Thursday, April 19, 2007

literary masterpiece

As I sit twidling my thumbs waiting for my cousin to try out her mountain of jewellery before the eve of her engagement, I decide to read through some of my favourite quotes from my favourite book "to kill a mockingbird" by harper lee. The story which centers around a white man's fight for a wronged black men told through the eyes of his six year old daughter is in my opinion a master piece beyond compare. The principal characters are Atticus Finch the lawyer who defends the black man Tom Robinson who has been accused of rape of a white girl Mayella Ewell by her father Bob Ewell. The story revolves around the white men's injustice and the realisation of that by Atticus's children Jem and Scout. Here are some memorable quotes from that book.

It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived. -Scout

They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience. -Atticus

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. -Atticus

She seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl. -Scout


So it took an eight-year-old child to bring 'em to their senses.... That proves something - that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they're still human. Hmp, maybe we need a police force of children. -Atticus


"I think I'll be a clown when I get grown," said Dill. "Yes, sir, a clown.... There ain't one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so I'm gonna join the circus and laugh my head off." "You got it backwards, Dill," said Jem. "Clowns are sad, it's folks that laugh at them." "Well, I'm gonna be a new kind of clown. I'm gonna stand in the middle of the ring and laugh at the folks."


The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash. -Atticus


I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks. -Scout


The sixth grade seemed to please him from the beginning: he went through a brief Egyptian Period that baffled me - he tried to walk flat a great deal, sticking one arm in front of him and one in back of him, putting one foot behind the other. He declared Egyptians walked that way; I said if they did I didn't see how they got anything done, but Jem said they accomplished more than the Americans ever did, they invented toilet paper and perpetual embalming, and asked where would we be today if they hadn't? Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts. -Scout


When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness' sake. But don't make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles 'em. -Atticus

Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they're not attracting attention with it. -Atticus


Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don't pretend to understand. -Atticus

so if you haven't read the book, do so :):)

15 comments:

Unknown said...

havent read it, will do surely whenever life presents me the correct opportunity to savor its poignance.

What interests me the most is Harper Lee herself. This is the only novel she ever wrote! way back in 1962. Ever since has been a complete recluse denying all press, interviews, socializing etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Lee

Jas B said...

It was a really good read, one of my friends' gave it to me as a B'day present long time ago. I would like to re-read this book.

suramya said...

666: I'm glad she wrote atleast this one :), maybe she too felt like maugham, who when asked why he was not a more prolific writer cited that it took hom 30 years to get the matierial for the story.
jas: :), I keep re reading it every 6 months and I am yet to tire of it, the beauty of it never fails to capture me.

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

u know it..this is my fav book of all times.....and i sometimes wonder too why did she not write a book again.....i wish she had written more like i wish Margaret Mitchell had....or even Emily Bronte....hmm..why all women writer in the list!!!! food for thought!!!
btw, thanx for sharing atticus finch and his brood all over again :)

suramya said...

she did start on some and never finished :(, margaret mitchell died before she could write some more and the same with emily bronte :(, atleast they left us with such wonderful novels, and welcome :)

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

yeah they did write some of my fav. works....thankfully, Austen wrote more even if you cant call her prolific!!! :)
have u read Louisa May Alcott's Little women??? I read it when I when i was in class 5th or was it 6th! the abridged version was a part of our curriculum and then i read the un-abridged version. ....loved it then . love it now........did follow up on her sequels to the book...never liked any as much as i loved her original.......

suramya said...

yep have read little women, good wives, little men and jo's boys, they are all nice books but little women was the best :), it was such a quaint world she wrote about and i loved it, I wish we could have glimpses of it sometime in this world, actually read quite a few books of alcott, eight cousins, rose in bloom and an old fashioned girl. I loved pollyanna too written by H.potter

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

haven't read any of the other books from her apart from the little women series.......wanted to grow up like Jo tho' i wud have never thwarted laurie's affections...i was in love with laurie before darcy was introduced to moi..:DDDD
yes loved pollyanna too......her optimism should guide me through the present times......arka has an orbital fracture of 1 cm and we r hoping it doesn't get worse from here....

suramya said...

it won't :), the worst is over

Megster said...

Hi, stumbled upon your blog through a friend's friend's blog:) To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my fav. books, and I was delighted to read some of my fav. quotes from the book!

suramya said...

meghana: its my favourite too as I mentioned, have been in love with atticus for a long time :):), well I'm glad u found my blog, welcome to it :)

Radha said...

These are all little gems! Suramya, great job in putting this list together!! :)

suramya said...

thank you radha :), and welcome to the blog

shex said...

yes a very interesting book
something ayn rand couldn't teach me :P

suramya said...

shex : ayn rand is on a totally different tangent,her philosophy is astounding, but this book deals with the simple things in life which we all take for granted and its so beautifully that it makes one want to weep :):)