Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my favourite books. It is a story that owes its success to the seamless way it tackles different societal issues, the most conspicuous being racism. We usually see racism from the lens of the oppressed—the bitter minority race crying at the injustice of it all or taking the butts of the gun with quiet acceptance. This theme has been flipped on its head in To Kill A Mockingbird.
In case you haven’t read that book, I suggest you get it. Sometimes it’s actually cool to get on the bandwagon (no matter how late you are to the party). Besides, To Kill A Mockingbird is a classic which means its lessons are evergreen. But for the sake of this blog post, here’s my summary of the book.
“To Kill A Mockingbird is a story that follows Scout, six years old at the start of the story, through her growth journey in her hometown of Maycomb city, Alabama. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer who chooses to represent a black man accused of raping a white woman. Through this story, we get a glimpse of the injustice and prejudice suffered by black people during the great depression.”
Frankly speaking, at its barest, the book is just like any other historical book about racism. There is the racism that has us gritting our teeth, there is the character who was born into the side of privilege but who sympathises with or fights for the people of colour, there is the question ultimately asked by the story—is this moral?
This story could just as well have been one of those stories that peaked in the year it was released only to be forgotten in the next. What makes To Kill A Mockingbird a favourite even fifty years after its release is the point of view. I’m not talking about the first, second or third point of view either. I’m talking about the person who tells the story. The eyes through which we see that world: Scout’s.
Often, when we are given a story with such a heavy theme, it is through the lens of someone who understands. Someone who can tell us exactly what is happening and why it is happening. Someone whose bias we must sift through as we read.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout is that person. A six-year-old who is only just learning how things work in the world, a mimic, but most importantly an observer. We are forced to go through this story with the objectiveness and curiosity of a child. We are forced to think ‘Is this right or wrong?’, and think this for ourselves, with no help from the narrator, but maybe a bit from her father.
To me, this is the reason why To Kill A Mockingbird is so powerful: the person who tells the story.
Now, you would agree with me that some stories lend themselves to whomever is brave enough to tell them. It could be the character you envisioned when the story popped into your head or the character whose voice is loudest.
Other stories lay demands and will not accept just any character to tell them. You may write such a story and hate it so much you want to rip it to shreds or you may think it is the most basic and useless story you have ever written. The storyline might be basic and overused, yes, but sometimes that basic story becomes a gem when you let it choose the right storyteller.
Like I mentioned, To Kill A Mockingbird might not have been such a powerful story if anyone but Scout was to tell it. It was her character, her youth, her innocence, her curiosity, her naivete that made the story the masterpiece it is.
Most of my stories start off as characters, so I don’t usually suffer with finding my storyteller, but sometimes I do, and when I give in to the demands of the story, I write a bestseller.
Erm… a future bestseller.
To take the words from the book itself (P.S. Don’t you think the name is just perfect?):
“‘First of all,’ he said, ‘If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-’
‘Sir?’
‘-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’” ~ (To Kill A Mocking Bird)
So yes, some stories will refuse to be told unless they are told from the point of view of that one character who must tell the story. Unless you find the perfect person whose skin you need to climb into.
Find your character and make your story sing. I’m rooting for you.
