The Naivety They Once Knew

(My concluding Journal Post; written after finishing the narrative)


In conclusion, I must say, this is one of the best books I've ever read; it was not only engrossing, but it changed my perspective after reading it; there is only one other book that I think I can say that about, and that book is 'The Outsiders', by S.E. Hinton.

I must admit, when I first saw the themes of this book that could be used in our Journal posts written on the board, I was surprised to see 'Loss of Innocence'; I thought to myself that there were many better examples of said theme in other pieces of literature. However, I now know what was meant; the death of Jem's innocence, was an emotional blow. As a reader I developed an attachment to the main characters, especially the young, innocent, ones. When Jem's innocence died-to me-so did he; he became a stranger, impervious to the naivety he and Scount once knew. I from that point on, knew the world would never be the same for him, it would be the unfair, cold place we all see it as.

One thing in particular that struck me was how he aknowledged that he had change; that "when [he] was [Scout's] age" (P.259), he used to ask himself the same naive questions Scout now asks herself.

______________

On an unrelated note, I thought I must end with something I noticed throughoutt my reading of this novel; something that served as a minor distraction. This issue would have been hard to elude, but nevertheless: the advanced language and writing style used in this novel, I found a bit unbelievable, as it was a six year old girl whose thoughts they were, but, as I said before, that would have been hard to avoid. There may have been a few specific examples of this, but I believe it would be to no avail to single them out, as the entire novel was written in that style. However, something that trivial could not tarnish the power and literary genius of this novel.



Avineet

End thoughts...To Kill A Mockingbird

Great stories don't teach us anything new but rather remind us of our humanity and what we already know to be true about ourselves. The irony in this story was always changing. The author uses the controlling metaphor, “mockingbird” which represents innocence. In this story, we are always asking ourselves, Why? This story was written from a child’s perspective that also adults can relate to. The characters undergo significant changes over a span of  years. They must deal with issues such as racism, rape, injustice, and murder. Even though this novel depicts extraordinary circumstances in the 1930s in the Southern United States, many of us can relate to some of the issues. We can form our opinions and also have debates on what is morally right or wrong. This helps us to grow mentally through life experiences. We can grow, whether we are school children or adults. That is the purpose of this story. "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird".

                                                                       ~END~ 

Social inequalities are existant throughout the world

Conclusion

Theme: Social inequality


Social statuses have been around since humans have known. It was first demeaning and disrespectful but nowadays it seems to be a part of human nature. What pleasure do we get by putting others down? Does it makes us look like the bigger person? No. The bigger person is the one with the bigger heart and is down to earth. Personally I could care less about social statuses because if theres only one tall tree and many smaller ones, I'd rather be part of the smaller trees because there are more of us and we can stick together and we will have sweeter fruit. The tall tree may think the view from up there is great but whats glory if there is no one to share it with. Also the branches are much thinner at the top of the tree.

The Finches may be higher on the social scale but they are so down to earth that they make the african-americans feel accepted. Scout and Jem dont understand why they are seperated from the so called 'minorities' but in due time they would. These divisions make up so much of the book and are reminded to us throughout the book through minor hints and it can be as small as calling someone "a cunningham" or to not allow them to attend places. The sad thing is that humans have adapted over time and this is now part of human nature.

Courage can be portrayed in many different forms.

Post number 3

Theme: Courage

Another major part of To Kill a Mockingbird is courage. This is a more positive theme than that of prejudice, and courage is shown by an abundance of the characters in the novel. Atticus has strong views on courage. He taught Scout and Jem to be brave, especially Scout when he told her to stop fighting people that mock her. One person Atticus looked up to as having "real courage" was Mrs. Dubose. He makes Jem go and read to her because he wanted Jem to learn from her what she had to teach. "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand". That quote has so much meaning because in the modern day teenagers and many others think it is courageous to commit crimes but why cant courage be standing up for whats right. This shows how much Atticus respected Mrs. Dubose for her courage. He called her "the bravest person" he ever knew. Atticus is trying to teach his children that he is not courageous for shooting a crazy dog dead with one shot but that he is in fact courageous for defending Tom Robinson. He teaches them that being courageous is standing up for what you think is right.

