To kill a mockingbird

We're still continuing to watch movies.

Last night we finished watching the 1962 movie, To Kill a Mockingbird, which was based on Harper Lee's 1960 book of the same name.

It's one of those must-see classics which I'd previously never got around to watching.  Mulan said it was much better than she was expecting!  I've also never got around to reading the book; I've now requested it from the library for Mulan and me.

Back when I was at university, one of my lecturers, Tim Dare, had recently written an article called Lawyers, Ethics, and to Kill a Mockingbird.  While I hadn't read the book, I thought what Tim wrote made sense and it stuck with me.

Last night, after finishing watching the movie, I re-read Tim's article.  The idea that Atticus Finch is a tragic figure makes sense to me.  Tim writes:

Atticus’s story too is tragic. Regarding the rule of law as tremendously important, he presents his arguments in its favor to the jury with passion and all of his professional ability, recognizing that the life of an innocent man rests upon his success. But he fails, and Tom dies. When a decision over Boo is required, Atticus is struck by the similarities between the cases. Both Tom and Boo are mockingbirds: innocents who it would be sinful to harm. ... When Boo kills Bob Ewell, Atticus, cast as protector of both men, must decide whether he will allow another outsider to face the same threat. Confronted with the possibility of another tragedy, Atticus’s faith in the rule of law, and perhaps his courage as well, fail him. He cannot bear the possibility that he will be party to the death of another mockingbird. 

In the end, Atticus abandons the principles that determined his selfunderstanding, secured his unique and valuable position in Maycomb, and received his passionate defense. That is the stuff of tragedy: a principled man has come to doubt the adequacy of principles by which he understands himself and abandons those principles. Whether or not it is wicked to try people in the secret courts of men’s hearts now depends upon which men’s hearts. ... Tragically though understandably, he is not prepared to risk a vulnerable person effectively in his care, having so recently seen how his legal system mistreated another similarly placed outsider.

... Cast as a tragic figure, Atticus yields a very different message than that which he conveys as a wise figure. We are not meant to admire what he does but to be struck by the gravity of his loss. Viewed as a tragic figure, his message is one about the value of the principles he has abandoned, not one about the desirability of regarding them as disposable, trivial, or burdensome.

I'm also persuaded by Tim's main point regarding legal ethics.  I highly recommend the article.

UPDATE 14/8/2020: I finished reading the book yesterday (Mulan sped through it a couple of weeks ago).  I highly recommend the book, and it is even better than the movie.  I agree with Tim's interpretation above; in the book it is clearer to see than in the movie, and there are several hints along the way suggesting Atticus' tragic fall.