One of my favorite books of all time is
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, but I had never seen the movie until last night. I think I avoided the movie because I thought that it wouldn't live up to the book-- most films don't-- and I'd already read the real deal, so why bother with the film.
But guess what: the film was good!
Real good! And as I watched Gregory Peck breathe life into one of my favorite characters of all time, I couldn't help thinking of the real life Atticuses (Attici?) in my own life.
Namely, my own father. As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that not everyone is blessed with the sort of Dad that I grew up with. He doesn't wear suits or carry a pocket watch like Atticus does, but he is a man of integrity that is rare in this day and age. He taught my brother and I so much through the example he set for us. Also, he has found himself in leadership positions many times throughout the course of his career, and I can only imagine that he leads by example there as well. My father is a molder of men.
Also, my husband is an Atticus. I love to see the way Greg cares for his friends. He is an encourager by nature and an excellent listener. He even seeks people out to listen to them. As someone who is only a few months older than me, the wisdom that comes out of his mouth often blows me away. My husband owns a limited amount of footwear (a pair of converse, a pair of vans, his running sneakers, dress shoes and his flip flops), but he is somehow a pro at walking in other peoples' shoes and seeing the world from their perspective.
I'm also rich to be a member of a community of people, men and women, with many "Finch-like" qualities. As I write this, I'm trying to think of grand examples to list, but the truth is that Atticus was Atticus before he defended Tom Robinson in a courtroom full of ignorance-- and that's how I feel about the men and women at my church. It's in the daily mundane that these folks still maintain their strength of character. It's the humble service, the seeking of justice, the love of neighbors that I admire so much.
Watching the movie last night, I savored the community presented in the film and realized that I crave more of it in real life. While I cling to my own community, I miss the days of knowing all my neighbors and sitting on front porches with neighborhood kids. In the film last night, there was a scene in which a gun shot rang out in the night when Boo Radley's father fired a shot to scare off a prowler and the entire street ran outside to see what had happened. I mentioned to Greg that when gun shots go off these days, people run
into their houses and peek through their curtains to find out what happened.
My favorite scene in the film is the scene in which Tom Robinson is brought to the local jail before his trial and Atticus goes to sit with him at night when he hears that there may be trouble from a group of locals. The group shows up alright, and as an angry mob, Atticus was having a difficult time talking them out of their intentions-- but then little Scout shows up, and in her innocence, she calls out: "Oh hey, Mr. Cunningham-- I go to school with your boy, Walter. Won't you tell him 'hey' for me?" It's that recognition that causes Mr. Cunningham to turn around and send the gang home.
There are many hard moments throughout the book/film that are inevitable in real life as well. There WILL be innocent men accused of doing wrong, there WILL be angry mobs of people dead set on enforcing what's popular rather than what's right, and there WILL be life lessons learned the hard way. And in these moments, I am thankful to know that there are a handful of Atticus Finches still sprinkled throughout this world-- and I strive to be one myself.
