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To Kill a Mockingbird
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To Kill a Mockingbird [starting Feb 15th]
Wow...my last post was almost an essay...hehehe...I just kept typing...By the way, sorry this was late, didn't get a notification that you had posted new stuff on the thread...or maybe I missed seeing it amid all the updates.
Happy reading this week!
I'll be baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack......bwaaaaaahaaaaaaahaaaaa :-p
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I just finished the book, and I have FEELINGSSSSSSSSSSS. It was GREAT. A few moments in the last chapters had me almost bawling.Will be back to keep our detailed commentary going on.
Nadia wrote: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I just finished the book, and I have FEELINGSSSSSSSSSSS. It was GREAT. A few moments in the last chapters had me almost bawling.Will be back to keep our detailed commentary going on."
@Nadia, that's wonderful! Yea, it leaves you pretty speechless towards the end....
Good to know. I was holding off on the chapter updates cuz I thought maybe you'd like to take the lead for the latter half of the book, cuz I felt I was rambling on a bit too much. Perhaps you should go first on the next bunch of chapters?
And Nadia, we don't have to carry on in three chapter slices...we're not on some sort of timetable...now that you are done too, we can even batch-post our thoughts on the entire book and feel free to skip around...it'll be great to know your thoughts on the second half...
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "What about your favorite scenes/quotes/etc"There are many, from the first half, hmmmm, let's see...awwwww goshme, Nadia, I picked up the book to flip thru it and see which scenes st..."
"also (this is not a scene but a theme thru the book) Scout's complete failure to 'be a lady' as her Auntie Alex wants."
I love when Aunt Alexandra asks Scout if she wants to grow up to be a lady, like she must say yes, and Scout says "not particularly".
I love the end of Chapter 23 too. "There's just one kind of folks. Folks". And Jem realizing why Boo stays home.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the chapter of the tea drinking with the ladies. I loved seeing Miss Maudie helping out Aunt Alexandra. At the end of the chapter I was reminded of much strength and bravery requires to be a "lady".
When the scene with Dolphus Raymond came up I understood why you mentioned him as one of your favorite characters before.
WHEN SCOUT MEETS BOO. Hands down of my favorite scenes evereverever. I got teary eyed, it was perfect.
Zaara wrote: "And here's another three chapter update...for chapters 18, 19 and 20....Chapter 18
The drudgery of Mayella's life...it's so important that we see this because it helps us understand why she behav..."
Chapter 18
I like the way Atticus handled the trial. It's like you said, we see why she does things. She does a terrible thing, but she also has a terrible life. She's abused in more ways than one, and obviously that doesn't justify what she does at all but it makes you understand why someone would do such a horrible thing.
But it's like Atticus says later on, "I cannot pity her, she's white." Even in her poverty, she's privileged.
Chapter 19
"How many, Nadia, how many such cases throughout history?" My hair stands on end at this question. Too many Zaara, too many. I thought so much of Ferguson later in the book, when Tom is killed, and Atticus says something along the lines of why did they have to shoot him so many times? (not that he had to be shot in the first place, but it makes you see the hate, the racism in those shots)
I do think Ewell raped Mayella. And he abused her in more ways that one... she wasn't a kid in that house never had time to be, she had to do things he must have done as the father, she took care of many things in the house and the kids, plus the little money Ewell had he spent it drinking, that's abusive, all of it (that's without counting the psychological and maybe physical abuse? I wouldn't put it past him).
Chapter 20
I have never heard of that quote before, but it certainly fits him. I think you can have a good inkling of who deserves it or not when you focus on they way people talk to you, or what their intentions might be. We can't read minds, but people can pretty obvious at times with their body language, and even just with the tone of their voice.
I highlighted quite a few quotes from this chapter, I think they resume what went on pretty well:
"Because you are children and you can understand it."
"I cannot pity her, she's white"
"Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they are people too."
"You haven't even seen this town, but all you gotta do is step back inside the courthouse."
"This case is as simple as black and white."
"This is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men."
(I also highlighted most of Atticus speech but I won't put all of that here haha.)
