Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Do you think this book, written in 1960, is still relevant to us and our current culture/time?
Although To Kill a Mockingbird was written 53 years ago, the classic story is still shared today. This novel holds some of the most important ideas in life; including racism (prejudice). Some people may question why the novel is significant to modern culture, for it was written 53 years ago. First of all, part of our culture is what we have learned and continued to share from past generations, To Kill a Mockingbird is part of the American culture. If you look around racism is everywhere. One of the differences between the book and modern culture is that many ideas are shown in different ways. For instance, racism is still explained as being a hatred against ones culture that allows "the hater" to overpower the hated person. In the novel, racism may have been displayed through the majority of white citizens overpowering African American citizens; racism was the base of their culture in the 1930’s. On the other hand when it comes to racism in modern culture, racism is still present, yet our culture isn’t fully revolving around racism. For example we might make comments such as, “That kid must be good at basketball because he is black.” Racism is horrible because the racist person may be killing a mockingbird through their racist actions. Racism is present in both the 1930’s culture and the 2013 culture, but in different ways. Reading To Kill a Mockingbird allows the reader to, in a way, experience how racism affected everyone's lives in the 1930's. Harper Lee's hope is that after the reader experiences racism, they will avoid being racist and stop others from being racist as well.
Did reading To Kill a Mockingbird allow you to think about how racism affects you in your daily life? Could you imagine living in a town like Maycomb in the 1930's? What other themes are shown in the novel that are present in modern culture?
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Yes, I agree with Margaret, that there is still racism in the world we live in today. However it isn't the same as it was back in the 1930's, where the Negro people weren't even treated like people. Now people are treated like people, but some races aren't seen as equal in other people's views. Also I couldn't image living in a time like the 1930's in Maycomb. I couldn't see myself living in a time like that, because we have such a set lifestyle, while in Maycomb it was always out of the ordinary. I also wouldn't want to live in a "Maycomb" because it was during the great depression.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think Boo/ Mr. Arthur Radley never came out again? What do you think Jem's reaction will be when he wakes up and finds out that Boo saved him? Do you think that the ending was a satisfactory ending?
There are two other themes I found in To Kill A Mockingbird. The first one is Empathy, Empathy is what Atticus believes is the most important lesson for his children to learn as they grow up and mature. If someone is doing something stupid then you need to learn to put yourself in their shoes/skin and try to understand what it has got to be like for that person. The second main theme in the book is hope. Hope is a big part of the book because without hope atticus might not have even excepted the trial. Hope kept the Finch family alive and will remain with them forever. Hope is important because it allows people to continue dreaming and looking forward to what will happen in the future.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't imagine myself living in Maycomb in the 1930's because of how much of a diverse, and different lifestyle our community is living. We as a community accept difference in our peers. We have also been taught since a young age to except diversity. As young preschoolers and kinder gardeners we have learned about civil rights in America. Our community is embracing the fact that everyone is different, and that everyone should be aloud to represent themselves in their own weird way. For example, we have all excepted Mr. Rossiter's bad jokes and child abuse (sarcasm) as just another ordinary every day thing. It is almost impossible for me to imagine myself in Maycomb in the 1930's.
ReplyDeleteReading the book To Kill a Mockingbird made me think more about racism and how it is involved with my daily life. Before reading this book I didn't think about race and how being a different race can affect the way people think of you. Reading the book helped me think how racism and stereotypes based on race is used in everyday life. For example, like Maddie said, people might assume black people are really good athletes for whatever reason. Living in a town like Maycomb in the 1930s would feel totally different and bizarre compared to our society today. Maycomb has so many different types of people, from people like the Ewells who are mean and attend only the first day of school to Boo Radley who is mysterious and almost never comes out of his house. It would be a big change in the environment because even though there is still racism today, it is not as extreme as it was in Maycomb. Most people today accept other races and judge them based on their personality, while in Maycomb white people thought black people were trash, just because of their skin color.
ReplyDeleteI think Boo Radley never came out again because Harper Lee wanted to keep Boo as a mysterious character. She wanted Scout to meet Boo eventually because she spent a lot of time writing and characterizing him earlier in the novel. If Harper Lee changed Boo to become like a regular man by coming out of his house everyday that would take all the interesting and mysterious characteristics away from Boo. Also if she changed Boo to a more open person in the end of the book instead of the shy person he is she would have completely contradicted all those chapters she spent characterizing Boo earlier in the book, and he wouldn't be a fun character anymore.
How would living in Maycomb in the 1930s change you as a person? Can you relate yourself to any of the characters that were in the book? Who is your favorite character in the novel and why?
In the novel, my favorite character is Jem. Harper Lee uses Jem as a boy buy also a young man. We see him grow up from his days of messing with the Radley house to protecting his sister and risking his life for her while Bob Ewell is attacking them. Even thought Jem may not show it at school around his friends, he deeply cares about his little sister and Harper Lee makes that clear in the last four chapters of the book.
ReplyDeleteAlthough you have a valid point Maddie, I was still a little interested about whether there we any other interpretations. After reading through the last few pages again I realized something. The underlying theme wasn't necessarily about racism or hate, but rather prejudice and judgment about people. The main target of this of-course being Boo. Through all the mystery and the myth about Boo radley, the reader truly knows nothing about him. It is only until these last pages that we finally see Boo, and now Scout is capable to see the world from his point of view, a subtle hint that she has grown up.
ReplyDelete