Last year, one of my 9th grade students adorably said, "I want to read Mockingbird again; I think I read a different book this summer!". Currently, some of you have expressed that you feel you have missed some of Harper Lee's more subtle points (MARSHMALLOWS!) when you read the book before. Some of you have even begun to hop up and down in your seat when something "click's" for you. Soooo........
After discussing TKM in class, what is your favorite epiphany or revelation? What symbol, motif, or stylistic device have you found the coolest ? What passage did you reread for class that you missed the meaning of before? Which passage, event, moment, character, or quote now has a deeper meaning for you or has evoked a new emotion from you?
Share with the rest of us, please!
My favorite symbol, we discussed briefly in class, is Atticus's glasses. Glasses represents inteligence and logic. Like blind prophet Tiresias, Atticus sees the truth unlike everyone else. For example, when Atticus was preparing to shot the mad dog, he drops his classes because he can not use his logical skills and need to kill the dog. Also, Atticus pushes the glasses up during the trial because he needs to use his logical skills to show the jury the truth. The truth is that Bob Ewell beats his daughter, and Tom Robinson did not rape Mayella.
ReplyDeleteI think the symbolization of the gifts that were left in the tree were very interesting as well as what the rabid dog symbolized. Like what we discussed in class, i found it interesting that the dog's disease represents how Maycomb is diseased and poisoned by prejudice. Like the fire and prejudice, the rabies spreads badness vulgar and evil just like the fire spreading evil and distruction. Prejudice also spreads quickly through rumors, which are hurtful and spiteful. All these things bring evil into the world. Atticus is the one to put an end to the rabies spreading, he also saves Ms. Maudies rocking chair from being destroyed. And Atticus tries to free the town from the plaguing prejudice. The shooting of the dog relates to Atticus defending Tom Robinson, a white man helping a black man in a time when blacks are oppressed and looked down upon- he is trying to end the dogs life and trying to end racism and prejudice.I thought that was the most interesting part of the book now that i read it again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jimin that Atticus' glasses are a very interesting symbol. It is so effective when he drops them while shooting Tim Johnson. This shows many things, such as the fact that Atticus fights with his mind and not his fists or in this case, a gun. Also, this supports Atticus' lesson to Jem and Scout that courage is not the man holding the gun but it is the man who knows he will not win but he sees a battle anyway. In the scene with Tim Johnson, Atticus knows he is not courageous. It is a very effective event.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, the part with the snow and the fire is very cool. They convey an important message in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Thirdly, I find the end of the novel, where Scout looks out from the Radley porch and sees a neighborhood she has known her whole life differently, is strongly effective and thought-provoking. She views past events of her life from a hands-off point of view. This is what Atticus has repeatedly taught her (view things from someone else's point of view in order to actually understand others), and now she understands it. If any scene shows how mature Scout is by the end of the novel, none do it better than this.
I also become very emotional when I read the part of the novel, at the very end, when Scout says Stoner's Boy did none of the things people accused him of in The Gray Ghost, and she says that Stoner's Boy is actually very nice. It sums up everything pretty much when Atticus says, "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them."
I agree with both Erin and Jimin about Atticus's glasses. While reading the book the first time i wrote Atticus wearing glasses off as a trivial character discription and coming to read the book a second time and discussing its deeper meaning in class has opened my eyes to Harper Lee's writing style. EVERYTHING is important to the book and Harper Lee does not put in any superflous facts or details. While reading the book over the summer i did not even scratch the surface of the Symbols and Motifs present in this novel. If we read the book for the first time now. I know the symbols section of my novel notes would have taken up so much more room.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that clicked for me was at the end when Scout places herself in Boo's shoes who puts himself in Atticus's shoes. Reading it the first time I did not catch that Boo viewed the world from Atticus's view. This also shows Scout coming full circle. In the beginning she does not understand the lesson of "Considering another's point of view". Throughout the course of the novel Scout has her own epiphanies and is constantly reminded to "place herself in another's skin and walk around in it". At the end she grows and learns the lesson and then goes even further and realizes that Boo longed to be just like Atticus.
ReplyDeleteWhen we learned about the whole concept of left and right with the various parts of the book. I kind of noticed in the book the part in the trial when both Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell had something to do with left but did not get the whole thing. Now in class when we talked about Atticus having better "right" sight in his eyes and how Tom's left arm was crushed so the evil was gotten rid of. Then Bob Ewell being left handed and Tim Johnson walking to his left side showed how they were diseased or evil. I thought that was an interesting part because it symbolized the moral compasses of different characters in the novel as opposed to the blatantly obvious parts such as Bob Ewell strangling his daughter evil or Atticus being a lawyer righteousness.