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I just finished the book, and I have FEELINGSSSSSSSSSSS. It was GREAT. A few moments in the last chapters had me almost bawling.Will be back to keep our detai..."
It certainly does!
I don't think you are rambling at all. I take your posts as guidance on what to talk about, which is to say I think you do a great job on it, especially on your analysis :)
I like the idea of posting just our thoughts. I don't know where to start tho ha.
We talked about chapters 23 (at least the end) and chapter 24 already. So I'm just going to go ahead and say what resonated the most with me for the rest of the book:- From Chapter 25: I liked that Mr. Underwood wrote about the trial (supporting Tom and Atticus) in his newspaper. But ugh it's kind of annoying how the entire town (or most it) is on the same side but it doesn't matter at the end of the day. Tom was convicted and then killed for trying to escape. And no one did a thing.
- From Chapter 26: I LOVE that Scout points out the hypocrisy of her teacher being against Hitler killing jews, but being in total favor of the horrible fate of black people in Maycomb. I love that she notices this. I wish she had talked to Atticus about it instead of Jem. I really like the last sentence of this chapter, how Atticus says Jem is storing things away for later (to think them through because now he is hurting about them).
- From Chapter 27: Link Deas gives Helen Robinson a job, and defends her from Ewell. I love that, and that he stood up in the jury and defended Tom. Another decent person in Maycomb.
I made this note from when Atticus and Jem are talking about Ewell --> From what we read in this chapter (and some of the previous ones), do you think if the entire jury had been from Maycomb they trial would have ended differently? That's almost what the author is letting us know?
The ideation for the pageant/play starts taking place in this chapter. Did you laugh as hard as I did with the costumes? I mean c'mon Scout is a ham hahahaa.
At the end of this chapter, Scout and Jem's longest journey begins.
- From Chapters 28-29: Like I mentioned before, a while ago, that I enjoy the balance Lee has between the humorous and sad parts. The whole pageant thing was funny, especially when Scout fell asleep. I also like how she builds ups the scenes, how each action no matter how small connects everything together."How he could tell I was feeling bad under my costume I don't know [...]. Jem was becoming almost as good as Atticus at making you feel right when things went wrong." Is the little scenes like this where we truly see how much Scout and Jem care for each other (and the big scenes like the one ahead when they are both trying to protect the other).
So we finally see how truly awful Bob Ewell is. I like that Mr. Tate corrects Atticus in saying that Ewell was out of his mind, he tells him Ewell was mean not crazy; people are usually quick to dismiss people who do horrible things as "crazy" thus creating a stigma of danger around mentally ill people. I think a contrast to this is Boo Radley, who may be mentally ill but hurts no one, instead saves "his" children.
And I thought it was really interesting something I found, I think it was on Spark Notes I can't find it again, that said that Scout's innocence saved her in a way (her costume representing the innocence).
The part where Scout finally realizes Boo is the one who saved her and that he is RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF HER pretty much killed me.
Boo saved them. Boo, who never left his house, who never talked and only interacted with his family, the town's pariah, he saved the children, he saved his friends. I have all of the feelings from this.
Why do you think Boo never went out? At first it is explained as a hypothesis that it was because of his father, because of their religion and being abused in such a way that he never wanted to come back out again. And while that could have been the reason, it also seems that Boo may not like going out simply because he doesn't, because he doesn't want to be around other and is completely overwhelmed by them? But it's just I still want some sort of explanation, because is not only that he doesn't come out of his house, it seems that spends a lot of time in the dark and he never talks...
- From Chapter 30:"Let the dead bury the dead." I think there are 4 main things in this chapter:
1) Scout's fascination with Boo's presence. The way she was so careful and polite with him, trying to make him feel as comfortable as she could. Do you see how she used to be afraid of him but now that she finally met him she's not afraid at all?
2) Atticus' freaking out over not wanting to be a hypocrite and not screwing his children up. I got teary eyed again when he started saying they only had him, and he only had the. There's no shortage of love in their family. We see how distraught Atticus is by the night's events (and with reason) that he doesn't even understand what Tate is saying at first.
(Can we also talk about Aunt Alexandra's distraction and how she gave Scout her overalls? I think that may have been a "Freudian slip" for her because she knew her niece and knew she needed comfort and not "rules" or "manners".