  Courage is shown within the community, by the community when there is a fire at Miss Maudie's house. "The men of Maycomb, in all degrees of dress and undress, took furniture from Miss Maudie's house to a yard across the street" The most important part "in all degrees of dress and undress" shows that the people that came to help, came straight away. If the men would have dressed first, then they would have thought about whether to help or not, but they came straight from their beds to help. The people may be racist and prejudiced but when it comes to helping someone they care about I have to show them respect for it but a good deed does not cancel out many bad ones.


- Kurun Soni














 

Acceptance is the first step....Then comes tolerance

Two of the bigger themes throughout the book.

Theme: Acceptance/ Tolerance

Acceptance is taking a certain situation, understanding it and moving on. You can accept the situation or you can embrace it and let it keep you tied down. Tolerance and acceptance are two of the most prominent themes in To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee does a great job of Showing these themes in such a way it makes the reader feel what the characters feel. I feel the characters that show the most acceptance in the book are Tom Robinson and Atticus Finch.

Firstly, Tom Robinson is a prime example of tolerant human being. He was an honest hardworking man, and he was wrongly convicted by an unjust court ruling, he died knowing that he was innocent. Had Tom Robinson been white, his mannerism would have been commended, but due to the fact that he was black it seems expected. Perhaps if people were a little more accepting Tom Robinson could be responsible for altering the opinion that many of the people in his society had. Maybe, just maybe he could make people comprehend that all blacks were not actually savages and were not of a lower class than whites.

Scout saw what Atticus saw in Tom Robinson, that he was a regular human being. The word regular is taken for granted in our so called modern society. If we were so modern and accepting, why is half the world still in poverty? Why are black people still taken for granted in places around the world? As a matter of fact, not only black people, all types of people are taken for granted by someone. Have we gotten so modern that we have forgotten our morales....

Scout was not the only person to recognize Tom Robinson's excellent personality attributes. Mr. Link Deas, Tom's boss, also thought that Tom Robinson was a good human being he voiced his opinion in the courtroom during Tom's trial. "I just want the whole lot of you to know one thing right now...", Link Deas stated, "...that boy's worked for me for eight years now an' I ain't had a speck o' trouble with him. Not a speck!" p.195.These words coming from a white man is important to the theme of tolerance and acceptance because it shows that there are white people who are not prejudice and that will stand up and do what is right, even though it may be in the lower half of the polls. Mr.Link was thrown out of the court but was his opinion heard, yes. Tom is also very tolerant and accepting of the ignorance of others, such as that of the prosecuting attorney Mr. Gilmer, who always referred to Tom as "boy" p.196. It is Tom Robinson who addresses everyone with respect when he speaks to them and he addresses men as "suh" or when he refers to Mayella he calls her "Miss Mayella". Tom accepted him self as a so called "nigger", whether it was right or wrong touches back on my prejudice post..People put him there so thats where he stays.

Atticus Finch, a respected white lawyer, who stands up for the right cause. He saw the innocence in Tom's face and right then he knew that some things can not be tolerated like the conviction of this boy. Even though Atticus loses the case and Tom is found guilty he has no intention on giving up and thats an admirable trait in anyone. Also, he is given a standing ovation by the courtroom for his excellent display of the case. It was due to the bias of the 'White Jury' that Tom's verdict was guilty. It wasn't only the courtroom where Atticus showed acceptance and tolerance, he showed it everyday in his daily lifestyle. Being a single parent he had to accept he had to play both parents and he tolerated how hard it could be. Scout seems like she doesnt listen to anything Atticus say but she does and this quote may be one of the best in the book. " Atticus says cheating a colored man is ten times worse than cheating a white man" p.201. The significance of this quote is quite clear; it is ten times worse to cheat someone who is already down, that would be like killing a mockingbird who is without wings.

