Atticus Finch, the relentlessly principled defense attorney and father in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” has just wrapped up his closing statement when his family’s cook and housekeeper interrupts the court, to pass him a note. For a moment, Finch loses his composure. It turns out his children haven’t been seen at home for hours and, to his chagrin, he realizes they’ve been sitting in the balcony watching proceedings of the trial.
The details of the allegations his children heard aren’t the sort that most parents discuss openly with their children, especially 9-year-olds like “Scout,” the narrator of the classic book. The language of the proceedings is rife with sexually explicit descriptions and racial slurs. And yet, the 1960 novel was for years required reading in private and public schools across the country because of the way its author used a full set of storytelling tools to give young readers a nuanced understanding of these most taboo of subjects.
We’re glad Lee put those fictional children in the courtroom, and that many school districts agreed that kids ought to have an opportunity to read and discuss such a troubling story and a remarkable contribution to American literature.
