To Kill A Mocking Bird
Harper Lee
• While reading To Kill a Mocking Bird, we
all would come to realize that Atticus
Finch, in his quest for racial equality and
his commitment to nonviolence, shared a
lot in common with Martin Luther King. But
when we reach to a final discovery, we
find that we weren't the only ones who
saw this connection; so did King himself.
• In fact, King actually makes an allusion to
Atticus in his 1963 book Why We Can't
Wait.
The Atticus reference occurs in a chapter called "The Sword
That Heals," which is itself part of a metaphor King uses to
describe "the just and powerful weapon" of nonviolence.
King alludes to a moment in Mockingbird when Atticus goes
to the local jail to protect his client, a black man named Tom
Robinson, from a mob that wanted to attack him.
That's the incident in Mockingbird. Here's what King had to
say about it in Why We Can't Wait:
"We are a nation that worships the frontier tradition, and our
heroes are those who champion justice through violent
retaliation against injustice. It is not simple to adopt the
credo that moral force has as much strength and virtue as
the capacity to return a physical blow; or to refrain from
hitting back requires more will and bravery than the
automatic reflexes of defense.
"Yet there is something in the American ethos that responds to the
strength of moral force. I am reminded of the popular and widely
respected novel and film To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch, a
white southern lawyer, confronts a group of his neighbors who
have become a lynch-crazy mob, seeking the life of his Negro
client. Finch, armed with nothing more lethal than a lawbook,
disperses the mob with the force of his moral courage, aided by
his small daughter, who, innocently calling the would-be lynchers
by name, reminds then that they are individual men, not a pack of
beasts.
"To the Negro of 1963, as to Atticus Finch, it had become obvious
that nonviolence could symbolize the gold badge of heroism rather
than the white feather of cowardice.“
Martin Luther king was an African- American clergyman who was born in 1929. His
father and grandfather served as pastors of the Baptist church in Atlanta and he later
became a pastor of the Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery in Alabama (Alabama is
also where Atticus Finch originated from. King also led a massive protest in
Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world.
He was a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race just like Atticus Finch,
who was also a strong worker for gaining justice and civil rights but unlike King - who
did this for people of his race - Atticus gained civil rights for members of a different
race for the black community. King always led colored organizations of the nation . He
adopted ideals from Christianity to apply them in this nation and throughout the novel
we can feel that Atticus was also adopting his beliefs leading justice from Christianity.
Martin Luther King and Atticus Finch can be better defined as two men whose
characters are nearly the complete opposite of the general population of the town
or country. People were able to rely on Martin Luther King because he was truly a
self-reliant person, and so did Atticus. This is clear when Mrs. Maud - a character
in To Kill A Mocking Bird - quoted "We're the safest folks in the world, we're so
rarely called on to be Christians, but when we are, we've got Atticus to go
for us“
Martin Luther King always did an appearing wherever there was injustice, protest
and action. For instance, he led a bus boycott that lasted for 382 days. On
December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared
unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, negroes and whites
rode the buses as equals. In comparison to Atticus, who chose to defend Tom
Robinson because to choose not to would be going against all his personal
morals and principles. Atticus didn't see Robinson as a man from a different race,
but he did see past a man’s color and looked into the depth of his character .He
expresses his firm belief while addressing his daughter Scott "You never really
understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until
you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Typically, as every other figure who stood against the beliefs and concepts of his own
society, Martin Luther King and Atticus had to pay for it. During the days of boycott,
King was arrested, his home was bombed, and he was subjected to personal abuse,
but at the same time he emerged as a black leader of the first rank. So did Atticus who
received several threats. The first incident was when Atticus went to the local jail to
protect his client, Tom Robinson, from a mob that wanted to lynch him. The scene gets
tense very fast, with the men telling Atticus to get out of the way and let them do their
thing. Suddenly, Atticus' daughter Scout - innocent as always - comes out of the
shadows and recognizes the leader of the gang; he's the father of one of the boys in
her class. When she calls the man, Mr. Cunningham by name, the mood changes; it's
as if just the simple act of hearing his name awakens Mr. Cunningham to his potential
actions, even shames him. The gang disperses, and the crisis is averted. Later, Atticus
-ever the wise sage - says the incident reinforces the fact that "a gang of wild
animals can be stopped, simply because they are still human".
