Final Impressions
Finishing the rest To Kill a Mockingbird came with many surprises, with one being the attack on Scout and Jem. This all began with the curiosity of Jem and Scout that stems from being young and innocent, and Atticus representing Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, you see the development of the children firsthand as they are opened up to new emotions and significant changes and experiences. The children, along with Dill, find fascination in the Radley House that leads them on some thrilling adventures. Their curiosity continues when Jem and Scout’s father, Atticus, agrees to represent a black man accused of rape. They face the ignorant society where they live, eventually becoming the recipients of Bob Ewell’s frustration of being embarrassed by Atticus in court. Overall, this novel was well written with the establishment of an ideal father figure and two children learning the ways of the prejudiced world. The saying, “The Secret Lives We Live”, continued to show importance, with emphasis on the Radley House and the mysterious Boo Radley. Perspective is also highlighted with Atticus’s stress on teaching his children to be empathetic by putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. These ideas are connected through showing that we hide things from others to to avoid judgment. Some people don’t have the capacity to really understand others because they’ve only known what they possess. The themes displayed in this novel are still relevant today as we continue in an age of intolerance.
Jem
As a dynamic character, Jem was interesting to follow throughout the novel. He matured as time progressed and is sort of like the epitome of a preteen boy. Jem is curious and daring, and expresses empathy at many points in the novel. One thing I noted that he said was, “If there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley stayed shut up in the house all this time . . . it’s because he wants to stay inside.” When Jem says this in chapter 23, he is questioning why there is prejudice and bias in society and believes that Boo Radley stays inside in order to avoid the hatred in the world. To me, this shows Jem’s ability to try to understand such a large issue at such a young age. He was opened up to so many experiences that came with an important lesson, which contributed to his character development throughout the novel.
Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough. -Scout
At the end of the novel, Scout finally sees things through Boo’s perspective, just like Atticus taught her. She realizes that Boo Radley has only cared for and protected her as long as she had known him. Scout developed the ability to be empathetic and knows to not judge a book by its cover, or in this case, judging based on what she has heard about a person. People have only heard about Boo Radley, and nobody really knew him, leading people to judge based on the stories they heard. Atticus’s lesson helps Scout understand this concept because she discovered who Boo Radley really was: a kind-hearted man whose reputation had been destroyed.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs. They don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” -Miss Maudie
Here, Miss Maudie is responding to Scout when she asks why Atticus says it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. She describes people who are stripped of their innocence when they are truly not bad people. She could be referring to Boo Radley, who goes out of his way to protect Scout in many instances, but has been harshly judged for his supposed past. The mockingbird could also be referring to Tom Robinson, who, in an act of kindness, was falsely accused of rape, but, because of the racial odds against him, was found guilty. All in all, the mockingbird mentioned describes the good people who were found on the wrong side of judgment.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stan-lee-racism-bigotry-1968-column_n_5bea8299e4b0caeec2bd1bc5
Discussions: Part A
In the final Socratic Seminar, “the fear of the unknown” was what caught my ears. I thought that it was a very meticulous way to describe judgment of all kinds. I talked about this above, how people judge based on what they’ve heard from others about a person. This relates back to Boo Radley because from all of the stories that circulated about him, people thought he seemed like a dangerous and evil man, when in reality, he did many good deeds in the novel, like putting the blanket over Scout and protected Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell. Boo is the prime example of why you should never judge a book by its cover or what you’ve heard because people only knew of him, and he turned out to be what some could argue the “mockingbird” of the novel.
Discussions: Part B
Our final discussion was based on the relation of three different articles to the novel. In my opinion, I thought On a Certain Blindness was the best argument for connections to To Kill a Mockingbird. In the essay, James states, “The subject judged knows a part of the world of reality which the judging spectator fails to see, knows more while the spectator knows less; and, wherever there is conflict of opinion and difference of vision, we are bound to believe that the truer side is the side that feels the more, and not the side that feels the less.” It’s really all about perspective. Like someone stated in our discussion, the only way we can understand another person is if we accept the fact that we can never truly understand their reality. I also noted an important line from Self Segregation: “The way they saw the world and me in their world created a certain kind of fear and reaction to my actions that caused me harm. . .But these are not stories most whites are socially positioned to hear.” This shows the aspect of ignorance, that whites don’t pay attention to these stories because they aren’t affected by it as much as they fear it. As for To Kill a Mockingbird‘s place in education, I think it is important for kids to read this novel, but most of all, to understand it and the racism and judgment aspects that still exist today.
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/kyle-korver-utah-jazz-nba
Journey of the Mind 