[See also: A Tale Of Two Mockingbirds: The Fatal Flaw Of The Civil Rights Movement]
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Harper Lee’s
death is making international headlines, though she is known for only one accomplishment: To Kill a Mockingbird. The book reinforced the prejudices of the America’s elite and earned Lee eternal adulation by showing a heroic liberal lawyer, Atticus Finch, standing up to the racist, small-minded segregationist South. But last year’s release of Go Set a Watchmen, an earlier draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, tempered the adulation for Finch. As the New York Times notes in Lee’s obituary, “[M]any readers, who had grown up idolizing Atticus, were crushed by his portrayal, 20 years on, as a staunch defender of segregation.” [
Harper Lee, Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ Dies at 89, by William Grimes, February 19, 2016]
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To me, it makes Lee and her most famous character much more interesting.
When I applied to law school, the
University of Michigan’s application included an optional essay to name a literary character who influenced your decision to attend law school. I did not end up matriculating there, but I remember joking with 0Ls (
prospective law students) that, if I were an admissions officer, I would automatically throw out every candidate who chose Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird for Atticus Finch.
Of course my
political views influenced that notion. But even non-conservative friends agreed that Atticus Finch epitomized liberal do-gooding. Everyone throughout the legal world knew that citing him was trite and cliché even before we set foot in a law school.
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