Hello readers. Today Nigeria celebrates the 56th anniversary of her independence
from the British colonial masters. I have chosen to commemorate the
anniversary by reviewing the book: ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. I
have especially chosen this book because it portrays life as it was at a time
when the White man was seen as superior to the Black man. Even though Blacks
are now seen to be free, I wonder: are we truly free? Is racism really over? Do
Blacks truly have equal rights like their White counterparts? A look at what’s
happening between White police officers and Black men in America seems to
suggest the very opposite. Also, Barbara Streisand’s recent article refers to a
poll which reveals that one in four Trump supporters believe that slavery
should not have been abolished. This makes the equal rights talk sound like
mere rhetoric. Please feel free to comment in the comment section below.
To kill a Mockingbird is the story of life as seen through the eyes of a white, six year old girl named Jean Louise [Scout] Finch. It is
divided into two parts. Part one is an account of Scout’s
childhood adventures with her brother, Jem Finch, and their neighbour, a boy
named Dill. In this part,
Scout learns of various divisions in the town: black versus white, educated
versus non-educated, free versus slave, etc. She is also told by her brother,
Jem, that she can kill any bird but never a mockingbird as mockingbirds are innocent
and are quite useful to humans.
The
crux of the story is found in part two where Scout’s father, a lawyer named
Atticus, has to defend a black man [Tom Robinson] who was accused of rape by a
young white woman, Mayella Ewell. In
court, Tom denies the allegation, explaining that Mayella asked him to do some
work in her house and while doing it, she attempted to seduce him. In the process
of trying to escape from her grasp, her father, Bob Ewell, came into the house and accused Tom of raping his daughter. Atticus, an honest
man, gives convincing evidence to show that Tom is innocent but unfortunately
the all-white jury declares Tom guilty. The court case sparks off a series of
ugly incidents afterwards, with Tom eventually being killed while trying to
escape from prison and Bob Ewell coming after Atticus and his family for daring
to defend a black man in a white community…
ABOUT HARPER LEE
Harper
Lee wrote To kill a Mockingbird in
1960. The book became an instant bestseller and went on to win the Pulitzer
Prize. It was translated into ten languages a year after publication and
is used as a literature book in some American schools.
MY THOUGHTS ON THE
BOOK…
To
kill a Mockingbird is a brilliant book by Harper Lee. The book highlights the various forms of discrimination existing in the society
back then, with the major emphasis being on racial discrimination [White versus Black], as well as gender discrimination
and religious hypocrisy. A little warning: the book is filled
with racial slurs and epithets that may be offensive to read. Keep in mind,
though, that this was the sort of language used to describe our forefathers at the time even though they are now considered offensive in our own time.
LESSONS WE CAN
GLEAN FROM THE BOOK:
1.
Initially, when it was revealed that Atticus would
defend Tom, the white people in the town were against him but when he stood his
ground and refused to back down in the face of intimidation,some of
them were won over to his side and they began to support him. In your own way, how do you intend to fight against discrimination today? Even as we celebrate Nigeria’s Independence, the onus is
on us as individuals to refuse to propagate discrimination against people based
on their skin colour, gender, religion, political affiliation, ethnic group, or
any other strata we could think of. Remember; when there is discrimination in the society, both
the person who discriminates as well as the one who is discriminated against
suffer.
2. There is a price to be paid for being
involved in the fight against discrimination.
In the book, Atticus’ stand almost cost him the life of his children. In real life, Martin Luther King paid
for his courage with his life. Nelson Mandela paid for it with his family and
27 years imprisonment. The fight against any form of discrimination is never
easy, and to think otherwise is to deceive oneself. Nothing good comes easy. To quote Martin Luther;
Discrimination occurs almost everywhere-in
offices, homes, religious houses, schools etc, and though the modern ‘freedom
fighter’ may not be required to pay for freedom with his/her life, he/she may miss out on
office promotions, business contracts , sponsorship and advertisement, etc,
for daring to be involved in the fight against discrimination. So the question
is…can you take the heat? Because as the old adage says, ‘if you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen'
Finally, it is important that the war against discrimination of any sort is thoughtfully planned and intelligently fought. To end with another quote by Desmond Tutu:
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
Virtually every previously colonized nation in the world has gained independence from its colonial master, yet, despite this freedom, one finds that different forms of discrimination still exist in the world today, ranging from ethnic and gender discrimination to racial and religious discrimination. So the question is: what are you going to do about it? Will you be silent and pretend it doesn't exist, or will you take a stand against it? The choice is yours to make.
Virtually every previously colonized nation in the world has gained independence from its colonial master, yet, despite this freedom, one finds that different forms of discrimination still exist in the world today, ranging from ethnic and gender discrimination to racial and religious discrimination. So the question is: what are you going to do about it? Will you be silent and pretend it doesn't exist, or will you take a stand against it? The choice is yours to make.
Nice post.
ReplyDeleteKudos