Another threatening incident was when Bob Ewell spat in his face, all Atticus said was "
I wish Bob Ewell wouldn't chew tobacco". This also indicates how a moral peaceful
person Atticus is, and not to forget to mention when Bob Ewell went after his two kids
and attacked them.
Martin Luther King directed a peaceful march in Washington DC of 250,000 people
where he addressed his most famous speech "I have a dream". The most favorable
part in the speech was when he said " I have a dream that my four little children
will one day live in a nation where, they will not be judged by the color of their
skin, but by the content of their character. This quote is actually similar to
Atticus' when he said "But there is one way in this country in which all men are
created equal -there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of
a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man
the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court."
This is a picture that is popped in half of the kinder gardens and middle schools in the States that
depicts what Martin has addressed during his “I have a dream” speech. In the portrayal we can see
that the nation no matter how small or big, white or black, mature or immature, American or Asian,
They are all equal ,born equal, and they all stand in front of every single obstacle they’ll encounter.
This is some information about Martin
Luther King, whose sense of legacy will
always be present in our lives:
*He became the youngest person to
receive the Nobel Peace Prize award for
his work to end racial segregation and
racial discrimination by using non- violent
methods through his career
*He was also among the principle leaders
of the civil rights movement
*He was an advocator for non- violent
protest who also became a symbol of
protest in the struggle for racial justice
*He refocused his efforts on ending poverty
and opposing the Vietnam war from a
religious perspective.
*He was awarded the Presidential Medal
for freedom in 1977
*He was awarded Congressional Gold
Medal in 2004
*Martin Luther King day was established as
a US national holiday day in 1986
Martin Luther's life ended in a tragic way. He was assassinated on April 4,1968
while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where
he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that
city. Even though King passed away, yet he still exists in our lives. However,
Atticus did not die by the end of the novel. To conclude, those two men are
immortals, long lasting immortals in their beliefs and strong morals.
“The greatest purveyor of violence in the world: My own government, I can’t be
silent” – Martin Luther King. This quote is one of the most influential quotes that were
said by one of the most inspirational, phenomenal figures of all time. Interestingly, this
quote resembles several quotes that were said by Atticus.
•"The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he
any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments
right into a jury box."
•"What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defence
to it?"
•"The witnesses for the state... have presented themselves to you gentlemen... in
the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that
you gentlemen would go along with them on the... evil assumption... that all
Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are
not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds
of their caliber."
•"I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the
jury system -- that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality.
Gentlemen, a court is no better than each man of you sitting before me
on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as
sound as the men who make it up."
If we looked deeper at both of King and Finch' quotes we can sense that those
two men had to voice their inner beliefs not caring if those beliefs will lead
them to being abandoned and marginalized in society, They had to, just like
Gandhi had to because he was born to do it. Both -as I see it from my point of
view- are compared of being the modern Gandhi’s, a Black Gandhi and a
White one!.
Martin Luther King, just like the rest of us, is an ordinary human after all,
and it is completely normal for him to encounter different varieties of
obstacles. On one normal day, King was hanging out at his friend’s office, at
the time where he was going through a hard depression and was on the
verge of giving up. His friend knew what he was going through a hard time
so he told him to relax and grab the newspaper to distract himself from
everything. King started flipping through the pages of the newspaper and
came across a cross-word game. King never played this game in his entire
life and when he started collecting words he found out that the nouns and
verbs illustrate his whole beliefs and it was a direct message from God that
wanted to proceed in what he was born to do in the first place.
Malcolm X
Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little on 1925 in Nebraska. His father,Earl
little was an outspoken Baptist minister and supporter of the black nation
organization . Earls civil rights thoughts always had him receiving death
threats from the white supremacist organization. His father’s body was found
lying dead across the town and the ones who were responsible for his murder
were the white supremacist organization.
Malcolm X was smart, and he always wanted to be a lawyer, but his favorite
teacher told him that his dream of becoming a lawyer was “no realistic for
nigger”. This made him dropout of school which led him to move to Boston to
work in odd jobs. Several years later he was convicted of burglary charges; he
was sentenced to 7 years in prison which made him proceed with his
education, but this time it wasn’t the traditional education it was a religious
one. He started studying the teachings of Nation of Islam leader Elijah
Mohammad.
