"To Kill a Mockingbird" and Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a piece about To Kill a Mockingbird for The New Yorker recently. It's entitled "The Courthouse Ring: Atticus Finch and the Limits of Southern Liberalism."

It's gotten some people steamed. Like Isaac Chotiner of The New Republic. He's written a piece of his own - "What is Malcolm Gladwell Talking About?"

From the piece...

Here is Gladwell's analysis of one of American literature's (and American cinema's) most moving scenes. For starters, he seems to be confusing or conflating political passion with personal passion. Must all civil rights heroes yell and scream? Must all southern gentleman be weak-kneed appeasers of racism? And how does keeping silent--as opposed to "brimming with rage"--show a more concrete desire for radical change? What does the disposition of Atticus Finch have to do with a bias toward "hearts and minds" rather than the law (which is a false distinction anyway).