To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells the story of Scout Finch and her brother Jem´s life during the 1940’s. The story is narrated by Scout´s point of view as she tells the story about living in Maycomb, Alabama with her father Atticus and her maid Calpurnia. When Scout and Jem's friend Dill comes over in the summers, the three friends try to make the mysterious Boo Radley come out of his house.
After Dill goes back home and leaves Scout with the promise of marrying her when he comes back, Scout and Jem continue to find gifts inside a whole in a tree near the Radley place. Scout and Jem decide to leave a letter thanking whoever it is leaving them the gifts but are very disturbed when they find out that the whole in the tree has been filled with cement. The next winter, Scout wakes up one morning convinced that the world was ending, but finds out it was just starting to snow. Jem and her try to make a snowman, but end up creating a mass that looks a lot like Mr. Avery; their neighbor. That night, Miss Maudie's house catches on fire and causes a lot of commotion in the neighborhood. Jem and Scout are told to stand in the sidewalk so they are out of danger but Scout begins to freeze due to the cold winter air. Scout then finds out that someone put a blanket on her shoulders so that she wouldn't be cold. Back in school, Scout is being insulted by her classmates due to the fact that Atticus is defending a black man in a trial. Atticus tells Scout not to be bothered about mean comments regarding his case defending Tom Robinson, and advises her to stay out of trouble.
For Christmas; Uncle Jack, Aunt Alexandra, Uncle Jimmy, and their grandson Francis all came to spend Christmas with Scout, Jem, and Atticus. At the Christmas dinner, Aunt Alexandra constantly tells Scout to behave like a lady and wear dresses, but Scout never listens to her since she thinks pants are more comfortable. After dinner, Francis insults Atticus for defending a black man in a trial, which causes Scout to punch him in the face. Atticus later tells Uncle Jack that the black man he is defending was accused of raping a member of the Ewell family, who are known for being lazy and uneducated.
That summer, Dill doesn´t come visit Jem and Scout since he is spending time with his dad. Scout and Jem stop tormenting Boo Radley but instead have to pass by Mrs. Dubose´s house to get to town. The old lady is constantly insulting Atticus for defending a black man, which causes Jem to get mad and cut off all of her flowers. Jem later apologizes but is ordered to read to Mrs. Dubose for a month. When he finishes reading to the old lady, Atticus tells Jem that Mrs. Dubose passed away but that she conquered her addiction of morphine with the help of Jem's reading.
“Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts.” (Lee, 60-61)
When Jem tells Scout about how he is studying the Egyptians in school, Atticus is quick to bless Scout with some wise words. I genuinely think that Atticus is someone we should all have as a role model. I also think that Harper Lee was very aware that creating a character whose morality simply not match his time would create some faked expectative for people in reality. Atticus's words go beyond my knowledge of honesty and truthfulness, but also make me see the world in a completely different way. With his words, I realized that people's lies are not always far from the truth; but are instead so similar to the truth that it can't be differenced easily. I think that his words could also apply to every day gossip in school. Perhaps what I am hearing from my friends is, at some extent, true; but has been exaggerated with adjectives. I have also concluded that adjectives are tricky words. They can be used to create imagery of a perfectly described scenario, but they can also create perfectly detailed lies.
“I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee, 93-94)
For Christmas, Jem and Scout got air rifles from their Uncle Jack. I was surprised when I realized that shooting birds or tin cans with real guns is something that people actually do. I was also wondering about the symbolical significance of a mockingbird, but then the book answered my question. Unlike blue jays, mockingbirds only sing their hearts out for us and don't eat other people's gardens. Perhaps they symbolize innocence. I genuinely think that the author wanted people to reflect on their lives and think about their possibility of killing a mockingbird in any way possible. Since Atticus was the one who said this, I wonder if he has ever killed a mockingbird. Why does he want his children to behave well in order to maintain mockingbirds alive? Does it has to do with their innocence? Does he want to preserve it and treasure it?
"Look at all the children we can change"
This book has been so much better than I expected it to be. This is the only book that I have read that actually gives me a look inside American life during the 1940's, something that I found rare based on other books I've read. Something that I really want to happen next is the appearance of Boo Radley, he did not appear once during the six chapters I read for this week. I still hope that he will have a positive impact in the story and I hope that he will help Jem, Dill, and Scout mature as individuals. I also missed Dill during this part of the story, even if he is just a fictional character that doesn't actually exist. I also found out that Dill was probably inspired by Harper Lee's childhood friend Truman Capote (whose book I read for my last blog posts). Anyway, I am really looking forward to the rest of this book since the title is just beginning to make sense to me.
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