
too much...
Racial prejudice was just as prevalent in the 1970's as it was in the 1930's in a small Southern town. It never really touched our house - at least not that I was aware of as a child - but it existed in the town. I never really understood that - aren't we all human beings? Why did it matter who your friends were or who you played with at the park? I guess that I've always been inclined to like a person for who they are as a human being, not for the color of their skin, their religious upbringing, or their level of education -- it doesn't matter how "well connected" a person is, what matters is who they are on the inside. Are you nice? Are you genuine? OK, you can stay and "play".
It was interesting to find out that the "Dill" Harris character from the book/movie was based on Truman Capote as a child (he and Harper Lee were childhood friends, and remained close thereafter). There was also a real life case of the "Scottsboro Boys" that happened when Harper was a little girl that influenced her "Tom Robinson" case. (Thankfully, nothing like the "Tom Robinson" trial from the movie ever touched my hometown. Things were actually pretty quiet.) So much of Harper is in this novel and the character of Scout, and in so many ways it was like looking through a magic mirror to my own childhood.
The movie is a little slow to start, but that is exactly how it should be - a slow summer afternoon, sitting on the front porch and sipping a tall glass of iced tea; taking in the world around you, seeking a little adventure, (hopefully) making the right choices and being a good person....
"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."
-Maya Angelou
posted by Virg. at 8:05 PM
1 Comments:
Well said, Virginia. I had a similiar childhood experience growing up in rural North Carolina.
r.
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