To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most timeless and coming of age book. The book takes place in Maycomb County, a small town where rumors spread as fast as wildfire. "Maycomb was an old town," (6) families ran deep within its people, and governed who they were, and who their children would become in the future. Scout is the book's narrator, starting at a mere five years old and the readers see the child's innocent view towards very broad and important topics, which still occur to this day. Her brother Jem is the older brother, and tries ever so hard to mature, acting as an important figure in Scout's life. Atticus, the seemingly invincible father of Scout and Jem acts as a different kind of father. He does not condemn different behavior, rather he accepts who the children are and tries to bring out their morals. Giving them a sense of courage, Atticus tried in every way possible to teach them to stand for their beliefs, not hide behind others. When the story begins, the children listen closely to the rumors spread around the county, believing the horrors about Arthur Radley, nicknamed "Boo Radley". As the kids grow up, they realize how wrong some of the rumors are, learning from Mrs. Dubose, and most importantly the Tom Robinson case. Throughout the book, many situations are thrust upon the children in which they are forced to judge another person, however looking from a non-prejudiced side which Atticus provides them with. Aunt Alexandra showes Scout what the typical Southern woman was meant to be; racist, strict, and most of all, ignorant of their misdoings. To most people in Maycomb County, a Ewell was to be the same as any other Ewell, however Mayella disrupted this ignorance with her diversity. Soon the children were faced with racism. Tom Robinson's case from a child's uninfluenced point of view showed clearly that he was being framed, but the County who had grown accustomed to hating the African-American people would simply not give up their traditions. The key theme in To Kill a Mockingbird, is finding who each person truly is, in a non-biased way. Atticus in the beginning was invincible, but later showed glimpses of his weaknesses, almost utterly shattered after Jem and Scout were attacked by Bob Ewell. Arthur Radley began as a monster, but became a friend in the end, as Scout put aside rumors and looked solely at what he had done for the town. She had matured in the end, stepping into the shoes of others, just as Atticus had taught her. What the children in To Kill a Mockingbird truly represented, was the view of someone who's just morals came only from a uninfluenced conscience. Young and innocent, these children had not been grown up by a discriminant father, but someone who could look at both sides to an issue. Racism in the 1960s was a major issue in America, and Harper Lee depicted what she saw in the form of a child's innocence. Even now there is still racism and prejudice, judging people from an unfair viewpoint.
A few questions I have, are: Why did Atticus not believe in his fatherly figure towards the children? Do you think that it is very realistic to be shattered like Atticus had been, even with his strong morals? And lastly, has Atticus changed (the very last page)?
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First of all, that was a very nice summary of the novel Brian. I believe that Atticus is such a strong character and that is most of what we have seen of him. Earlier in the novel when we talked about Atticus being realistic; we decided he was somewhat unrealistic. I believe that we never got to see the other side of Atticus. I do believe however that this event changed him dramatically. He realized that his children are all he has and he just almost lost them. He just almost lost them because of his trust in people. He realized that he had been so focused on saving other people's families he almost forgot his own. I think that Atticus's reaction was very realistic. Some questions I have are... Why is the last line of the novel so significant and how does this tie their relationship as a whole together? If the book were to go on, how would the rest of Maycomb react to the event? Lastly, how do you think that Boo and Scout's relationship would progress?
ReplyDeleteWow Brian, that was an absolutely perfect summary of the novel. I think that the point you make about how Atticus's way of being fatherly is accepting who his kids are, as long as he can make their morals strong, is very true. I think that the way Atticus approaches being a father is very similar to the way he approaches everything. As long as the morals are there, not much else matters. For example, with the Tom Robinson case, he kept his morals and tried to bring out the morals of the jury. He did not treat Tom well because of he felt bad because of his race, he treated him well because Tom had very good morals. This turned out not to be a good thing though when he refused to listen to the warnings about Bob Ewell, because to start being wary of Bob Ewell would mean Atticus was deciding that Bob was not a good person, which goes against his morals. I think Atticus changed at the end of the book because he realized he has to put his children in front of his morals in order to keep the only family he has left. My question is if the book were to go on, do you think that Atticus would start being more cautious of people? Or would he continue to believe that everyone is good on the inside?
ReplyDeleteBrian, I thought you did a great job summerizing the entie book and especially Atticus' personality. I like the way you stated that he used his morals to try to persuade the jury at T Rob's trial. I think you did need a bit more characterization on the part of Bob Ewell. If this was to be the first time reading the summery without reading the book I would have no clue who he is. you could use quotes and specific scenes to portray this.
ReplyDeleteQuestions:
1)How could the summery be broken up into three different paragraphs?