How can you keep your faith?
When everyone thinks you're wrong
이 글은 <앵무새 죽이기>를 읽고 영어로 쓴 독후감이다. 우리말로 된 독후감은 아래 링크에 있다.
Title: To Kill a Mockingbird
Written by: Harper Lee
Note: Won Pulitzer Prize
'To Kill a Mockingbird' cover image. Source: Goodreads.Just because many people believe something doesn't necessarily mean it's true. But we are so weak, our faith is shaken by mere mention from people around us. If everyone(or people who have power) says you're wrong, we automatically think there must be a reason that they say so. We doubt ourselves. When everyone says I'm wrong, is it possible to believe in me? If no matter how much I think it over I always reach the same conclusion, then can I say it out loud in front of opposing people? Is it possible to have a faith that won't be shaken by many people's belief? This book says: The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.
I used to have prejudice about this book; it looked boring and difficult. The fact that it won Pulitzer award and unfamiliar title <To Kill a Mockingbird> didn't help, either. No wonder it takes such a long time for me to pick up this book. Now I regret why I have to wait so long to read this great book. But I guess I wouldn't have grasped the meaning of this book fully if I had read it any earlier.
It took place in a small village in South, when people took it for granted to discriminate against black people. An 8-year-old white girl, Scout tells the story she lived, experienced, and observed. Her father, Atticus was a lawyer, who represented a black man at the trial. He was convicted because he was believed to rape a white girl. Except the testimony of the white girl and her father, there was no solid evidence about this. Considering how people think about black people who commit crime against white people, representing a black man is like a suicide. Just becasue he was black, people assumed he was guilty: just because he was black, people wanted to punish him in person. And they stand in opposition against the lawyer Atticus.
Everything looks absurd to the 8-year-old Scout. There are so many things that she's not able to understand. Grown-ups act weirdly. The only person who thinks and acts logically is her father.
When I first heard about the plot of this story, I assumed this book was filled with sadness and gloom about discrimination. But this book has so much more.: it's full of jewels and treasures. It affected the way I look at the world. It made me think how I'm different from them. The only flaw I found is the fact that Atticus, the lawyer is unrealistically ideal man. But then gain, I guess that's the goal we all should aim at.
I was worried it might be difficult to read in English, but it was not. Black/Southern dialect might make you uneasy at first, but after a while you'll get used to it and it won't bother you. I'll recommend to read in English to people who at least read 5~10 English novels, though.
Another edition of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Source: Goodreads.* The author Harper Lee passed away on February 19, 2016. I'd like to give much late thanks and condolences to the author for writing such a great book. Thank you. Hope you rest in Peace.