3) Mr. Tate being a complete hero, bless his soul, and wanting to protect Boo from the public scrutiny. My initial thought was that he was doing it because people might not believe what had happened and might want to harm Boo, and I think I believed that because of my confusion over why Boo doesn't get out of the house. I thought he was being held against his will.
4) Scout understanding the need to keep quiet and lie, and her use of what Atticus taught her about protecting innocents like mockingbirds. Ugh, feelingssss.
- From Chapter 31 :
It made me sad that Scout never saw Boo again. I had this fantasy in my head of her visiting him frequently and playing with him, and being his friend in her adulthood too. Oh well.
I think the kids actually gave Boo something. They give him friendship in a way, they helped him be less lonely. If Boo hadn't feel a sort of connection with them, he wouldn't have saved them, I think (or maybe he would have because it was the right thing to do who knows.)
Another beautiful and sentimental scene. We see Scout "walking around in Boo's shoes/skin" and see things from his point of view.
I think this was a lovely way to end the book.
"Atticus he was real nice."
"Most people are Scout, when you finally see them."
And she did see him, like few people did.
(I wonder what/if they told Jem, and Dill and maybe Miss Maudie and Calpurnia.)
I think we need to watch the movie now :)
Good morning, gal.....wow, quite a stellar update! You know, I have the book by my side as I go thru your posts and im riffling thru it....(finally have a quiet hour)
Nadia wrote: "We see Aunt Alexandra call Atticus 'brother' for the first time. She hurts for him. What do you think Alexandra thought about everything that happened with Tom? Was she on his side, or was she only trying to be supportive of Atticus?"Re Aunt Alex
(view spoiler)
More on Chapter 22Note on a small bit I'd hi-lited: End of chapter: Jem and Dill's discussion on clowns. " You got it backwards, Dill" Jem said. "Clowns are sad, it's folks that laugh at them."
"Well, I'm going to be a new kind of clown..."
I found the satire here very sharp, like very aged cheddar (the kind that starts off slow and then burn a hole in your tongue if you eat enough)..my scribble in the margin says: Masks, satire, the world is a circus and it is barbaric but the clowns wear (the happy face) i.e. MASK of civilization and righteousness."
Note on Chapter 23LOL at the scene where Jem shows Scout his "hair" and she thinks "he had been a comfort to me, so I said it looked lovely, but I didnt see anything...
Heeeee :-)
Note on Chapter 25
Nadia wrote: "I liked that Mr. Underwood wrote about the trial (supporting Tom and Atticus) in his newspaper. But ugh it's kind of annoying how the entire town (or most it) is on the same side but it doesn't matter at the end of the day."
Regarding this:
(view spoiler)
Nadia wrote: "From Chapter 26: I LOVE that Scout points out the hypocrisy of her teacher being against Hitler killing jews, but being in total favor of the horrible fate of black people in Maycomb."I scribbled the exact same word in the margin of my book. Hypocrisy.Just one word :-)
You know what I marvel about, throughout this book? Harper Lee never says: hypocrisy, irony, injustice, bigotry, apartheid, racism, unfair. Never. Not once. But the ideas stand out and SHINE. I wonder how I would manage if I had to say, write a love story, without using the word LOVE (or any other synonym of it) anywhere.
Hah.....aaaaaaaand i've just found my next writing exercise. Thank you, TKAM!
Do you write, Nadia? Sorry if the question is too personal...feel free to ignore.
Chapter 27Yeah, you make good points and make them well. I agree and have nothing much to add, except
((view spoiler)
Just had a COMPLETE D'Oh! moment and realised I'm still marking spoilers and you've already finished the book...Ouch!
Nadia wrote: " I also like how she builds ups the scenes, how each action no matter how small connects everything together."I really liked this thought. Yeah, Lee really did make each word count. Several times over so that for such a short book, it has so MUCH packed into it. A BIG little book.
Side note: love how you've grouped these chapters.Chapters 28-29
Attack. Murder. Reconstruction.
