‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ hits its mark: Readers strongly identify with characters, themes

When we asked readers to share their memories and impressions of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” we received touching stories of hearts tugged, lessons learned, a sense of injustice aroused, and loved ones drawing near around the characters of Atticus, Jem, Scout, Tom, Boo and Dill.

Some of the readers of the novel were introduced to it in school – loving it in spite of being required to read it; some were the teachers or parents passing it on to their students or children.

Childhoods like Scout’s and fathers like Atticus help show why the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel – about a lawyer who defends a black man against rape charges in the segregated South – has sold 40 million copies and has touched so many people.

Some readers have more reference to the movie starring Gregory Peck than to the novel written 55 years ago; an audio version of the book performed by Sissy Spacek provides yet another way to experience the story. And on Tuesday, the story will move forward with the release of the novel’s sequel, “Go Set a Watchman” – which was actually written before “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Harper Lee wrote “Watchman” in the mid-1950s, about Jean Louise “Scout” Finch as an adult New Yorker who goes home to visit her father, Atticus. The book included flashbacks to Scout’s childhood, and Lee’s editor suggested that she rewrite the book from the point of view of a young Scout. “To Kill a Mockingbird” was published in 1960.

Here we share Eagle readers’ memories about “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Spoiler alert: If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie yet, you will learn some crucial plot turns by reading these remembrances.

Profound influence

I am a fourth-generation Kansas lawyer. My great-grandfather, grandfather and father each practiced law in Newton. “To Kill a Mockingbird” feels like our story, and it conveys the respect that my family has for the law and the legal profession.

When my sister was in high school, she had eye surgery and had a recovery period where she had to lie with her eyes closed for several days. I began to read “To Kill a Mockingbird” to her out loud. When we got to that fateful night when Boo Radley saved the lives of Scout and Jem, I could barely read through the emotion, and my sister sobbed along. When I finished the book, my brother, who was then in junior high, asked me to read it again, this time so he could listen in. I read the whole book a second time to my sister and brother, and, again, we could barely get through the passage, “Boo Radley was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives.”

My brother and I went to law school and both practice law in Kansas. But my sister has given the most, teaching special-needs kids like Boo Radley in Newton for more than 30 years. That book profoundly influenced all three of our lives. (And we never have a family meal with ham where someone doesn’t say, “Pass the damn ham.”)

Laura Ice, Wichita

Teacher’s favorite

In May I retired from teaching English/language arts after 34 years. The last 13 years were spent at Derby High School teaching sophomores and juniors. When I consider what I will miss the most about teaching, “To Kill a Mockingbird” is at the top of the list.

I loved reading and discussing it with the sophomore students. I loved how they would fall in love with Jem, and Scout, and Dill (especially Dill). I think they were attracted to Dill’s innocence. They understood why Dill would lie about his father, and why he would run away from home just to return to a place where he was loved and accepted.

Students were drawn to Boo Radley just like Dill, Jem, and Scout. They really wanted to see him! As clues to why he stayed inside so much began to surface, students learned lessons about not judging too quickly. They learned there is always more to a person than what one may see on the surface.

I loved the way the students were outraged at the courtroom scenes where Mr. Gilmer calls Tom Robinson “boy.” We discussed the social expectations of the 1930s, and we discussed whether prejudices had changed or not. We talked about Atticus Finch’s “All Men Are Created Equal” speech to the jury. Sophomores in high school were truly considering the words of the Constitution of the United States of America! We discussed why the jury took more than just a few minutes to find Tom Robinson guilty. We discussed why trying to defeat a social injustice matters.

At the end of the novel, we would have a food day. Each student brought a food that was mentioned in the book. We had a feast! Collard greens, ambrosia, charlotte, pickled pigs’ feet, and much more. Many students had never tried some of the food, so the book enlightened us on even the gastronomical level.

When I consider whether my time as a teacher mattered, and whether literature is important, I know that my answer is yes. Yes, teaching literature matters! Books like “To Kill a Mockingbird” matter deeply. They make us think, wonder, cry, try, and, just maybe, they change us.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” will forever have a special place in my heart. Thank you, Harper Lee.

Elizabeth Wagoner, Derby

Mother’s voice

My mother, Kitty Redmond Rizza, is a daughter of the South. Almost 85, this transplanted Savannah, Ga., native reared her family along with my father in Halstead.

Some of my first recollections are stories of her upbringing in the South. She, like Scout, was a bona fide tomboy. She had many adventures with her dad, an oil company salesman, who would pluck her out of school and take her with him as he called on gas stations in rural Georgia. Although he died suddenly when she was young, his great character and respect for all people, like Atticus Finch’s, transferred to her and is an integral part of who she is and who she taught us to be.

Both Dad and Mom were big readers; Mom still is to this day. “To Kill a Mockingbird” was always a part of their library (often multiple copies!). It is no wonder, reading this extraordinary story, that it is my mother’s voice, with her soft, Tidewater accent, that I hear in my mind, telling tales of childhood adventures in the segregated South.

