My own Mockingbird

     To Kill a Mockingbird is a very odd book, in that it works on two levels. On one hand, the book is exactly what it is: a story told in text. At the same time, it takes a deeper meaning to each reader. If it didn't, after all, discussions of it would be meaningless, as the opinions expressed would be uniform. To one person, Scout may be a brave, intelligent child, while to another, she might be nothing more than a vehicle that the story is viewed from, and not a particularly good one at that. To each, To Kill a Mockingbird is a unique book, not quite the same one experienced by anyone else.

     The story spoke to me in two different ways, as the book itself told a dual narrative in many ways. I personally thought that Scout's childhood and the court case itself featured two intertwined arcs, and each affected me in its own way.

     The court case, and the larger issue of racism it explored, was something almost entirely new to me. Growing up, the closest I have come to the vehement opinions of the characters are being mistaken for a Mexican. So I was completely unprepared for the judgmental attitudes the characters freely displayed. From Mrs. Dubose to Scout's own teacher, the characters by today's standards are blatant racists. At first, I had trouble comprehending this, and to work to understand it. Eventually, I began to, if not sympathize with, at least understand the attitudes that had caught me off-guard. This development, to me, was one of the most integral parts of To Kill a Mockingbird.

     At the same time, Scout's childhood both reminded and contrasted with my own childhood. At the house I lived in up until the age of about 8, I had a huge backyard. Nowadays, it seems to have shrank, but at the time, it was a maze of snake-filled hedges, a cliff, a massive (to my mind), temple-like gazebo, a huge tree, and occasional outcroppings of grass and rock. Scout's explorations of her neighborhood brought this to mind, and her plays with Jem and Dill brought to mind countless stories of good guys and bad guys my brother and I had invented to amuse ourselves.
     The similarities brought nostalgia, but there were contrasts, chief among them the existence of Dill. Everywhere I have lived, I have never been particularly close to a neighbor of mine. My friends have lived a moderate distance away, so that seeing them outside of school becomes a bit of a special occasion. Comparing this to Scout and Dill's constant adventures, I felt a bit of loss.
Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the parts of it that have spoken to me have created the unique story that I know it as.