Nadia wrote: "I like that Mr. Tate corrects Atticus in saying that Ewell was out of his mind, he tells him Ewell was mean not crazy; people are usually quick to dismiss people who do horrible things as "crazy" thus creating a stigma of danger around mentally ill people. I think a contrast to this is Boo Radley, who may be mentally ill but hurts no one, instead saves "his" children."
I missed this point, Nadia. Thank you! Went back and read over the chapter, until I found it...hmm, so true.
Nadia wrote: "Like I mentioned before, a while ago, that I enjoy the balance Lee has between the humorous and sad parts. "
Yeah..I mean, look at this bit moments before the attack.
I felt a slight pressure on my head and assumed that Jm had grabbed that end of the ham.
"You got me?"
"uh huh."
I mean, the reader is still smiling over this when the attack begins, out of nowhere. It serves to bring the immediacy of the moment into focus. When accidents/things like this happen (Not that I've ever been in a murder haha, I'm just assuming), they're almost always over before you even realise what's happening....
Nadia wrote: "Is the little scenes like this where we truly see how much Scout and Jem care for each other (and the big scenes like the one ahead when they are both trying to protect the other)."Hmmmmm, you bet...sometimes she does it in just three words:
AFTER TEN FOREVERS, Dr Reynolds returned. "Is Jem dead?" I asked.
I wanted a separate post for Boo Radley.Nadia wrote: "Boo saved them. Boo, who never left his house, who never talked and only interacted with his family, the town's pariah, he saved the children, he saved his friends. I have all of the feelings from this."
You bet! It's silly of me, but I had this huge smile on my face and I was also (happy) crying throughout this bit...
1. Boo the guardian angel (and I love how this ties in with your mention of innocence - over here too Justice (in the form of Boo) is innocent. I like how Lee makes particular mention of his white hands (not white skin, or white face primarily...white HANDS) at the moment of recognition. And this Justice is protecting the innocent (Scout and Jem and also in a second-hand way Atticus), isnt it?
2. Also, everyone ignores him at first, taking him to be just another countryman. It is Scout (innocence, again, as you say) that recognises him for us,t he readers...
Children cut through the layers of preconception and mental heuristics that adults have to see the essence/truth. Plus, he hates drawing attention to himself. He has just saved the lives of two children and yet, he is content to fade into the background without talking about it or even being acknowleged, if SCout hadn't recognised him....
3.Nadia wrote: "Scout's fascination with Boo's presence. The way she was so careful and polite with him, trying to make him feel as comfortable as she could."
Well, yeah. It was a long-held fantasy for her, wasn't it? Meeting Boo. Making Boo "come out" and how she fantasizes about saying "hello" when she finally does get to meet him. This is one of her dreams finally coming true! Plus, she gets to brag about it to Jem and Dill...heeeee :-)I love how she is so sweet to him and instinctively understands him...and does all those little things to make him feel comfortable, wanted, special (but not DIFFERENT), and INCLUDED.
4.Nadia wrote: "...her use of what Atticus taught her about protecting innocents like mockingbirds. Ugh, feelingssss."
Yeah, the two mockingbirds of the story. Tom and Boo.
5. Nadia wrote: "It made me sad that Scout never saw Boo again. I had this fantasy in my head of her visiting him frequently and playing with him, and being his friend in her adulthood too. Oh well."
Yeah....well, this way was more dramatic and also more typical of the Boo we know all these years. He never comes out.
Nadia, I remember you asked why:
Nadia wrote: Why do you think Boo never went out? It also seems that Boo may not like going out simply because he doesn't..."
Well, some people are IN the world but not OF it...the world will not understand them and they choose to reject it because, they just arent made for it. They are aerial spirits, delicat eand unmade for the harshness of reality. Boo is such a one, I feel. Which is why he connects only with children (who arent hardened by the world yet) and with gentle spirits like Atticus. I also felt at times that maybe he was kept against his will/because he was violent (the incident of stabbing someone in the leg/his brother cementing up the hole in the tree)..but in the end, i think he stayed in cuz he wanted to stay in. Certainly, he was able to get out to save the children and the doctor had often visited him so he wasn't ill-treated...hmmm...loved the bit, where Boo meets AUnt Alex...hehehe...and she was all matter of fact on the outside but she must have been simply jumping inside...