This is truly my favorite book, read and re-read multiple times, made all the more special by my mother’s cherished, parallel experiences of growing up in a time and place comparable to those of Scout Finch.

Katy Rizza Coy, Wichita

Awaiting the end

This is the only book that I can remember, in my lifetime of much reading (I come from the “neighborhood bookmobile” era), that when I read the last page, it didn’t seem finished.

I remember the printed words didn’t even reach the bottom of the page, but I still turned to see if there was more on the backside. There wasn’t! It just didn’t seem like “the end” was really the end.

Never happened before and has never happened since!

Francene Sharp, Wichita

Like Scout

I first read “To Kill a Mockingbird” when I was in school. I grew up in the ’60s, yet Scout and I seemed to have a lot in common. I grew up in a small town – Sedalia, Mo. – and my father wasn’t a lawyer but a doctor, so many people knew him. So of course many people knew me. It seemed as if my father had delivered the baby of every woman I met. No matter what I did, I had either a protector or an “I’m going to tell your parents!” person around. And there was a house that every child steered clear of. Most often you walked where you needed to go. Like Scout, I wore “well-used” tennis shoes (Keds) everywhere. Growing up there were, at two different times, African-American women who took care of my brother and me. They cleaned the house, and I learned how to iron handkerchiefs from Birdie and “round dusting” from Bobbie.

I had a special reading place on Grandma and Grandpa’s farm. I took my book and walked to sit on a large smooth rock next to a stream. Small trees and vines grew up around like an arbor around me. While I read many books, “To Kill a Mockingbird” was a favorite. I remember that it was one of the first books I was assigned to read in school that I actually liked! Since then I have read the book several times and seen the movie many times over. To this day, near the end of the movie when Scout says, “Hey Boo,” I tear up and I’m filled with emotion.

My husband, who is also a fan, and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the Orpheum to listen to Brock Peters, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford and a technician talk about their experiences making the film, wonderful stories including how during the scene when Bob Ewell attacked Jem and pulled his hair, James Anderson really pulled Phillip Alford’s hair, hard! We also saw them at a Q&A at El Dorado High School.

“To Kill A Mockingbird” always draws me into the story, and one of my favorite literary phrases is “Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.” What a delicious word picture Harper Lee created. Wayne, my husband, purchased a first-edition copy for me for one Christmas, and I started reading it almost immediately. As a matter of fact, after writing this, “To Kill a Mockingbird” is on my mind, so I’ll read the book again.

Carol Turner, El Dorado

Total recall

I was a freshman in college when I read “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It impressed me so that I nearly read it in a day. I was shocked when the movie came out that I imagined it almost exactly like the book. The only other book I’ve read that I can say that about is “The Painted House” by John Grisham.

I was in an English literature class, and we spent an evening with our instructor at her house discussing the book. I remember the teacher being surprised at my total recall of it. As a freshman in a class with upper-classmen, I was surprised at myself. It affirmed to me that, yes, maybe I could do well in college. (Then I completely bombed history of civilization.) I log a book a week, and Harper Lee’s book has been my timeless favorite.

Donna Mills, Newton

Sense of justice

In high school, I read “To Kill a Mockingbird” for the first time, and the simple eloquence of a small-town Southern lawyer’s words helped form my sense of justice. And I see Scout, kneeling and peering through the rails of the courtroom’s upper gallery, surrounded by the town’s black community, who had risen to their feet in silent tribute to Atticus Finch.

I have little in common with Scout, other than having a lawyer as a father, but I clearly remember the feeling I had when, in my teens, I saw my dad perform in a courtroom as a lawyer, then later as a judge. Dad’s been gone for 20 years, but even now, when I read “To Kill a Mockingbird,” I feel a surge of pride when I come to the line spoken to Scout as she watched her father exit the courtroom: “Stand up, Miss Jean Louise, your father’s passin’.”

Laura Brown, Wichita

True heroes

I was 14 years old and my school in Paris, Tenn., was being integrated when I read “To Kill a Mockingbird” in 1962. Bomb threats frightened us daily. The violence of integration in other communities was prominent in news reports. My eyes were being opened to the horrors of racism.

My family was in favor of racial equality, but in our Southern town, the only Negro I knew was the woman who helped my mother with housework. In my gym class, I became acquainted with the girl who was brave enough to walk the gauntlet to our formerly whites-only school.

These events unfolded while I read “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The book’s main character, Atticus Finch, became a major influence in my understanding of these events and in setting the course of my lifelong ideals.

Finch represented the ultimate hero: the person who fights for justice, freedom, respect and kindness, regardless of the cost. Even though he lost the battle – unlike the “heroes” of cowboy movies and TV shows I grew up watching – he held the moral high ground. He showed me that true heroes are not necessarily those who win the battle, but those who fight for what’s right – with courage, hope and dignity – even while knowing the odds are against them. The girl in my gym class showed me that, in some way, everyone can be an Atticus Finch.

