Today marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Harper Lee`s `To Kill a Mockingbird`. This Pulitzer prize winning novel was Miss Lee`s only book. In 1999 it was chosen as the best novel of the century in a poll conducted by the Library Journal. It has been translated into 50 languages. In 1962 it was made into an Oscar winning movie starring Gregory Peck and the then unknown Robert Duval.
The film title comes from part of a conversation between Atticus and his children, after giving Jem and Scout air-rifles as Christmas presents. He tells them they can “shoot all the bluejays [they] want,” but warns they must remember that “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”. As mockingbirds do no harm and provide pleasure with their song. “They don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us”. Through the novel the mockingbird is used as a recurring symbol of innocence and beauty against racism and hatred.
I saw the movie on television in 1967, the next day I borrowed the book from the local library. It is a novel that will stay with you forever. In the last 50 years, this novel has never been out of print.
Funny I just picked up a copy at the bookstore a couple of weeks ago because as many times as I’ve seen the movie, I’ve never read the book. My oldest daughter simultaneously picked up the same book 200 miles away!