ReplyDeleteI actually was oblivious to the fact that Boo killed Bob Ewell. I always thought he actually did kill himself. I thought it was pretty funny that I missed that whole thing about the knives. It makes so much more sense now!! Now knowing that, I think Boo is a real hero, and it is touching how he saved the children. I didn't even realize the whole thing took place in Boo's backyard!
ReplyDeleteThe symbol that most interested me was that many members of the town have "bird" lastnames that show their status in society and the way that they are viewed. I thought it was interesting that Tom Robinson, symbolizes Robins who are innocent and kind, and also the point miss arney brought up about the bluejays being the bullies of the bird world, and the Ewells represent the bluejays who are nasty, loud and obnoxious. And the finch is also a type of bird which i found out are small yet powerful, which fits the description of the Finches.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite symbol (that I didn't even realize was a symbol) was the ball of twine. I guess I realized that twine or string ties/holds stuff together, but I didn't realize that because Boo has a child's mind in an adults body he would give Scout or Jem gifts that he would find lying around the house. The twine represents the fact that Boo is giving the children this gift, because he does not have any money to go out and buy them anything really cool or special. This symbol makes me realize that Boo is 'stuck' being a child, because he never really got to live his childhood and be a kid.
ReplyDeleteWell...I don't think this counts as a symbol or a motif but the peeing contest was by far one of my "ah ha!" moments.. I would have never picked up on it until I re-read it several times. The snowman representing the blacks and the whites was also a very cool symbol, along with the "snow" and "fire", how one represented the 1st part and the other represented evil and the 2nd part.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite parts of TKAM are the parts when Miss Maudie acts like a viper because she is the bomb and asks Miss Stephanie if she invited Boo to go into bed with her after she said she saw him. At first I did not realize it as much but when we talked about it in class I thought it was so funny! I also liked the part when Jem is trying to comfort Scout so he tries to show Scout his "chest hair". It seemes like one of those cute sibling moments you always see in movies! I know Paige mentioned this in extra help as one of her favorite parts and I reread it then. It is when Dill tells Scout let's get us a baby! It was kind of out of nowhere but it was adorable so thanks Paige for showing me that!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite epiphanie was the one Miss Arney had today at lunch extra help! I would have never figured that out, like most of the other symbols:
ReplyDeleteThe snow represents Tom Robinson, while the fire represents Bob Ewell. Snow is made out of water, and what puts out fire? Water. So since Tom is the water and Bob is the fire, Tom is "putting out" Bob by killing him to protect the children.
I meant to say Boo Radley instead of Tom Robinson!
ReplyDeleteteacher note: end tally here
ReplyDeleteWhen re-reading the book, I had found that the very last chapters of TKAM were my favorite. I love when Scout realizes for the first time that it was Boo inside her house. Also I really like when Scout takes Boo to his house and looks at the view from his perspective.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone wondered if Atticus has had a difficult life? He seems so worldly and intelligent, and his beliefs are so firm yet so open-minded simultaneously. That level of wisdom can only be obtained through experience, and having an easy life and having all great experiences does not necessarily get someone to that amount of wisdom. I feel that Atticus has seen his share of hardships, more than just the death of his wife. I think this because sight is a major part of this novel. Atticus' glasses and all that symbolism led me to think about this. Atticus is physically nearly blind, so he wears his glasses. Even while he is wearing his glasses, though, he still uses his right eye (his better eye). I understand that his right eye symbolizes good conduct and Atticus' ability to seemingly always do the right thing. Therefore his left eye, being weaker, would be inability to do the right thing/temptation (the devil is always on the left side). However, consider it from a different angle: Atticus always uses his right eye. Like Danielle said in the symbolism post, he pretty much pins Scout up to the wall and faces her with his right eye. There are also other examples of him using his right eye to discipline his kids. Is it possible that maybe his left eye could represent the side of him that he does not want his children to see? As Miss Maudie says, Atticus is the same in his own house as he is on the streets. But maybe he has not always been. And clearly, there are things he hides from his kids... Being "One Shot Finch", for example. If he hides one thing from his kids, who's to say he isn't hiding other things?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think that the way Atticus always tells his kids to consider things from another's point of view could also support this argument. Atticus is so firm in that belief. And even how Atticus defines courage. I’m having trouble articulating this idea… I hope this makes sense.
Erin, I was actually talking to someone the other day about what it would be like to have the book from a different perspective or a book on Atticus's life while we were studying for the midterm. In order to obtain all that wisdom he must have gained it through many life experiences. It would be interesting to actually find out why he is the way he is. I know in chapter one it mentions how he paid for Uncle Jack's medical school. I think maybe something happened to the Finch's parents and Atticus had to learn to gain responsibility and be the man of the house since he was the older boy. Maybe being the middle child he also learned to mediate problems. He always mediates things between Scout and Jem so he probably had to mediate between Alexandra and Jack. Atticus was also hesitant to talk about the Finch family past so maybe there was something he did not want to reveal. Like Erin said he was hiding being one shot Finch so he could hide other things. What about Atticus's wife dying? Why is it so secretive besides the fact that he was probably sad and did not want to talk about it? I feel like he is too quiet and sometimes quiet people are the most dangerous and he probably is in both a good way, such as defending Tom in the trial, or a bad way, where he probably could be a threat in Maycomb as one shot Finch. If he became psychopathic, which I do not think he would, he could shoot all the people in Maycomb. But I think things like this make Atticus realize why he has to be the better person. Learning about Atticus's life would probably be as interesting as To Kill a Mockingbird in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteDanielle, I agree. And I have some quotes that might prove this point about Atticus having a difficult life.
