Love And Hate Both Hang On The Same Thread

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells the story of Scout Finch´s childhood and is narrated through the eyes of none other than Scout. She lives in Maycomb with her father Atticus, her brother Jem and also Calpurnia, her maid. On the summers, both Jem and Scout hang out with their friend Dill and plan adventures throughout their time together.

Scout has turned eight years old and Jem is twelve, and they are facing obstacles that are beyond their years. Their father, Atticus, is defending a black man in a trial and has to go out of town; which causes Jem and Scout to go with Calpurnia (the Finches´ black maid) to her local church. When they come back, Jem and Scout find out that their Aunt Alexandra will be living in Maycomb for a while since she believes that both Jem and Scout need a feminine influence in their lives considering that their mother passed away. Scout later overhears Atticus and Aunt Alexandra fighting about the presence of Calpurnia, but Atticus convinces his sister to let Calpurnia stay. That night, Scout and Jem find Dill hiding under Scout's bed and find out that he escaped his home, took the train and came to Maycomb to stay with his aunt. Now reunited, the three friends go visit Atticus in his office and randomly save his (black) client from being hurt by several men in town. Scout was quick to stand up for her dad and persuaded the men into being sympathetic towards Tom and Atticus. Aticus´s trial later takes place in town and everyone in Maycomb attends since it isn't common for a black man to be defended. Turns out that Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, member of the Ewell family, who are known for being lazy and uneducated. Atticus tries to defend Tom by trying to prove that it wasn't his client who abused Mayella, but that it was her father who caused the bruises in her body.

“I know now what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work.” (Lee, 179)

When Aunt Alexandra arrived to Maycomb to stay with the Finches, it wasn´t only because she wanted to be a feminine influence to Jem and Scout. I think that Aunt Alexandra wanted to become the mother that Scout and Dill never had and the mother that she could never be to her real son. She tells Atticus to tell his children that they should start behaving better and they start honoring the family. Sadly, Jem and Scout get upset with Atticus but he  tries to make them laugh by making jokes about a cousin, Scout realizes that it is not in Atticus's nature to nurture and care for his children like a mother does. I can remember countless times when my mom has left my sisters and I with our dad. I guess it wasn't entirely his fault but, my dad could not take care of my sisters and I the same way my mom did. Perhaps women possess the ability to care for children in a way that men can't.

“´Dill?´

Mm?´

´Why do you reckon Boo Radleys never run off?´

Dill sighed a long sigh and turned away from me.

´Maybe he doesn't have anywhere to run off to.´ ” (Lee, 192)

This is part of a conversation Dill and Scout have the day Dill runs away from his home and goes to Maycomb. I realized that, even though Scout, Jem, and Dill haven't bothered Boo Radley in a while; they still care for him. I felt so grateful when I read this quote because I realized that, if I went crazy and run away from my house, I would still have somewhere to go. Perhaps it was only the fact that Boo Radley is lonely and, sadly, fictitious; but I was nevertheless thankful for my family's existence at the moment. If I was to run away from home, I would probably escape to my grandparents´ house. They would probably run away to my house, too.

"Give me reasons to believe that you would do the same for me
And I would do it for you, for you"

I have realized that I am already more than half way through the book and that Boo Radley is still as invisible as he can possibly be. I hope that he can come out of his house sometime in the near future of the book. Something else that I find curious, and that I didn't take so seriously until the Atticus's trial took place, is the enormous amount of discrimination towards black people in the book. But, considering that this book was published in 1960, I should have had in mind that discrimination and abuse was a part of people's everyday lives. I am also anxious about how the trial is going to turn out, I want Atticus to win (but I honestly don't think he will. Not because he is a bad lawyer, but because he is defending a black man). I seriously do not like Mayella Ewell and her family and I think that it would be a disgrace towards morality if they won the case against Atticus.