First Impressions
When I started reading To Kill A Mockingbird, I grew to admire the writing style of Harper Lee and how she used Scout and her point of view to express the main themes of the novel. When Atticus said, “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.”, I marveled at how well that was written by Lee, how it makes sense to the point where you can’t even explain it. I interpreted his statement as relating to the ignorance we have of other people’s lives and how we are so quick to judge when the reality is that we just . . . don’t know.
Jem
Putting myself inside of Jem’s head has been intriguing. Throughout this first half of the novel, I have noted how he holds a remarkable amount of respect for Atticus. In chapter 6, Jem says, “I — it’s like this, Scout. Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanna keep it that way.”, to Scout after she advises him not to go back and retrieve his pants from the Radley’s. The frightened tone Jem possesses in that moment shows how he doesn’t want to disappoint Atticus and lose his trust. Jem also shows maturation through his actions and words in the first twelve chapters. At the beginning of part two, the first two lines state, “Jem was twelve. He was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody.” This indicates that Jem is entering puberty, and Scout doesn’t like it. Before, Jem would love doing things with Scout, but now, he doesn’t want anything to do with Scout.
Quotation Analysis
“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 anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” –Atticus, page 49
Jem had just learned that Mrs. Dubose died, and Atticus uses the moment to teach Jem a lesson about courage. He is saying that courage is fighting until the end, mentally and physically, even if you believe you lost. Mrs. Dubose had a morphine addiction, and she vowed that she would beat it before she died, and she did, and she died free. She knew it was almost the end, yet she kept fighting because she had true courage and a mind of steel. Jem didn’t know until that moment that she was a morphine addict and didn’t understand her “fits”. This relates back to Atticus’s quote at the beginning, because Jem saw her as a old, grouchy woman when she was fighting addiction in a life kept from him.
http://facingtoday.facinghistory.org/why-to-kill-a-mockingbird-still-resonates-today
Literature Circles
During the lit circles and socratic seminar, there was a lot of talk about perspective which is a very crucial part of the novel. It’s significant that the novel is told from Scout’s point of view because she is so young yet so intelligent and curious. She is constantly learning throughout the novel, and we get to experience it firsthand. This discussion about perspective really intrigued me because I began to think of how the novel would be totally different if told from Jem’s point of view, and I would like to hear what people think about that insight.
Predictions and Questions
I believe that Jem and Scout will be opened up to many new emotions and ideas during Tom Robinson’s trial. I feel that they will learn so much and become better people because of the eye opening experience they will have at such young ages. One question I have is if secret lives are the ones we lives in our minds. I think this is a key question to go along with the secret lives perspective because if you think about, there are so many thoughts that run through our head that we don’t tell anyone. When we are reading from Scout’s point of view, we get to see her thoughts that no one else gets to see. Another question I have is surrounding the impact of your upbringing on your moral values. How is the significance of having a role model shown in the novel?
Journey of the Mind 