-Kurun Soni

Contagious And Fatal

My fourth blog post, pertaining to the controversial issue of religion; in the novel, 'To Kill A Mockingbird', and in our world.



I knew, when I started working on this blog, I would have to, at one point, touch upon religion; one of, if not the, most controversial topics facing even todays world. If religion were a disease, it would be the most contagious and have the highest mortality rate. In Maycomb, Alabama circa 1930, religion-particularly Chrisianity-was the backbone of society. Religion is still a very prominent part of society, however, it is not as blind as it once was; we now are exposed to the multitudes of different religions; we are now able to question ourselves, our beliefs, and the beliefs of others-at, of course, no harm to them-. In the setting of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', the people did not have these freedoms, hence the children grew up devout and with unwavering belief.

Religion was present in every part of their society, even in the courts; the "testimonie[s] [were to be kept] within the confines of Christian English". However, in a society like that, when there is nothing else, I do not believe religion could do much harm, as everyone would be the same in that aspect. Problems arise when people are intolerant toward other belief systems, and under those circumstances, religion can motivate, like nothing else can, humanity to such extremes, that religion becomes the aforementioned disease.

I am not saying religion is a bad thing, it has many great attributes; it brings people together, makes them feel apart of something much bigger than themselves, hence it provides a feeling of security-be it false or true-. Living in constant fear of death, or the sort, is detrimental for everybody, if religion combats that, who can say it is a bad thing? However, faith, may not be such a good thing; believing undividedly and unconditionally in something for which there is no evidence, to escape from the realities of our world, is far from healthy.

Religion, not unlike virtually anything else in our world, can be great in moderation, but in this case, you can definitely have too much of a good thing.


Avineet

The Defeated Man, Sitting On The Floor With His Head In His Arms

(My third blog post, regarding images from The Great Depression and how they relate to the story.)

I must confess, when I first read we were to look at some photographs from the Great Depression, I had a fairly good idea what they were going to look like-as I am fairly familiar with the Great Depression, and with some of what it resulted in-, and what they were going to attempt at insinuating. However, I was not comepletely right; I was expecting a bombardment of graphic, emotionally exploiting photos of people living in unimaginable poverty-my speculation must have been tainted with all those tear-jerking commercials we have all seen-. However, much to my disbelief, this did not seem to be the purpose of those photos; nevertheless, there were some that fitted said description, but they were outnumbered by the photos that did not.

I decided to indulge and look at the art gallery as well (the illustrations); those images were no less stirring than the photographs, if not more. With photographs, you know that whatever is on the image, actally happend, that instance in time is a part of history; that alone makes a great impact. However, with illustrations, the artist has much more power and options to create an impact: the colors, the manipulation of images (changing things from what they actually look like, to what they want those things to look like), the power to add any detail, be it phisically impossible. For those reasons, I must say that the illustrations in the art gallery made the greatest impact on me; those images struck me the hardest.

I know that this called for the description and impact of a single photograph, but I feel I will be doing myself an emotional injustice by neglecting the illstrations that had my emotions more than stirring. If I had to chose one image-which I do-it would have to be the illustration No Work (1935) by Blanche Grambs. This was far from a great work of art, however, from the moment I layed eyes on it, I felt as though I had felt the worst of the depression. The defeated man, sitting on the floor with his head in his arms, who's face I could not even see; the man with No Work had me feeling more than any photograph could have possible made me feel. The depression had destroyed that man's spirit, the was a reject of that cruel world; it takes a lot for a drawing like that to make someone fell as I did, and for that reason, I could chose nothing other than that drawing to describe.

I think seeing these images enriched my reading expierience very much so. These images captured the context in which 'To Kill A Mockingbird' was written-as it is a depression era novel-, something that truly alows you to understand the characters and their decisions. Those characters were living where the depression struck hard, as the saying goes: desperate times call for desperate measures. Those characters were living in poverty, during a time where it was an employers market to say the least; people were being opressed left and right. Humans are only meant to be able to take so much, eventually they will have to resort to said desperate measures, and can they be blamed? These images allowed us to "climb into [the characters'] skin[s] and walk around in [them] (P. 33).


