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
Great post Kurun! Your title-I absolutely agree with it, by the way-grasped my attention very well. I comepletely agree with the 'moral' education Atticus provided for his children; as we all know, being intellegent does not make you a good person. Another think that I noticed was the way you related these topics to your life and what you have seen, that truly shows how well you comprehend the messages conveyed in this novel.
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