To Kill a Mockingbird and the Southern Gothic Tradition
Every style in literature derives from socioeconomic factors that surround each author during his lifetime, so Southern gothic literature is no exception. The American South is such a colorful place with its rich history, unique culture, and temperament. When I read To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time, I felt nostalgia for a time in which I never lived, and some place where I never set foot before. It was like I could feel that Southern spirit, excruciating Sun’s heat, and tension in the air left by those spirits from our past. After reading this masterpiece, you start understanding life’s lessons come with a price, and only those willing to pay that price will learn those facts of life.
Dirty South
If someone from the US tells you that he is from the South, it means that he has a certain mentality, plus he feels like a native, indigen man who has much history in his blood. The South’s unique past left many scars in its inhabitant’s mentality, along with some unanswered questions that create tensions between people. There is one big racial gap dating back to slavery days plus those tensions between rich and poor that can be traced back to the old aristocracy of slave owners. All these antagonisms are masterfully depicted in this great book along with traditional southern values like hospitality, devotion to family, Christianity, plus this unique southern sense regarding justice. It is also a tale about growing up, coming to age, learning about life, people, and ultimately about yourself.
Gothic Elements
Since I read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I fell in love with everything that has to do with gothic literature. Those Castles, remote areas, gritty atmosphere, and a sense of absolute dread were almost addictive. Combining Gothic elements with Southern tradition was one winning formula that Harper Lee used to perfection. She recognized the morbid yet grotesque nature of some characters that came out of poverty, racial tensions, and cultural heritage in the place she grew up. Growing up in such an atmosphere while soaking up those spirits of hoodoo practices along with traditional Christian upbringing must have affected her style of self-expression through writing. Even when she describes her rural community’s sinister and suspenseful mood, she does it with a dose of humor, in a lighthearted way, because that is the way things are done down South.
The Symbols
We all know that a mocking bird represents a symbol of innocence so there are a few references in this book where it is used to give protagonists some sort of a moral compass. What I found more fascinating than the book’s moral lessons is the fact that most of this book is actually autobiographical. That relationship between Scout Finch and Dill Harris is based on one longtime friendship between Lee and Truman Capote, another famous author and storyteller. Even Boo Radley was based on some real person which only gives credibility to these character’s personalities and mentality. Just the fact that a black man was portrayed as wrongly accused and convicted for some crime that he didn’t commit was one pretty audacious move for a female writer in the 60's.
Although Harper Lee does not make any satirical observations like Henry Menchen or dig deep into the Lost Cause of the Confederacy issues, she depicts her South as it is, gloomy, divided, but colorful. She does this through those eyes of an innocent child who makes her first observations or judgments about people and life. It is not an easy task, but she does it with splendor. This is one of those rare books I keep getting back to in those long summer days when the Sun’s heat becomes almost unbearable. It always reminds me of the South and my childhood, those lost days, innocence, the joy of life.