Nadia wrote: "Can we also talk about Aunt Alexandra's distraction and how she gave Scout her overalls? I think that may have been a "Freudian slip" for her because she knew her niece and knew she needed comfort and not "rules" or "manners"." Yeah. I think so too. Of course, since this is very un-typical of her, Scout assumes that she must be totally distracted and plans to tease her about it. But I lean more towards your point of view, I think Auntie was being deliberately kind. Also, Alexandra was feeling very guilty...she says this.."I had a feeling about today...I shouldn't have let them go..."
She has started to love Scout and Jem very much I think, in her own hard way.
Nadia wrote: "We see Scout "walking around in Boo's shoes/skin" and see things from his point of view."Chapter 31...friendship, gratitude, pan out.
I love, love, LOVE the scene where Scout walks Arthur out.
"I slipped my hand into the crook of his arm. He had to stoop a little to accommodate me...."
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
Yeah, I call this the pan out or fade out chapter...like the last scene of most films where the camera zooms back to literally "pull us" out of the movie...
And the lens of the camera, like you say, is Boo's eye. And literally, for him, his window is his world so I love how she portrayed it as street scenes seen through the window.
Nadia wrote: "I think this was a lovely way to end the book."Atticus he was real nice."
"Most people are Scout, when you finally see them."
And she did see him, like few people did."
+1. I think this scene has prolly been hi-lighted by everyone who has ever read the book. What a way to end. Hearts are so full! I smiled at how you said it: Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelinnnnggggggggggggssss!
What.a.journey.
Nadia wrote: "I think we need to watch the movie now :)"Yeah! Let's do that...and look, we almost made 100 posts in the thread...
Hee :-)
Oh by the way, have you reviewed it yet? If you have, will you pls post the link?I haven't yet, but sure plan to...was waiting for you...
Cheers :-) and happy reading of all these posts!
Zaara wrote: "Additional note on Chapter 20Loved the list of your highlights, Nadia. One moment that had me stop and catch my breath was Atticus (who is usually so calm and in control) suddenly break down and ..."
yes! both good points!
Atticus even KNOWING what was going to happen, dared hope and pray it may end up differently.
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "We see Aunt Alexandra call Atticus 'brother' for the first time. She hurts for him. What do you think Alexandra thought about everything that happened with Tom? Was she on his side, o...""I think Aunt Alex is the one character who changed as much as Jem did during the course of the book"
Definitely agree with this. And it's interesting because the changes develop in a subtle way, but are meaningful nonetheless.
Zaara wrote: "More on Chapter 22Note on a small bit I'd hi-lited: End of chapter: Jem and Dill's discussion on clowns. " You got it backwards, Dill" Jem said. "Clowns are sad, it's folks that laugh at them."
"W..."
I never really understood that part. I'm trying to make sense of it with your notes but it's still confusing (might be my lack of sleep).
Zaara wrote: "Note on Chapter 23LOL at the scene where Jem shows Scout his "hair" and she thinks "he had been a comfort to me, so I said it looked lovely, but I didnt see anything...
Heeeee :-)
Note on Chapter..."
But they cared enough for the IDEA of humanity and justice to expend so much of themselves regardless. And remember Atticus was willing to die defending Tom outside the jail (and probably would have) if not for Scout.
They did care, everyone showed up in the trial, and many supported Atticus. It just makes you wish that THAT support would have translated into a different outcome for Tom. Tom was not going to live off their wishes. BUT I get it, the town was evolving, and there was/is hope, and there were people who knew the truth.
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "From Chapter 26: I LOVE that Scout points out the hypocrisy of her teacher being against Hitler killing jews, but being in total favor of the horrible fate of black people in Maycomb...."Yes! She SHOWS us instead of simply telling us. That takes skill, and it makes the story even more powerful.
Okay, that's a genius exercise. How did it go? If you haven't done it good luck!
It's okay Zaara! I write on rare occasions, but I don't feel like I have much to say at the end of the day. I take it you are a writer?
Zaara wrote: "Chapter 27Yeah, you make good points and make them well. I agree and have nothing much to add, except
(
haha ;-) too over the ham and how much Scout would have fidgeted and hated it.
