To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Response
Reading To Kill a Mockingbird was in many ways like a breath of fresh air. The amount of content that it covers is your remarkable; including the themes that it includes as well as the historical accuracy of this is piece as historical fiction.
It isn’t easy to explain what the book is about. Not so simply put, To Kill a Mockingbird is many things. First of all it is simply a record of how life was and probably still is to some extent in the American deep south (and everywhere else that prejudice exists, including within ourselves). Second of all it elegantly documents the effects of racism both to the persecuted and the persecutor. And thirdly it all is also a remarkable loss of innocence story of how Jean Louise Finch and Jeremy Atticus Finch grow up, (a good example of this is how at the beginning of the book Boo Radley is seen by the children as sort of a mythological figure and towards the end towards the end he takes on the the character of a Mockingbird in the eyes of Jem and Jean in how he saves them from Bob Ewell).
To Kill a Mockingbird can also be seen as a commentary on how rule abiding and rigid educational system that we so often see and experience today so often miss the point. This is evident when Jean begins her education and her teacher is angry at her because Atticus has already taught her how to read.
Thematically the book represents much more. In an absorbing manner it tells us or unconscious prejudices can affect life in very real ways. To Kill a Mockingbird also talks about the coexistence of good and evil. Going alongside the loss of innocence theme, Atticus talks about the two extremes that can be gained in responding to the evil in the world. The one extreme is that when the children lose their innocence they can become jaded with the evil that is in the world (like Mr. Dolphus Raymond) and the other extreme is that the children can be ignorant of the evil in the world. Atticus achieves a healthy balance between these two extremes by being hopeful in the midst of living in a corrupt world.
So to say the least, Harper Lee’s book is very enjoyable in a large part because of its multifaceted nature.
Out of the many things that I enjoyed in the book, one thing that stood out is the admirability of Atticus’s character and values. He is a remarkable person in many ways although it is evident that he is fairly idealistic with his enthusiastic belief in humanity. This shows its good side when he can believe in the hidden goodness of each individual person so much that when Mr. Walter Cunningham comes to lynch Tom, he can still have faith in him that he can come back from the darkness. This idealism shows its darker side when Atticus dismisses Bob Ewell’s death threats as unimportant.
Atticus has many admirable qualities that can encourage us in life. First of all, the countercultural values that Atticus holds are worth listening to. Specifically this manifests itself when Atticus agrees to support Tom Robinson in his trial even with no hope of winning.
He also has a love of humanity regardless of the values of the individual people (even if they dramatically contradict his own). An example in the book is when he tells his children to be consistent in their visits to the ailing Mr. Dubose (who despises Atticus’s values). He is very non dogmatic in accepting her regardless of her prejudices, and is able to look at her situation very objectively. Atticus uses her as an example to his children of how important bravery is in her battling her lifelong morphine addiction. Atticus’ unconditional love and acceptance of the individual people he meets in his life is even more remarkable when you consider how we often have knee-jerk reactions to people when they don’t agree with us.
This love of humanity that Atticus possesses leads to a few more admirable qualities. First off his parenting style would probably be worth modeling. It is a very hands-off style in which he gently but in a way firmly guides his children to maturation. He also openly holds ambiguity in life to be an important thing to realize, constantly telling his children and other people he meets that issues are usually more complex than they seem. He also hasn’t them fortunes believe in the inherent flaws of human systems such as how the court did not acquit the innocent Tom Robinson in the trial. He is set with these flaws and has accepted it. As Jean Vanier would say he is “ in love with reality”, or as the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca would say “he is adjusted his expectations of the legal system so that he can expect them to favor whites regardless of their status as non-guilty or guilty and us doesn’t have to get angry when the court acts on ingrained prejudices”. Because of this he can be content and can be such a firm rock in the lives of the people he meets and the moral backbone of the Maycomb. He is content but still saddened by the lack of justice in the outcome of the case of Tom Robinson but he is still hopeful the future when he talks about how the jury took longer to convict Tom Robinson this time which means they’re getting better as opposed to when in the past they’ve taken only minutes to decide the outcome of a black person on trial.
