About 5 bemused faces turned to look at her because the rest of the class didn't even bother to turn around. She decided to try a different approach: implant her thoughts in our heads. "The mockingbird symbolizes people who only bring good to the world, yet are very vulnerable. Who is a mockingbird character in this book?"
Again, everybody ignored the question asked. I, horrified that Atticus could weigh one life against another, had a different idea. "Bluejays have just as much right to live as mockingbirds. Maybe mockingbirds are the people in society you can't hit and bluejays are ordinary people."
My teacher clearly didn't have as developed a sense of ethics as I did. "No, you're wrong. That's not what mockingbirds symbolize."
"How do you know?" I asked. "Are you Harper Lee?"
"No, but I know what a mockingbird symbolizes, and it's not high people in society."
"Well, I think that's a very closed-minded approach." Teachers were always going on about keeping an open mind, and this hypocrisy was not going to fly with me.
"Do you think you know better than me, young lady?" Actually, I did, but given my detention history (it's not my fault we only get 3 minutes in between classes and you can get a detention for tardies. Really, blame the system; don't blame me), I figured I had better not enlighten her on my thoughts.
"No, of course not," (after all, you're the teacher, and we all know a college degree equals immediate wisdom gain, right?) "I just think there might be more than one solution."
"Well there's not." At this point, I think I might have said something like, "OK, Harper Lee," because I was asked to please leave the classroom until the discussion was over. Another martyr for justice in the school system. Atticus would have been proud. Oh wait, he kills bluejays.
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