I think on..."
"So it goes."
It would have been good to read about Helen's feelings and life (future, the kids). Like a bonus POV maybe.
Zaara wrote: "Side note: love how you've grouped these chapters.Chapters 28-29
Attack. Murder. Reconstruction.
Nadia wrote: "I like that Mr. Tate corrects Atticus in saying that Ewell was out of his mind, he t..."
That's interesting, the use of the humor as a way to make the attack feel more urgent and surprising.
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "Is the little scenes like this where we truly see how much Scout and Jem care for each other (and the big scenes like the one ahead when they are both trying to protect the other)."..."
oh yes ♥
Zaara wrote: "I wanted a separate post for Boo Radley.Nadia wrote: "Boo saved them. Boo, who never left his house, who never talked and only interacted with his family, the town's pariah, he saved the children..."
Not silly at all. I felt the same way honestly. I was rooting so hard for Boo and the children.
1. Oh that's a good connection! (innocence AND justice). Justice is innocent here because it's in its purest form (Boo), pure = white (common belief/association, which is kinda racist.)
2. Idk, I didn't feel like they were ignoring him, more like they forgot he was there. Because when Heck Tate enters the room I remember he said hello to Boo as it was described like he did it in a nervous way. I think they knew who he was but the urgency and the shock of the situation made them forget about his presence. And then we meet/recognize him for the first time with/through Scout, which is extremely fitting.
"Children cut through the layers of preconception and mental heuristics that adults have to see the essence/truth."
Couldn't have said it better myself.
3. "I love how she is so sweet to him and instinctively understands him...and does all those little things to make him feel comfortable, wanted, special (but not DIFFERENT), and INCLUDED."
Me too! and the fact that it felt like such a Scout thing to do.
"Well, some people are IN the world but not OF it"
Perfect way to put it.
I see it the same way as you, that at first he wanted to get out, that he was being kept against his will but that after a while he decided to stay. But it makes me wonder if his wanting to stay was a product of the abuse he received at the hands of his family or if he didn't think he could handle it outside and didn't like people...
I liked that Aunt Alexandra was perfectly fine with him (apparently) and that like Atticus she called him Mr. Arthur. I mean we couldn't expect any less from Aunt Alex and her manners, but still, being the type of person she is, and how much she believes in "normalcy" it made happy to see her act that way.
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "Can we also talk about Aunt Alexandra's distraction and how she gave Scout her overalls? I think that may have been a "Freudian slip" for her because she knew her niece and knew she n..."Yep, I think she loved and cared deeply about them, in the only way she knew how.
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "We see Scout "walking around in Boo's shoes/skin" and see things from his point of view."Chapter 31...friendship, gratitude, pan out.
I love, love, LOVE the scene where Scout walks ..."
I would totally pay to see a TKAM movie were you wrote the script haha.
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "I think this was a lovely way to end the book."Atticus he was real nice."
"Most people are Scout, when you finally see them."
And she did see him, like few people did."
+1. I thin..."
It was the perfect way to end it. I was worried at first that it was going to go with a very sad ending, but I like that it ended on a good note. I loved it. Impossible not to highlight it.
Zaara wrote: "Oh by the way, have you reviewed it yet? If you have, will you pls post the link?I haven't yet, but sure plan to...was waiting for you...
Cheers :-) and happy reading of all these posts!"
I like reviewing (or at least writing some thoughts) books I give a high rating to, but right now I feel like everything that could have been said about this book has been said. So idk, I'm not planning on reviewing it right now (I'm a random reviewer tbh haha). So go head and review Zaara, if you want to of course:)
Nadia wrote: "I like reviewing (or at least writing some thoughts) books I give a high rating to, but right now I feel like everything that could have been said about this book has been said. So idk, I'm not planning on reviewing it right now (I'm a random reviewer tbh haha). So go head and review Zaara, if you want to of course:) "You're right...let's just do it when/if the mood moves us. I don't reviews classics/evergreens much. Everything that needs to be said about them has pretty much already been said...reviews then become more of a description of the reading experience than a critique of the book, per se. Which is not to say that THAT's necessarily a bad thing because, if I ever do write a review of this one, that will be the angle I shall take.
