Father Figure
Peacework asked activists across the country to answer, "What work of poetry or fiction changed your life?" This is one of the answers. Please comment on our blog and describe how a particular work of literature has affected you.
Allison Budschalow is a Program Assistant for Campaigns and Mobilizations in the Philadelphia office of AFSC.
Full Article:
A piece of fiction that changed my life is To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. My father made me read it during one of the summers that I was still in elementary school, perhaps before fifth or sixth grade. While the notion of justice had, at times, been introduced to me during my childhood in a variety of ways, this book was paramount in helping me to find the words to name justice.
Because my father encouraged me to read it and because one of the plot lines revolves around Scout's relationship with her father, the book also stands out now as a rare portrayal of a positive role that a father figure can play in our lives.
