“To Kill a Mockingbird” provides one of the all-time best depictions of a father relating to his children as human beings. No actor other than Gregory Peck could possibly posses the requisite personae of a fine man so honored and respected by his community while still maintaining a sincere air of humility - that is Atticus Finch.

I was fortunate to still be a child when I first watched “To Kill a Mockingbird”. And even more fortunate to have been in a Junior High English class where many of the more complicated themes were clearly explained to me. However, it isn’t necessary to have that kind of professional help to understand what’s happening in the story. That’s one of the pure beauties of this films, that as adult as some of the topics are (friendship, hate, prejudice and abject poverty) the story is told in a very simple to understand manner, and even though the words may not be able to form in a young mind, the feelings are there. Feelings that we have as children that grow and mature as we do.

The story is told from the point of view of a child, and therefore revels itself in a manner understood by a child. A tomboy named Scout lives a quiet life with her older brother and father in the impoverished South of the 1930s. Life as a kid is great, but Scout is learning that childhood will not last forever and the world is a strange and complicated place. Her questions about the behavior of others are met with patience by a father who does not claim to hold all the answers, but encourages his children to be curious all the same. He does the best he can and asks the same of his children, even when it’s not an easy thing to do.

Of course this father leads by example and must do some very difficult things in the face of great opposition, including defend a black man in a highly biased law case. But, he could do no less, and hopes that his children will understand eventually even if it means great pain now. He lives by the only standards he knows which are his own. So, he may not always be a winner, but he his always a hero.

Atticus Finch is a high standard to hold to any father, but I’m sure all fathers can relate to the pressure and complications of living up to yourself as well as your children. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is not to be missed.