ReplyDelete-"...before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience" (Lee 105). Maybe he did something that he knew was wrong and possibly he was put on trial and was ruled not guilty, but his conscience still told him he was. I know that is a stretch, and I am not sure if he would still be allowed to be a lawyer in that case, but if that is not the case, maybe something similar is, just not on that large a scale (not something that would go to trial).
-"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. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (Lee 112). Maybe Atticus was "licked" at the beginning of his life and experienced so much hardship that he is wise enough to say this now. And obviously he has "begun anyway" and is "seeing it through no matter what". Also the part about the gun in this quote... Maybe there was a point in Atticus' life where he thought courage was a man holding a gun, and that led him to do something wrong (maybe the same thing as referenced in the majority and conscience quote above) with a gun.
-"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Lee 30). Maybe after Atticus did that wrong thing we keep talking about, he wished someone would walk in his skin and try to understand it.
-I kind of wonder about Atticus' wife. Is it possible that he killed her with a gun? The thing that makes me think about this is how it says somewhere in To Kill a Mockingbird that whenever Scout talked about their mother, who died while she was an infant, Jem gets uncomfortable and refuses to speak about her. I do not think this is normal. It is not really normal for people who have lost someone to refuse to speak about that person. There must be something else factored in there...
-"You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anyone says to you, don't let 'em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change..." (Lee 76). Maybe there was a time when Atticus used his fists rather than his head to fight.
-Also, Atticus' glasses fall off and he steps on them when he shoots Tim Johnson. His glasses represent intelligence, as was said in class. But maybe he hides something under that intelligence (Think about it: his glasses are always on, and he is unemotional. He pratically hides behind a newspaper every night. Maybe he reads to keep his mind off of other things.). Maybe under those glasses he is hiding his emotions, his past. When the glasses fall off, a part of his past is revealed: that he is One Shot Finch and that he is very talented with guns. Maybe his emotions return when those glasses (that intelligence) falls off, because shooting Tim Johnson reminds him of his past.
-For someone who is talented with guns, something horrible had to have happened for Atticus to drop his talent so quickly and become so opposed to guns.
-Atticus says it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Maybe he once did.
-Another point that makes me think Atticus has had a hard life is the way he seems desensitized to death. He shows no emotion when Mr. Radley, Mrs. Dubose, or even Tom Robinson die! Yet he does show emotion when he sees the food from the black community after the trial. We know he is capable of emotion... But maybe he has seen so much death in his life that he is desensitized to it... And maybe he has seen so little kindness in his life that he is very sensitive to that act of kindness.
Erin, I had been wondering about Atticus killing his wife with a gun too. I kind of thought about that before but I felt it might be too extreme because I felt he stopped using a gun before his wife died. If I remember correctly I thought he said he had not shot a gun in twenty or thirty years but I might be making that up. The book also said she died of a heart attack so that could be true but maybe something caused it. That still seems fishy but we will probably never know. Also, I think he has a reason not to be saddened by the death of Mr Radley and Mrs Dubose because he did not really know them very well. Maybe he should feel some sympathy but i also dont think he approved of Mr Radley and possibly how he treated Boo. I think he did show emotions during Tom's death maybe not necessarily sadness but weariness and weakness. Aunt Alexandra said it is taking a toll on his health and he might not show it but it "eats at him". After the news when he was in the house, Atticus also leaned against the fridge and rubbed his eyes. He was tired and worn out and now Tom dying shows how he lost. I think he was saddened because he lost hope now. He had said we had such a good chance and he feels like he failed. No matter what he has done you can not help but feel sorry for him.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Atticus puts up his best defense for Tom, but it just is not enough. Like he says during the trial, it is a matter of black and white. Unfortunately, it is, and not in the way he intends it to be. He loses. And in Atticus' devastating loss, there is an even worse loss for Tom. Tom sees the trial. He knows what goes on. He sees how strongly Atticus defends him. And then he sees the jury return a verdict of guilty.
ReplyDeleteDanielle, you have me convinced.
I do think that Atticus has seen a lot of death, still. The wisdom he shows can only be acquired through hardship. Considering Atticus' amount of wisdom, there must have been an awful lot of hardship.
3rd q tally
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