Overall, To Kill a Mockingbird was a great book. There are so many themes that are worth meditating on. It is also a piece of engrossing historical fiction . The suspense I felt while reading the court scene is a testament to Harper Lee’s writing ability because it is fairly clear from the beginning that Bob Ewell is going to in the trial solely on the basis of the color of his skin. It is a great commentary on so many things and is as valuable now as it is when it was written, as history tends to repeat itself. Today maybe the values Harper Lee talks about in the book could be applied to things such as current inequalities in our justice system or maybe our refusal to try out new ideas in our everyday life just because they are not very popular. The possibilities are endless and it is great to read a book that is so open ended in its meaning. I would recommend it to most people, and look forward to reading it again some day.
Thematically the book represents much more. In an absorbing manner it tells us or unconscious prejudices can affect life in very real ways. To Kill a Mockingbird also talks about the coexistence of good and evil. Going alongside the loss of innocence theme, Atticus talks about the two extremes that can be gained in responding to the evil in the world. The one extreme is that when the children lose their innocence they can become jaded with the evil that is in the world (like Mr. Dolphus Raymond) and the other extreme is that the children can be ignorant of the evil in the world. Atticus achieves a healthy balance between these two extremes by being hopeful in the midst of living in a corrupt world.
So to say the least, Harper Lee’s book is very enjoyable in a large part because of its multifaceted nature.
Out of the many things that I enjoyed in the book, one thing that stood out is the admirability of Atticus’s character and values. He is a remarkable person in many ways although it is evident that he is fairly idealistic with his enthusiastic belief in humanity. This shows its good side when he can believe in the hidden goodness of each individual person so much that when Mr. Walter Cunningham comes to lynch Tom, he can still have faith in him that he can come back from the darkness. This idealism shows its darker side when Atticus dismisses Bob Ewell’s death threats as unimportant.
Atticus has many admirable qualities that can encourage us in life. First of all, the countercultural values that Atticus holds are worth listening to. Specifically this manifests itself when Atticus agrees to support Tom Robinson in his trial even with no hope of winning.
He also has a love of humanity regardless of the values of the individual people (even if they dramatically contradict his own). An example in the book is when he tells his children to be consistent in their visits to the ailing Mr. Dubose (who despises Atticus’s values). He is very non dogmatic in accepting her regardless of her prejudices, and is able to look at her situation very objectively. Atticus uses her as an example to his children of how important bravery is in her battling her lifelong morphine addiction. Atticus’ unconditional love and acceptance of the individual people he meets in his life is even more remarkable when you consider how we often have knee-jerk reactions to people when they don’t agree with us.
This love of humanity that Atticus possesses leads to a few more admirable qualities. First off his parenting style would probably be worth modeling. It is a very hands-off style in which he gently but in a way firmly guides his children to maturation. He also openly holds ambiguity in life to be an important thing to realize, constantly telling his children and other people he meets that issues are usually more complex than they seem. He also hasn’t them fortunes believe in the inherent flaws of human systems such as how the court did not acquit the innocent Tom Robinson in the trial. He is set with these flaws and has accepted it. As Jean Vanier would say he is “ in love with reality”, or as the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca would say “he is adjusted his expectations of the legal system so that he can expect them to favor whites regardless of their status as non-guilty or guilty and us doesn’t have to get angry when the court acts on ingrained prejudices”. Because of this he can be content and can be such a firm rock in the lives of the people he meets and the moral backbone of the Maycomb. He is content but still saddened by the lack of justice in the outcome of the case of Tom Robinson but he is still hopeful the future when he talks about how the jury took longer to convict Tom Robinson this time which means they’re getting better as opposed to when in the past they’ve taken only minutes to decide the outcome of a black person on trial.
Overall, To Kill a Mockingbird was a great book. There are so many themes that are worth meditating on. It is also a piece of engrossing historical fiction . The suspense I felt while reading the court scene is a testament to Harper Lee’s writing ability because it is fairly clear from the beginning that Bob Ewell is going to in the trial solely on the basis of the color of his skin. It is a great commentary on so many things and is as valuable now as it is when it was written, as history tends to repeat itself. Today maybe the values Harper Lee talks about in the book could be applied to things such as current inequalities in our justice system or maybe our refusal to try out new ideas in our everyday life just because they are not very popular. The possibilities are endless and it is great to read a book that is so open ended in its meaning. I would recommend it to most people, and look forward to reading it again some day.
posted by featheredtar at Sunday, April 06, 2008
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