The words in that image come from one of my favorite passages in my favorite novel, but the image is somewhat misleading, and the quotation has been altered.
Atticus Finch does not say that to his daughter, Scout, as the image would lead one to believe. Atticus is too respectful of the beliefs of others to ever make a statement like that, but his friend, Maude Atkinson, who is more confrontational, would, and does in a conversation with Scout on her front porch.
It is important to know that Scout is the narrator of the novel.
Here is the exact passage.
“You are too young to understand it,” she said, “but sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of—oh, of your father.”
I was shocked. “Atticus doesn’t drink whiskey,” I said. “He never drunk a drop in his life—nome, yes he did. He said he drank some one time and didn’t like it.”
Miss Maudie laughed. “Wasn’t talking about your father,” she said. “What I meant was, if Atticus Finch drank until he was drunk he wouldn’t be as hard as some men are at their best. There are just some kind of men who—who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.”In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee does a masterful job of exploring and exposing not only the how but the why behind the hypocrisies and injustices that arise in otherwise well-meaning communities when rigidity and ethnocentrism trump righteousness and empathy. For that reason, I believe the original, with all its nuances, is preferable to an altered passage tied to an image, thus reducing a complex theme to an internet meme.
The Backstory:
Scout has been asking Miss Maudie why Arthur (Boo) Radley is so reclusive and why his father is so mean. Miss Maudie tries to answer, and the ensuing conversation finds her trying to explain to her twelve-year-old friend the difference between being a Baptist, as she is, and being a Primitive (AKA foot-washing) Baptist, as the Radleys are. The full passage is worth reading.
“Arthur Radley just stays in the house, that’s all,” said Miss Maudie. “Wouldn’t you stay in the house if you didn’t want to come out?”
“Yessum, but I’d wanta come out. Why doesn’t he?” Miss Maudie’s eyes narrowed. “You know that story as well as I do.”“To Kill a Mockingbird” By Nelle Harper Lee 24
“I never heard why, though. Nobody ever told me why.”
Miss Maudie settled her bridgework. “You know old Mr. Radley was a foot-washing Baptist-”
“That’s what you are, ain’t it?” “My shell’s not that hard, child. I’m just a Baptist.” “Don’t you all believe in foot-washing?” “We do. At home in the bathtub.” “But we can’t have communion with you all-” Apparently deciding that it was easier to define primitive baptistry than closed
communion, Miss Maudie said: “Foot-washers believe anything that’s pleasure is a sin. Did you know some of ‘em came out of the woods one Saturday and passed by this place and told me me and my flowers were going to hell?”
“Your flowers, too?”
“Yes ma’am. They’d burn right with me. They thought I spent too much time in God’s outdoors and not enough time inside the house reading the Bible.”
My confidence in pulpit Gospel lessened at the vision of Miss Maudie stewing forever in various Protestant hells. True enough, she had an acid tongue in her head, and she did not go about the neighborhood doing good, as did Miss Stephanie Crawford. But while no one with a grain of sense trusted Miss Stephanie, Jem and I had considerable faith in Miss Maudie. She had never told on us, had never played cat-and-mouse with us, she was not at all interested in our private lives. She was our friend. How so reasonable a creature could live in peril of everlasting torment was incomprehensible.
“That ain’t right, Miss Maudie. You’re the best lady I know.”
Miss Maudie grinned. “Thank you ma’am. Thing is, foot-washers think women are a sin by definition. They take the Bible literally, you know.”
“Is that why Mr. Arthur stays in the house, to keep away from women?”
“I’ve no idea.”
“It doesn’t make sense to me. Looks like if Mr. Arthur was hankerin‘ after heaven he’d come out on the porch at least.
Miss Maudie stopped rocking, and her voice hardened. “You are too young to understand it,” she said, “but sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of—oh, of your father.”
I was shocked. “Atticus doesn’t drink whiskey,” I said. “He never drunk a drop in his life—nome, yes he did. He said he drank some one time and didn’t like it.”
Miss Maudie laughed. “Wasn’t talking about your father,” she said. “What I meant was, if Atticus Finch drank until he was drunk he wouldn’t be as hard as some men are at their best. There are just some kind of men who—who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.”
Comments:
My introduction to this blog mentions "sacred cows of 20th Century America, many of which still wander the pastures of our minds befouling our political discourse and bulldozing our societal maturation."
In America today, one such sacred cow involves the constant barrage of anti-LGBT, anti-women's rights, anti-Obama, and anti-anything-but-fundamentalist-religious-doctrine-worshiping proclamations and legislation. Emanating from self-righteous religious and political "leaders" steeped in the oppressive tradition described by Miss Maudie, this barrage has been quite successful at thwarting efforts to level the playing field for many Americans.
Twelve-year-old Scout Finch was not quite able to grasp the full meaning of what Miss Maudie told her. However, as the adult narrator of the story, she demonstrates her growth in awareness as well as an appreciation for having had both a father and a friend who encouraged her to think critically rather than demand that she turn her very soul over to the purveyors of a rigidified doctrine rooted in ignorance and hatred for "the dreaded other."
I have often wondered how the advocates of such a doctrine square their beliefs - and more so their actions - with the announcement from an angel that begins with, "Be not afraid;" and continues, "for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people."
If you have not read To Kill A Mockingbird, I recommend that you do so.
I have often wondered how the advocates of such a doctrine square their beliefs - and more so their actions - with the announcement from an angel that begins with, "Be not afraid;" and continues, "for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people."
If you have not read To Kill A Mockingbird, I recommend that you do so.
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