Classic Films, Classic Crucible Lessons VI: To Kill a Mockingbird 

One person doing the right thing. That sums up succinctly TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, the movie we discuss this week on the sixth episode of our summer series, CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS.

The person who keeps doing the right thing in this movie the American Film Institute ranked at number 25 on its Top 100 list is Atticus Finch. He’s a kind, compassionate lawyer and honest, dedicated father who refuses to bend to the racial prejudices of his time and place – 1930s Alabama. In defending his client, a wrongly accused black man, he models for his children, Jem and Scout, what character that doesn’t see color looks like.

As one of his neighbors tells the children at the tragic conclusion of the trial, “Some men in this world are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us ... your father is one of them.”

That would have been an agonizing crucible for many men of the era, but for Atticus Finch it was a role he fulfilled with honor and humility that can teach us a lot about weathering our own crucible experiences.

To explore Beyond the Crucible resources, including our free Trials-to-Triumphs Self-Assessment, visit beyondthecrucible.com