Nadia wrote: "Yes! She SHOWS us instead of simply telling us. That takes skill, and it makes the story even more powerful.Okay, that's a genius exercise. How did it go? If you haven't done it good luck!
It's okay Zaara! I write on rare occasions, but I don't feel like I have much to say at the end of the day. I take it you are a writer? "
Thanks for the good wishes, Nadia, I'm still learning how to write but yes, I do work in publishing.
You know what they say about miles to go...
Nadia wrote: "I would totally pay to see a TKAM movie were you wrote the script haha. "Haha, if I did too much to the current script, it'd be an epic fail. But your compliment totally made my day, gal! You know what I thought about though, Nadia? Comment number 85 where you say...
Nadia wrote: "It would have been good to read about Helen's feelings and life (future, the kids). Like a bonus POV maybe."
I did think about how it would be if the story were told through different POVs, Atticus (of course) or Auntie Alex or (as you say) Helen or even Mayella.
Note: Close current thread or leave it open for others to comment/whenever we want to drop in?
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "I like reviewing (or at least writing some thoughts) books I give a high rating to, but right now I feel like everything that could have been said about this book has been said. So id..."If I ever decide to review it, I will probably talk about how it touched me and why I liked it, and it would probably be short, who knows. But it's just hard to review books like this one.
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "Yes! She SHOWS us instead of simply telling us. That takes skill, and it makes the story even more powerful.Okay, that's a genius exercise. How did it go? If you haven't done it goo..."
That's awesome! :D
Zaara wrote: "Nadia wrote: "I would totally pay to see a TKAM movie were you wrote the script haha. "Haha, if I did too much to the current script, it'd be an epic fail. But your compliment totally made my day..."
It would be SO interesting to see. I wonder if Harper Lee ever wrote a different POV to help her when she was writing or something.
Zaara wrote: "Note: Close current thread or leave it open for others to comment/whenever we want to drop in?"I don't know how you can close the thread exactly? But I'm fine either way to be honest.
(view spoiler)[
Chapter 18
The drudgery of Mayella's life...it's so important that we see this because it helps us understand why she behaves as she does...she does a hateful thing, she lies even though she knows it will convict an innocent man...but seeing that she has never felt or experienced kindness or any of the finer feelings in life (she mistakes even Atticus' politeness for rudeness/as some sort of trick) can't help feeling sorry for her. If she were a colour, she'd be dirty dishwater grey, don't you think? And yet, she plants flowers, just like Maudie...she is aware of the ugliness of her life. And she takes the only steps she knows how to escape...
It's obvious that the author feels (so does Atticus) and wants us to feel compassion for her. She is vicious but, even so, a victim. What else can she say, now that Ashe has to go back and live in her father's house?
Chapter 19
Important pieces of evidence come to light...Tom testifies and it is obvious that he is innocent beyond doubt...he is a cripple.
He is also such a kind, gentle soul...could use the word martyr, in this case, you think? How many, Nadia, how many such cases throughout history? This story has become iconic, but there must be countless ones we will never know, that have been forgotten...
Like Dill - sick, sick, sick....
PS - Do you think Mayella's father rapes her? It seems implied...in this line...."she says what her papa do to her don't count"
Chapter 20
One of my favourite chapters: I really love the Dolphus Raymond character, even though he appears so briefly...he reminds me of myself sometimes, and this quote of Mark Twain's "Never tell the truth to those that don't deserve it"
:-) yea but how/who are we to judge who 'deserves' it? I guess by following our gut/hearts instinct. I myself don't expend energy explaining myself to very judgemental people.
Love this witty line from Scout: I had never encountered a being who deliberately perpetrated fraud against himself.
You go, Dolph!
This chapter is all about judgement/pressure that society forces on us...it's funny...the scene outside the courtroom with Dolph has the same echoes as the one inside the courtroom...
There are strong echoes of the Jesus and Magdalene story in Atticus summing up speech, I felt..."there is no man living who has not....."
Atticus is really trying his darn best...he's so sincere and so forceful and yet so simple. (hide spoiler)]