And now... a foreword from our sponsors (aka Mummy):" I am so not in a good mood this morning. Full of pathos after reading "To kill a mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Yes, shoot me, i have not read this classic before in my life. Anyway had a really bad night sleeping after reading this classic.
As i was saying, this morning is a confusion of emotions as i was driving along the ECP to work. My mind was replaying over the courtroom scene of Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson and Jem & Scout. Thus began my retrospection on my own life.
Was i guilty of being a Bob Ewell or a spectator on the grounds that supported Mayella Ewell regardless of how unconvincing the evidence was?
Funny how i never use to have such passion for Literature. I blame it all on Mrs Karen Tan, (yes, u didnt read it wrongly.) Literature was one of my cursed subjects in TKGS. I intentionally avoided the humanities because of this. Though i love Geography and History. Sigh, which is why i ended up in chem eng. Anyway back to TKAMB.
i think what strikes me as disturbing is the fact that the killing of mockingbirds is happening right now and not in the 1930s Alabama scene only. The parallel worlds of Maycomb, Alabama could be translated or transposed to where you are. Which is why Harper Lee chose to include a passage in the book about the inhabitants of Maycomb were questioning why in another place in Europe, Adolf Hiter was commencing his war against the jews.
Guess that alot of us dont stop to think whether we are doing the same. That is, to judge a person by the way he looks. A sweet and demure looking girl, MUST exactly be that, simply because she looks like one and the hostile looking , angular featured girl must must neccesarily be the villain. Simply because she looks like it. Or simply that a tall person MUST be a basketball player etc.
Perhaps the reason why i am feeling so much emotion for this book is because i think i can relate it to my experiences. Adults (if you are reading this, you know who you are) who should know better do exactly the same thing as what the jury did to Tom Robinson. They simply need a person to persecute because the innocent looking one, quiet one CANNOT be guilty. These people are exactly like the civilians of Maycomb who cannot fathom why in any place, in another world, why the jews are persecuted. When they are doing so in their own backyard.
Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of the "innocent looking". (aka Mayella Ewell)
I think i can understand exactly how Atticus Finch, Jem and Scout Finch and the coloured people feel when the jury read " Guilty, Guilty, Guilty.. " to Thomas Robinson. The person who retaliates or happens to look like the villian is always punished.
The saddest part about this is that the ones who commit the prejudicism and bigotry are the educated or the ones that are on the higher levels of the food chain. Those that should be helping the ones lower in the system are the ones intentionally keeping them there.
When i was reading this book, i was feeling very lucky at how i was not born in the 1930s Southern states, until in retrospect, we are not rid of this draconian human behaviour. Granted that there are no negros in my community or social circle, i must say that the killings still do go on in our everyday life.
How many of us can claim to be an Atticus Finch. To let your children hear that you're a "nigger-lover" because you're defending an innocent man? To let your children be potential social outcasts and even run the risk of being murdered at the hands of the bigots? To face up an angry mob in the middle of the night and stand in front of a jail to defend this man's life?
One of my favourite scenes in the book is Atticus confronting the mob as he sits ALONE calmly guarding the jail. Tom Robinson would have been murdered had it not been for Atticus' act of courage. The scary thing is that the mob had tried and convicted Tom Robinson without a trial and had in their mind already decided that he was guilty.
Why do people act this way?
To quote a theory from a Terry Pratchet book that goes something like humans are always in want and in need of a story. We see a young girl scrubbing the cellar and we think that her dream is to marry a prince. We see a grandmother in the woods and assume that she would be eaten by a wolf. And of cos we assume that the wolf is going to eat the grandmother, dont we? Well, the wolf could be a cute cuddly vegetarian, so there! Anyway, it doesnt matter what the truth is, as long as people like whats on the outside.
Sorry, my thoughts are not very structured this morning.
Thanks for being my Atticus Finch, Michael Fum. The above is dedicated to you"
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but... sing their heart out for us. That's why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird."
My mummy was damn mean lor, she dragged my ass out of the merry go round and punched the big bad wolf. I wonder why! I thought it was very nice of bbw to bring me to a playground.
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