Thoughts on To Kill a Mockingbird

(Originally written on February 20, 2013)

I was first assigned to read the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee when I was a freshman in high school.  I decided to use it as a selection for my book discussion at work; after more than 50 years, it's still considered a classic of American literature.  It's an interesting story with lots of themes and subplots; everyone who reads it has their own experiences and takes something different from it.  I would imagine that what I focused on and what I have learned from my two times reading it is probably just as different as the next person's.

There are two elements of the book that I focused on the most.  One of them is the innocence of childhood and the memories that come from it.  My childhood was a lot different from that of Jem, Scout, and Dill, but when I was reading this, especially the first part of the book, I couldn't help but think back to my own childhood.  Some of my favorite memories include playing baseball from dawn until dusk with my friends, building massive snow forts the day after the first winter storm of the year, playing my Game Boy and Super Nintendo with my brother, watching movies with my parents, and talking to my grandparents.  There are plenty of advantages to being an adult, but when you're a child, you don't have a care in the world.  It's a time that everyone should cherish.

The other theme I thought about frequently was the many differences in society between Alabama in the 1930s and the Midwest in the 2010s.  In the era that To Kill a Mockingbird portrays, there was a lot more interaction within neighborhoods.  In this book, everyone knew everything about everyone else; nothing was a secret.  When something happened, word spread quickly.  And people were much more tied to their land, homes, and communities.  Families had certain reputations; if a father acted one way, then his father likely did, and it was expected that his children would too.  We don't have this nearly as much today.  People don't stay in the same location for a long time nearly as often; they move around for jobs or for other adventures.  Meanwhile, it's not uncommon for people who live right next door to almost never talk.  Think about the people that you interact with the most, especially on a site like Facebook.  How many of them live close by?  How many of them do you even see in person on a regular basis?

Of course, there are more differences in racial attitudes as well.  The racism that is portrayed in this book, if not completely gone, is much more frowned upon today.  Even though the testimony of the witnesses at Tom Robinson's trial all but proved his innocence, he was still found guilty.  To many people today, it seems incomprehensible that a man's testimony would be virtually ignored just because of his race, but that's exactly what happened in this book.  Atticus fully expected that the jury would quickly convict Tom; he thought it a positive sign that the jury took a long time and wrestled with this, but was still dissatisfied with the result.  It was nice to see children like Jem and Scout, and even adults like Atticus and Miss Maudie, realize that justice was not served and to be upset about it.

So, in this book we see both the light and the dark side of human nature.  There is so much more to discuss from this book, but in writing a short essay like this, these are the points that were most important to me.  If anyone else has thoughts on this book, I would be glad to hear them.  Or, if you haven't read it yet, I would recommend it.  I'm more of a nonfiction person, but in this book I still think there are plenty of lessons and plenty of things to discuss for readers of all kinds.

Being a man

(Originally written on February 6, 2013)

I first heard one of my all-time favorite quotes a while back from a man hosting a TV show on marriage on a local religious channel. I don't remember the exact wording, but his point basically went like this: "Doing what you feel isn't what makes you a man; doing what you don't feel like is what does." He was talking about how men shouldn't allow feelings to control their actions, as it will lead to many bad and irresponsible decisions.

Now this might sound a little crude at first, but to me there is a lot of wisdom in this. When I think about a typical day for me, the majority of things that I do are things that I don't feel like doing. I have a good job; I certainly don't hate it. But most days I would much rather stay at home in my chair reading or watching TV. I don't enjoy having to constantly scrape the snow and ice off my car like I've had to lately, but I don't have a choice. It's a pain having to fix food, wash dishes, and clean showers and sinks, but I'm a bachelor living by myself and no one is gonna do it for me. (Don't take this the wrong way; if/when I do get married, I want to split household chores down the middle.)



Just imagine for a moment if I got up one day and just decided to do whatever I feel like, without thinking of the consequences. If I don't go to work, I won't have the money to pay my bills. Or if I did go to work and someone is rude to me, and I just said whatever I feel like, it wouldn't take long for me to get fired that way either. If I didn't take care of my apartment, it would be a disgusting and very unpleasant place to be. As a child, I learned the importance of acting responsibly. I would have rather watched TV than cut the grass or play baseball with my friends than do my homework, but those were important life lessons that I can carry with me today.



This will be even more important if/when I ever get married and have a family. As a husband and father, it will be my responsibility to provide for my family. Of course, money is a big part of that, as I would need to go to work to support them even on days I would rather do just about anything else. (I'm not opposed to women working either; really I don't have a strong preference either way.) But there are other ways, too. I believe that I would get a lot of joy from being there every day and giving emotional support to a woman, but let's be honest. There will be days when I'm really tired and distracted by other things, making it difficult. But that's the commitment you make when you get married; indeed, there's a reason everyone says, "for better or worse." It's my duty to be there for her whenever she needs it.  And if I have kids, I know there will be times when I don't want to discipline them or will be too tired to feel like driving them to various events, but again it will be my responsibility.



So, my conclusion is that taking responsibility and doing what you know has to be done is what makes you a man, not doing what you feel. I know that this can apply to women too; in fact, I'd be curious read a similar essay written by a woman. For now, just writing from a guy's perspective, I take a lot of pride in taking this kind of responsibility. Am I perfect? Of course not! I'm still immature in some ways. But I'm trying to learn and grow more every day. Even if there are days when I just wanna be a kid again.

Time for the Super Bowl

(Originally written on February 2, 2013)

As I'm sure everyone is aware, the Super Bowl is tomorrow.  It's possibly the biggest cultural event in America.  This year we have one of the most interesting story lines in the game's 47 year history, as the two head coaches facing each other are brothers: Baltimore's John Harbaugh and San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh.  The other day I saw their parents being interviewed on the news, and of course they are very proud parents but their father said that they will purposely avoid being seen on TV during the game.

Now, I thought this was just wonderful.  I don't know why broadcasters are so obsessed with putting players' and coaches' families in the stands on TV after every other play; I find it to be incredibly annoying.  Anyway, Mr. Harbaugh said that he would rather that the focus be on the players and coaches on the field, since this is their big moment.  He talked about how players spend their entire lives preparing for this day: all that time in junior high, high school and college; practicing, studying playbooks, and showing endless determination, just so they could chase the improbable but amazing goal of one day spending three hours playing in the biggest sporting event in the world.

If you know me at all, you know that I am always looking for deeper meanings in things, even in something like a football game.  But it's true; these comments got me to thinking about where I am in my life.  In my nearly 28 years, I've worked really hard and made a lot of decisions, some of which worked out, but not all of them.  But everything that I've done and that has happened to me has led me to this very moment, sitting at my computer on a snowy and freezing cold Saturday.  To work at my job and to face the challenges I currently have, I've needed the experience and life lessons that only can come with time.

I know that I am still relatively young, and I hope that there are many more great things in my future.  What is going to happen down the road?  Right now I have no idea.  But I know that God has a plan, and that at this very moment he is preparing me for it.  One day, I hope to look back on where I was in early 2013 and say, "This makes perfect sense.  I needed to go through all that to get to where I am today."  I've been doing that a lot in the present day, but I know the story is far from over.

So, I hope everyone enjoys tomorrow's game.  But while you're having fun cheering for the Ravens or 49ers, take a moment to think about everything these players and coaches had to do to get to this point.  When you see the winning team celebrate, it's not because what they did came easily or quickly.  Rather, they are celebrating because what they did took a lot of hard work and determination from many people for a long time.  Even in our own lives, anything good takes a lot of time, hard work, and preparation.  If it comes easy, then what's the point?