A Strange Sequel to the Mockingbird Tale

Atticus Finch's Commentary on Life

While I was conducting my research for the project that I had to do (teaching resources), I cam across an interesting article.  This article was published in The Onion and it was written by "Atticus Finch" (I have a link above if you would actually like to read it).  In this commentary Atticus is telling the story of his and his family's life after the events of To Kill a Mockingbird are over.  His main point is, however, that the only time Atticus ever had anything exciting happen in his life was during the time he was defending Tom Robinson.  Jem winds up being a tax lawyer and Jean Louise--who no longer goes by the name of Scout--quits college and is a waitress at a diner for the rest of her life. 

Although this is a very plausible outcome to everyone involved in the story, somehow this does not seem to be the "correct" ending of each of these character's lives.  The Onion is supposed to be a satirical newspaper of sorts, and I think that it achieved its goal in the writing of this article.  I think that it was supposed to leave its audience with a sense of wrongness--this was not supposed to be how the life's of these characters ended up.  Scout would continue to break the standards expected of her and get on the a good career path after completing college: she would not wind up at a dead end job. 

The level of understanding that Scout is able to achieve in the novel astounding; that she really does understand the importance behind the phrase of not killing a mockingbird, especially in regards to Arthur Radley exemplifies how bright Scout is.  This opens up a world of career possibilities for Scout.  She will never adhere to the social expectations of the time period.  Scout start out being different because she is a tomboy and her intelligence sets her apart from her classmates already (for example, already knowing how to read).  The only thing that can be expected of Scout is a continued difference in the way she lives her life.   

The Essential Time Traveling

I really think that the time travel aspect of Kindred is important for two reasons: it allows the narrator--Dana--to tell the story from a modern perspective, and it allows for jumps in time.  The modern perspective of the narrator is important because we, the readers, are reading it in a modern time.  The perspective is not distancing because we can understand what Dana is going through. It is better than if the story was written from an actual slave's perspective.  The whole situation is foreign to Dana just as it is foreign to any current reader.

The second aspect that the technique of time travel allows for is a jump in time. Through the use of time travel Dana only ever arrives in the past at pivotal moments.  She doesn't age herself because hardly anytime passes in her current time.  She is getting a crash course of American history.  She sees Rufus grow up within one year of her own actual time.  This allows her to see how prejudice is something that is learned.  When Rufus is young he is willing to listen to Dana.  For example, after Rufus starts his curtains on fire Dana asks him to refer to her as a black woman instead of the derogatory term of "nigger."  However, as Dana returns in future dates it becomes harder and harder for Dana to get through to Rufus as he becomes set in the prejudicial mindset.  It becomes more of a battle of wills between the two.

Family Cohesion

There is one aspect of this autobiography that I find particularly interesting.  Maya's family sent her and Bailey away.  However, while Maya and Bailey are living with their mother in St. Louis we learned about their mother's family in St. Louis.  The author's description of the family reveals that they are tight-knit and they go great lengths to protect each other. Maya provides a description of her mother's family which describes both their cruelty and kindness: "They beat up whites and Blacks with the same abandon, and liked each other so much that they never needed to learn the art of making outside friends . . . Grandfather became bedridden during out stay there, and his children spent their free time telling him jokes, gossiping with him and showing their love" (67).  This description is unique because it shows both sides of the family.  They will be cruel in order to protect their family which they love so much; they are a very close family.

What I find so interesting is that this family is so tight-knit, but they are not willing to accept Maya and Bailey as a permanent addition to their family.  First, their mother sends them away when they are still very young, and then she sends them away again after their short stay when they are older.  This is confounding to me.  Rather than admitting them into the family, they are viewed as outsiders who do not belong in St. Louis.  I would have thought that the strong family bond that exists within the family would have been extended to them as well because they are family and not outsiders.