Rhoda Wolff and Whitney Spotts of Schuler Books check the Mockingbird exhibit
So what’s a mockingbird? And why shouldn’t we kill it? You can find out today (July 11) at Schuler Books in the Eastwood Towne Center when a group of Lansing area residents read from “To Kill a Mockingbird†on the 50th anniversary of its publication.
I’m not sure who gets to read the passage in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird†that sets the stage for the symbolic mockingbird, but it takes nearly 10 chapters to get there. It is the place where Scout finds out why the mockingbird is the persona of innocence and should never be killed. Later in the book, the phrase, which has a biblical derivation, is used to compare situations of grave importance in the book. Tom is a mockingbird along with Boo, and we should do them no harm.
Not many books have the staying power of “Mockingbird.†Fifty years later the content and context of the book are still being debated. I recently wrote about the book in an article on mittenlit.com. I interviewed three authors and a librarian about this seminal book. Stop into Schuler’s today from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. to catch the reading. And while you are there, be sure to do a little twist, which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary.
