Posted on 07/11/2010 10:13:14 PM PDT by GOP_Raider
Did you ever consider the lead character in Harper Lee's fabulous "To Kill A Mockingbird" to be a feminized male not in any traditional sense manly?
Atticus Finch, one of the greatest male figures in modern American literature?
Well, that's what Jesse Kornbluth wrote at Huffington Post on the 50th anniversary of this fabulous book being published.
For those that are fans of this novel like so many Americans, the following quotes from this astonishingly silly piece are guaranteed to offend:
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is a woman's book.
Written by a woman, Harper Lee, but more, written by a woman who dared to see herself as her region's Jane Austen. Told by a six-year-old girl. With a hero who's not, in any traditional sense, manly.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
Though it’s not a current topic for the book club, I thought this might be worth the discussion.
Yeah, it’s still a good book. The movie’s just as good, which is quite an accomplishment in itself.
As to Finch’s manliness, this movie isn’t “The Sands of Iwo Jima”, nor was it meant to be. Atticus doesn’t have to be John Wayne to deal with conflict. To try to contend otherwise is to rather miss the point of the entire work. Dealing publicly in the field of literature, the author of the article should be expected to be a bit more perceptive.
So be it. Not everyone sees literary works in the same way, and neither does everyone appreciate a classic to the same depth as others. Apparently, this is one of those cases. In the end, the critique raises more questions about the motivations (and literary abilities) of the critic. Personally, it takes nothing away from the book IMHO.
Robert Duval
Perhaps Kornbluth's problem is that she doesn't actually know any men, any real traditional manly men. Just the feminized ones that are scared to death of angry women.
“Atticus Finch is a good man, a loving father, honest and full of integrity. What else is there for a man to be?”
A conservative!
“Atticus Finch is a good man, a loving father, honest and full of integrity. What else is there for a man to be?”
and strong, protective, and a good provider.
(I’ve been married “more than once.” The difference between a strong, providing “man in control” and a guy “in touch with his feminine side” is probably as big a gap as that between a drunk and a sober man.)
(It’s so sad that I know all of this...sigh!)
Jesse Kornbluth:
Sheriff Heck Tate: Didn't you know your daddy's the best shot in this county?
And I always watch for Mr. Duval/ Boo Radley, bless his heart. What a great book and movie.
I agree with Habibi that it’s a wonderful book, and that the movie is also worthwhile. Even though Gregory Peck was a notorious leftist, he was a brilliant actor, and he brought the character Atticus Finch to life in his performance in the film. The notion that Atticus Finch was a ‘feminized male’ is just a lot of neurotic modern sophistry. In my view both the book and the film stand as significant works of art. By all means, enjoy them. You’ll be richer for the time spent.
Atticus Finch is a good man, a loving father, honest and full of integrity. What else is there for a man to be?
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Lazarus Long, Time Enough For Love
I’ve never read the novel but the characters in the film refer to Atticus more then once as “Captain”. Coupled with his marksmanship I always filled in the blank that Atticus held a WW1 commission in the local regiment.
I never realized old Atticus used a Krag-Jorgensen to drop that rabid dog. Hafta watch that movie again.
Is Jesse Kornbluth a male or female?? That picture looks like a guy, but Liberal women often look like men.
“Atticus Finch is a good man, a loving father, honest and full of integrity. What else is there for a man to be?”
I was attracted to his patience and kindness. That’s true strengh in men: When men keep their cool in the face of stress or adversity, the kids/wife feel protected and safe. I don’t know many of that kind of man. I guess it’s all part of the overall wussification American guys.
Hey Jes,fifty years ago most men were manly men.Of course,some families had a wimp male and castrating female
as parents.Sound familiar?
The black adder stake in the heart evil witch who wrote to Kill A Mockingbird would have served her kin country better if she had been burned at the stake as a witch. Let her flesh cook on national TV.
Why?
To Kill A Mockingbird was a perfect lie.
It turned truth on its head.
What is the truth?
Most—coming close to 100% in some areas/years — interracial rapes are black on white.
The stereotype that was trashed by To Kill A Mockingbird was true.
Women who have remembered To Kill A Mockingbird rather than the truth have been witlessly injuring their kin and country for three generations now.
Ya can’t go around defending those negroes-it makes you a girly man. /s
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