Here is a great deal of information about Malcolm X
*
In 1953, Malcolm became the minister at the Nation of Islam’s organization’s
Boston Mosque and several other mosques during the following years.
*
He was the one to find the Nation of Islam newspaper.
*At the beginning of the 1960’s, Malcolm was invited to participate in numerous
debates, including radio stations, universities to talk about Islam and the right of
equality for African American. He also appeared on the TV program “Open
Mind.”
*The New York times reported that Malcolm x was the 2nd most sought after
speaker in 1963.
*He lead one of the nations largest civil rights events known as the unity rally in
the states.
He was the one to convince the famous boxer Casius Clay to convert to Islam
and join the Nation of Islam organization. Casius changed his name to
Mohammad Ali
His death was Tragic. He died in 1965 at the age of 39 when three gunmen
shot him 15 times on stage during a speaking engagement in Manhattans
ballroom.
Malcolm X wanted to be a lawyer- just like Atticus Finch ,
but as mentioned before, he was drifted away by an ugly
truth that did hurt him of not becoming a lawyer. He was
an angry black man, just like Atticus Finch who was a
white angry man towards his society and if we look at
some of Malcolm’s quotes he shares some seemingly
conservative views that are similar to Atticus:
On Freedom
“When a person places the proper value on freedom,
there is nothing under the sun that he will not do to
acquire that freedom. Whenever you hear a man
saying he wants freedom, but in the next breath he is
going to tell you what he won’t do to get it, or what he
doesn’t believe in doing in order to get it, he doesn’t
believe in freedom. A man who believes in freedom
will do anything under the sun to acquire . . . or
preserve his freedom.”
On gun control:
It is legal and lawful to own a shotgun or a rifle. We believe
in obeying the law.”
On Race
“I am not a racist. I am against every form of racism and
segregation, every form of discrimination. I believe in
human beings, and that all human beings should be
respected as such, regardless of their color.”
On self reliance:
“I for one believe that if you give people a thorough
understanding of what confronts them and the basic causes
that produce it, they’ll create their own program, and when
the people create a program, you get action.”
On education:
“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the
people who prepare for it today.”
Racism in The Music Industry
An influential figure arrived in a world that also applied
injustice when it came to Music. Michael Jackson was
the first person to break racial barriers.
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25,
2009) was an American recording artist, singersongwriter, Humanitarian and philanthropist. Referred to
as the King of Pop, Jackson is recognized as the most
successful entertainer of all time . His contribution to
music, dance and fashion made him a global figure in
popular culture for over four decades. He was and will
always be this figure who made it through history.
Throughout his life he gave and spread an amazing
amount of justice.
MJ broke down racial and cultural barriers on MTV. He revolutionized Music
Television. He had made a profound effect on the MTV culture.
NO other Artist has had such an impact on the world, culture and MTV, than the
King of POP, Michael Jackson.
It was Michael Jackson who changed the music video from a mere promotional tool
featuring musicians playing instruments and singing, to a piece of art with a
storyline, or as Michael likes to put as 'short films' that carried direct messages to
stop racial acts and apply justice.
Mtv never had African - Americans on MTV channel until Michael Jackson debuted
his thriller song that was and still, a massive hit. Black people were not allowed on
Mtv because of their color, even the most famous of them like Whitney
Houston,Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner...etc they were not allowed in radio channels
too. Black artists were able to preserve their copyrights when they didn't have in one
in the first place. it is a song that promotes racial harmony.
To Kill a mocking bird was one of Michael Jackson’s favorite books of all time. I can’t
help but feel the similarities between the trial in the book and what Michael Jackson
had to go through in LA. They don’t lynch black men from trees now, its just a lot
more subtle.
I have read that to kill a mocking bird was one of Michael Jackson’s favorite
books and I can easily understand why it might have been. Tom Mesereau, who
defended Michael Jackson in the 2005 trial, is a modern day Atticus Finch.
Finally, to conclude the whole concept of the Novel in addition to relating it to
every single aspect in our daily life, it can all be summarized into 8 words that
were said by Scout Finch “ It’s a sin to Kill a MOCKING BIRD” . So stop killing
our mocking birds !!!
DONE BY – Haneen Munzer
Amireh