Sherry Buettgenbach, Bel Aire

A way with words

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is my favorite book. I cannot tell you how many times I have read the book or how many times I have watched the movie. My girls were 10 and 6 when I decided to read it to them. I did my best Scout impersonation, and my girls loved it. We would laugh at times and also discuss why people were the way they were. They could not wait for our reading time. Afterward we watched the movie. While my girls enjoyed the movie, Harper Lee had such a way with words that they enjoyed the book more. It was either that or my excellent narrative reading skills!

Karla Lytle, Benton

Kindness to a stranger

Did reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” influence my decision to become a lawyer? I’m not sure, but I believe that aspiring young lawyers should read the book to better understand the moral responsibilities they are assuming as attorneys.

My love for the book motivated me to send Harper Lee a thank-you note several years ago. Knowing that Atticus Finch was modeled after her father, I shared with her my memories of going to the courthouse when my father went there to conduct business. I still recall the cool hallways, the echo of his leather soles on the chipped marble floors, and his obvious pride as he introduced me to employees and men there to conduct business. My father was a farmer, not a lawyer, but those visits shaped my respect for our system of justice.

I had simply wanted to thank Harper Lee for the impact her book had on me. I certainly never expected a reply. A few months later my husband handed me an envelope with my name and address written in a shaky hand. Miss Lee had replied, apologizing for her delay and her arthritic penmanship. My own hands trembled with emotion as I read her letter. I have read and re-read her book, and we have visited the courthouse in Monroeville, Ala., where her father practiced law, but very few things in my life have touched me as much as her kind gesture of replying to a stranger who loves her book.

Lynda Beck Fenwick, Macksville

Floursack dresses

I was born in rural Arkansas in 1940 and went to a Baptist church. “Foot-washing Baptist” was a phrase that brought back memories from childhood.

The other was “floursack-skirted” (“Miss Caroline seemed unaware that the ragged, denim-shirted and floursack-skirted first grade, most of whom had chopped cotton and fed hogs from the time they were able to walk, were immune to imaginative literature”). I remember going to the general store in town and my mother looking over the feed sacks for the design and colors that she liked. Of course there had to be enough sacks with the same pattern for her to make her dress. This was only about 10 years after Scout’s stories.

Arlin Hill, Wichita

Crying every time

I detested required reading in high school, but the year we read “To Kill a Mockingbird” I was hooked after a few pages.

I wish I could list all of my favorite things about the book. Some of them are when Atticus is leaving the courtroom and the Reverend says to Scout, “Miss Jean Louise, stand up, your father’s passin’.” I also love the scene when Scout sees Boo Radley behind the door in Jem’s room.

This is by far my favorite book and movie. I cry every time I watch it.

We could use more people like Atticus Finch in this world.

I can’t wait for the new book to get here!

Kathy Breeden, Wichita

Playing Boo

“To Kill a Mockingbird” without a doubt is one of the greatest American novels ever written. I discovered this book as a freshman in high school back in 1977. I have had the privilege of teaching this novel to many young people in my 30 years as an educator in Kansas. My greatest memory would have to be when I directed the play version of the book at Augusta High School in spring 2014. The play version was adapted from the book and written by Christopher Sergel. Many of the students involved with the production will always have the great memories of bringing to life the wonderful characters of this classic novel. My biggest thrill directing this wonderful story was being able to play Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor, who saves Scout and Jem one stormy night. The themes of “To Kill a Mockingbird” are so important today as they were when the novel was first published.

Tim Laner, Wichita

The perfect father

I love this movie so much, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen it. If I’m lucky enough to find it on TMC, even though it could be showing at midnight, it’s on for me! Atticus (played so superbly by Gregory Peck) embodied the perfect father as he contemplated what his little daughter, Scout, was trying to sort out in her young mind. The second he took Scout in his arms and sat with her in the porch swing as he talked brings me to tears every single time! When I was beginning high school, I became very ill. Not even my dad, who was a doctor, could figure out what or why. I do remember one evening after I’d ask my mother if I had been bad and if God was punishing me, and having her explain away those terrible thoughts didn’t stop my tears, Dad never said a word but climbed in bed beside me and held my hand until I fell asleep. Whenever I see Atticus and Scout on that porch, I feel my own dad’s strong, soft hands around mine.

I missed six weeks of school, but we did have some answers. It was early in the discovery of penicillin. The medical field was excited, perhaps too excited, as it was prescribed and prescribed, the miracle medicine! It now, though, heads my own list of allergies.

Sally Wiebe, Derby

This story was originally published July 10, 2015 at 2:57 PM with the headline "‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ hits its mark: Readers strongly identify with characters, themes."