Avineet

A Racial And Moral Hero, For Even Our Time

(My second blog entry, regarding the controversy surrounding 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee; approx. halfway through the novel.)

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"-George Santayana. While reading the suggested pages regarding the controversy around Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird', I realized the contoversy was a result of the considerable desire to have it 'banned', or revoved from school curriculum. Coincidentally, virtually all of the censure came from the United States, however, I was surprised to see how many African-Americans were behind-or even at the forefront-of this movement. I, however, can see why; the use of certain tabooed words, deemed very offensive, and the fairly risque subject matter, can be called questionable, at most. Nevertheless, the aforementioned risque matter, was a prominent part of American history, or "the past", and it should not be forgotten; every child has the right to know the history his/her country harbours, and depriving a child of those subjects, for any reason, is unjust. I do, although, see where the parents were coming from; it is human to want to sheild children from such dark times of humanity, and to want to rid this blemish from the otherwise spotless history of the United States. That, however, is no reason to deprive growing children of a great work of Modern American Literature, which teaches only acceptance, understanding, tolerance, to dicard our unjust prejudices, and to "do [your] best to love everybody" (P. 124).

Atticus Finch, may not have been the narrator, but he was a major character, and most importantly, a racial and moral hero who would serve as great role-model, even for todays time. The way he raised his children, adressed their questions, and instilled values, was admirable, to say the least, espcially in the environment and society he was forced to do so in.
He did not succumb to the pressure of society, and retained his beliefs; exemplified countless times in the novel, with not only his words, but with his actions: truly attempting to defend Tom Robinson to the best of his abilities alone was the perfect testament.


Avineet

Prejudice is ignorance and Education is key

Journal post for the introduction.

Theme: Prejudice

Prejudice is defined as a preconceived preference or idea and many of times in the world it is implied or directly said. It can be broken into subtopics such as racial, sexual or prejudice by class. In to kill a mockingbird the prejudice is evidently racial and prejudice by class. "Your father does not know how to teach, you can sit down now"(p.19). It was clear that Miss Caroline only made that comment seeing that Scout's father was Atticus the man who was helping a 'black man' and even though he is white he is supporting a so called minority hance he shall be hated upon too. Racial comments as such are portrayed throughout the novel and have a deep effect on the characters. Short and witty comments are shown more towards the african american characters of the novel and this has proven to be one of the main themes for the beginning. This is very significant to me because growing up in India, ive seen a lot of prejudice towards women, children and cultures.

Theme: Education

I stumbled upon education several times during the novel also and thought that it was one of the themes. We first learn how important education is when Jem announces to Dill that Scout has known how to read since she was a baby. Also, Atticus reads to his kids a more mature level tahn expected for their age and they understand what he says. Scout also shows her level of maturity on the first day of school when she is higly literate compared to her classmates and this frustrates her teacher. It isnt just school education that is present, there is moral eudcation that Atticus finds very important too. In a world filled with prejudice it is easy to become want people want you to become but you have to understand your values and morals and stick to them as they are your 'game plan' for life. This is also higly important to my life because everyone does not get the opportunity to have a education, especially in third world country's like India, where I grew up seeing illiteracy around every corner, so you have to appreciate your chances and grasp them. Theres people who never had an opportunity and then theres people who had an oppurtunity but let it go, either way you end up on the same level.

-Kurun Soni

The Poison That Is Prejudice

My Introductory Journal Post


Prejudice itself does not come without it's own associated connotations, one of which-perhaps the most common-being, racism. Exemplified many times throughout this novel, this is false; prejudice is not remotely limited to the aforementioned discriminatory justification (rasism). The best example of this so far in my reading of this novel has been five innocently spoken words: "Miss Caroline, he's a Cunningham" (P.22). The context under which this announcement was made and what it set out to accomplish; the fact that they were spoken so innocently, was what struck me the hardest.

