Classic Club Question for September 2013

Scout, Jem, and Atticus Finch
The Classics Club:  Question of the Month

The Classics Club:  Question of the Month

Rereading a favorite classic at different stages of your life gives you different insights with each reading. Is there one classic you’ve read several times that also tells a story about you?

In my classics reading journey the classic I have reread at different stages of my life is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  It is both my favorite book and my favorite movie.  It has affected me differently each time I've read it. When I was a teenager, I identified with Scout, and focused on her development in the novel, but when I reread it as an adult my focus was on Atticus, and his role as an older single parent.  I know we see the story through Scout's eyes, but I feel that Atticus has so much to teach parents.  His commitment to his beliefs even when they go against the majority, and his quiet, yet direct approach to teaching his children hard life lessons are some of the reasons he is such a beloved character.  I think about Atticus often as an older parent.  I often stop and ask myself, what would Atticus do in this situation?  It often has led me to make better decisions as a parent.  Even though my twins are only three and my singleton is two, I talk to to them as I would a much older child, and try to explain the WHY behind things they might not like.  It doesn't always work that instant, but I believe over time, I have seen a difference.  Stop next time you are faced with a hard parenting decision and ask yourself WWAD-What Would Atticus Do?  See if it makes a difference.

 

Quotes From To Kill a Mockingbird

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.- Atticus Finch” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.”― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“Atticus said to Jem one day, "I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird." That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. "Your father’s right," she said. "Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“Atticus, he was real nice."

"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)... There are just some kind of men who - who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.”― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts.”― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.”― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

How would you answer this question?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy Reading!
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