I STARTED watching classic movies a couple of days ago. Beginning with the most popular movies, I chose “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which was produced on March 16, 1963. I wasn’t even born on this year yet!
The movie centers on a widowed white lawyer, Atticus Finch, with his two precocious kids, namely, Jem (boy, eldest) and Scout (girl, youngest), set against the backdrop of racial prejudice in 1932. Movies in the sixties are slow-paced, the dialogues very distinct, with a prevalent intonation. This one is produced in black and white. I remember my elementary days.
The story revolves around Atticus, Scout, Jem, and Tom Robinson. It’s a story about a “negro” accused of raping a white woman, and the judge asking Atticus if he could defend him.
Let’s revisit a bit of American history to fully understand the context. The US National Archives said that abolition of slavery was enacted with the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1865. But in 1932, segregation, even after the abolition of slavery, continued to affect “black Americans” marginalizing them “through enforced segregated and diminished access to facilities, housing, education — and opportunities.” History.com further explained, “Segregation is the practice of requiring separate housing, education and other services for people of color. Segregation was made law several times in 19th- and 20th-century America as some believed that black and white people were incapable of coexisting.” Imagine!
So, this is the time of segregation.
When the white townsfolk learned that Atticus would defend Tom Robinson-the alleged black rapist, the father of the “rape victim,” began harassing him including his children. At one point, when the small sheriff office had to do a police errand, a band of white people proceeded to the prison cell, demanding that Atticus — who was earlier informed about an impending trouble and thus guarded the door — hand Tom over to them.
What saved the confrontation was Scout — being curious and smart together with Jem, followed their dad to the prison cell without Atticus’ knowledge — who recalled her father’s client (a poor white farmer) — who pays in kind, and who was part of the gang! Mind you, they came complete with guns. Innocently, Scout narrated about the farmer’s relationship with Atticus, and that his son is her classmate in grade school. That cooled the situation, as the white farmer told everyone to leave.
When the hearing with the grand jury happened in the movie, the courthouse was crowded with people: The blacks situated themselves on the upper level; the whites on the ground. I told you segregation was the name of the day!
To make the story short, with a jury composed of white men, Atticus Finch lost the case. But he was ready to appeal and confident that they will win it. Unfortunately, Tom, panicked as he was being transported to a farther prison house and ran like crazy; the police aimed at his shoulder but missed, killing him. Tragic.
The movie doesn’t end there.
Even with winning the case and Tom getting killed, the father of the “rape” victim wasn’t finished with Atticus yet. When Atticus accompanied by Jem proceeded to visit Tom’s widow to break the sad news, he characteristically showed up insisting that Atticus face him. When Atticus came down to see him, he spat on Atticus’ face.
The movie’s conclusion came when Scout and Jem were attacked on their way home from a school activity bypassing the main road, injuring Jem, and readying to harm Scout, when unseen hands overpowered the attacker! Afterwards the unseen hands carried the injured boy to their house. As to whose hands they belong, you can watch the movie yourself.
I can understand why the movie is a classic. Apart from being lifted from a famous novel written by American author Harper Lee who published it in 1960, it opened the eyes of both children to racism and prejudice in a real way. They saw how their father was harassed, they in turn harmed, but they also realized how their father was principled and honorable. Isn’t that the supreme realization?
A short rewind, when the grand jury declared Tom Robinson “Guilty,” Jem, who together with Scout, went to the courthouse without their father’s knowledge (again!) and joined the black Americans on the upper level, cried seeing how unjust the verdict was.
That to me was the full comprehension of racial prejudice pervasive in that era.
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The writer is on leave from her talk show, Woman Talk with Belinda Sales. She can be reached at belindabelsales@gmail.com. Twitter @ShilohRuthie./PN