Allow me to further elaborate upon said context; Scount grew up in Maycomb County, a southern region of the United States. Scout was in the middle of her first day of school when Miss Caroline (a relatively modern young teacher, from North Alabama-which also was not free of the children's biases) offered to lend Walter Cunningham a quarter to buy a lunch-in place of the one he claimed to have forgotten-but, much to Miss Carolines impatience and confusion, he refused to accept it. However, "it was clear enough to the rest of [the class, including Scout], and so Scout took on the responsibitity of relaying an explanation everyone thought was more than sufficient; surely the name will explain everything.

As I mentioned before, it was not the words themselves, but the way, and under what context they were uttered, that truly exposed the environment in which these children were growing up; an environment in which prejudices are so routine and common, they have virtually become instincts; an environment in which prejudices make up society. These social prejudices have been woven so well into society, that children who have greater aspirations may have no hope of escaping their family name.

As it is with virtually every society, it is the children who will be it's future, and so it is the Aunt Alexandras that have "[a] preoccupation with heredity" (P. 147) who have to open their eyes, and draw the line to sever the flow of the poison that is prejudice.



Avineet

Lorenzo's last Blog entry.

Ending

Theme: Time for Courage.

"... Why couldn't I mash him? I asked. Because they don't bother you... "

Chapter 25, page 273

This is probably one of the shortest chapters written in the novel, and yet, it's purpose in general, is to tacitly explain the title of the novel. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is ultimately the most suited title for the novel mainly because Mockingbirds symbolize the innocent people who, " do not bother [us]," and yet were killed and suffered under the evils, prejudices and racisms surrounding the citizens of Maycomb. In this particular chapter, Scout finds a Roly - Poly who enters their house and is to be considered lost and strayed. Scout decides to smash the innocent creature, but was stopped by Jem as he explains to his sister that it does not intend harm. As time progresses, Jem realizes the misdeeds of injustice and prejudice above all things. Like in that simple Roly - Poly, Jem's view of justice precedented his thoughts and enabled him to tell Scout not to kill the poor bug. Again, the Author uses this insight as a short event that concisely explains the importance of not killing " Mockingbirds " in our society. We must stand up for what is right even if others do not intend to do so. Today, having the courage to stand up for what is right is rarely seen in our people. Unlike in the book, where Atticus passionately tries to defend Tom Robinson, an innocent man scathed by the evils of Maycomb, and in this particular scene when Jem saves the innocent bug, we lack the motivation to enforce justice. There are many 'Mockingbirds" out here in our time, who are in desperate need of our help. That's why, in conclusion we must, like Atticus and Jem, stand up for what is right - and have the courage to do so.

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Theme: Religion.

"... You are a fortunate girl. You live in a Christian home with Christian folks in a Christian town... "

Chapter 24, page 264.

In this chapter, the women of Maycomb are having a group discussion, more commonly known as a, " Lady's talk," and Scout is invited by her aunt to join in. Scout implicitly describes this talk as a discourse far from the conversations he had with men and is , " filled with hypocrites. " Although, during this chat between the morally deprived Hypocrites of Maycomb and the true Ladies of the house, Religion has been a hot topic between them. The latter believes that Religion would give light to the poor family of the black Mrunas with the help of J. Everett Grimes. They also think that the poor condition of the said family is caused by their lack of faith and worship under Christianity. In our society today, Religion is still considered as something fundamental in any person's life. If a person does not worship or believe in any deity or is not guided by any scriptural teachings, people tend to think that he/ she is lacking a sense of direction in life, may it be in Hinduism, Buddhism and/ or Christianity. That's why in this particular chapter, the ladies describe the Mrunas as savages, deprived of the basic necessities of human living - like Religion. Although their statements are not entirely factual nor fallacious, it is evident, through time and history, that Religion does play a major role in any humans perspective of living. Therefore, it is entirely our discretion whether we do need an invisible guidance from the Gods beneath the clouds or whether we remain as an Atheist in our society today.