Jayson’s Reviews > To Kill a Mockingbird > Status Update
Jayson
is on page 249 of 323
Notes:
(1) Mayella, we learn, has no friends. Even among her many siblings, they're always out with each other while she does the household chores alone.
- Of course, solitary individuals in this book are either taken as monsters (Boo Radley) or prone to making poor and impulsive decisions (Dill). Mayella is arguably both.
(2) Speaking of which, why was Boo Radley the primary focus of Part 1?
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 08, 2024 07:10AM
(1) Mayella, we learn, has no friends. Even among her many siblings, they're always out with each other while she does the household chores alone.
- Of course, solitary individuals in this book are either taken as monsters (Boo Radley) or prone to making poor and impulsive decisions (Dill). Mayella is arguably both.
(2) Speaking of which, why was Boo Radley the primary focus of Part 1?
(Continued in comments)
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Jayson’s Previous Updates
Jayson
is finished
Notes:
(1) It's always difficult to write reviews and form opinions on books people hold in high esteem, enthuse about, and even herald as classic literature.
- What if I don't like it? Will people forever swarm and pester me?
- Thankfully, I liked this book a lot. I wouldn't rank it among my all-time favorites, but I'm notoriously stingy with five-star ratings and effusive praise in general.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 10, 2024 08:00AM
(1) It's always difficult to write reviews and form opinions on books people hold in high esteem, enthuse about, and even herald as classic literature.
- What if I don't like it? Will people forever swarm and pester me?
- Thankfully, I liked this book a lot. I wouldn't rank it among my all-time favorites, but I'm notoriously stingy with five-star ratings and effusive praise in general.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is on page 293 of 323
Notes:
(1) Atticus: "There’s nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who'll take advantage of a Negro’s ignorance."
- I feel like modern audiences reading this line, specifically "a Negro's ignorance," might be quick to label Atticus a racist.
- I know, it's ridiculous given the overall context of the book and of this quote. Though, I've seen harsher reactions to milder words.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 09, 2024 10:30PM
(1) Atticus: "There’s nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who'll take advantage of a Negro’s ignorance."
- I feel like modern audiences reading this line, specifically "a Negro's ignorance," might be quick to label Atticus a racist.
- I know, it's ridiculous given the overall context of the book and of this quote. Though, I've seen harsher reactions to milder words.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is on page 204 of 323
Notes:
(1) This has been a real slow burn. Not that it's been bad, just it's been going at a leisurely pace and hasn't been at all what I expected.
- The story doesn't really find a clear direction until the jailhouse scene. After that it's been laser-focused on the trial of Tom Robinson.
- From Chapter 17 onward, it's been pretty much a pure law procedural, albeit from a child's perspective.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 07, 2024 08:15AM
(1) This has been a real slow burn. Not that it's been bad, just it's been going at a leisurely pace and hasn't been at all what I expected.
- The story doesn't really find a clear direction until the jailhouse scene. After that it's been laser-focused on the trial of Tom Robinson.
- From Chapter 17 onward, it's been pretty much a pure law procedural, albeit from a child's perspective.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is on page 154 of 323
Notes:
(1) This is an odd sort of novel. So far, it's been more interconnected short stories than anything all that cohesive.
- Perhaps I'm just too used to the pace and plotting of modern books. Halfway through this and I don't really know where it's going, only an inkling based solely on the book's reputation.
(2) The whole First Purchase Church section is a fascinating bit of anthropology.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 06, 2024 09:55AM
(1) This is an odd sort of novel. So far, it's been more interconnected short stories than anything all that cohesive.
- Perhaps I'm just too used to the pace and plotting of modern books. Halfway through this and I don't really know where it's going, only an inkling based solely on the book's reputation.
(2) The whole First Purchase Church section is a fascinating bit of anthropology.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is on page 102 of 323
Notes:
(1) "[Jem] went through a brief Egyptian Period that baffled me—he tried to walk flat a great deal, sticking one arm in front of him and one in back of him, putting one foot behind the other. He declared Egyptians walked that way."
- Hmm, I wonder if that's where The Bangles got it from?
- Rural American children learning about Egypt just seems odd. Greece and Rome seems more natural.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 05, 2024 09:00AM
(1) "[Jem] went through a brief Egyptian Period that baffled me—he tried to walk flat a great deal, sticking one arm in front of him and one in back of him, putting one foot behind the other. He declared Egyptians walked that way."
- Hmm, I wonder if that's where The Bangles got it from?
- Rural American children learning about Egypt just seems odd. Greece and Rome seems more natural.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is on page 56 of 323
Notes:
(1) The most striking thing so far has to do with people's names. The brother and sister, Jeremy and Jean, are nicknamed Jem and Scout.
- It's notable that practically everyone calls them by their nicknames, which are both decidedly unisex—I can't be the only one who saw "Jem" and thought "and the Holograms"?
- Possibly it's to underscore a time of innocence, before sexuality kicks in.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 04, 2024 03:30AM
(1) The most striking thing so far has to do with people's names. The brother and sister, Jeremy and Jean, are nicknamed Jem and Scout.
- It's notable that practically everyone calls them by their nicknames, which are both decidedly unisex—I can't be the only one who saw "Jem" and thought "and the Holograms"?
- Possibly it's to underscore a time of innocence, before sexuality kicks in.
(Continued in comments)
- Meanwhile, the trial's barely given any attention prior to the jailhouse scene.
(3) Dill breaks down and cries during the trial because of the double-standard of treatment Tom Robinson faces from the prosecutor.
- Dolphus Raymond makes a point to say it's because only children can understand it, not yet being corrupted by society nor calloused to it.
- Personally, I find the idea terribly cliché, that the purity of children gives them a clarity adults don't possess. I mean, children are capable of terrible decisions and reasoning too, as evidenced in this book.
- Though I do appreciate the point that's being made. Cliché isn't necessarily a bad thing, and it may not have been cliché when this was written.
(4) Atticus gives very good closing remarks. Not that it gave me chills or anything. Just that it felt like an excellent school civics lecture.
- He states the year as 1935, which I suppose was right in the heart of the Great Depression.
- The closing arguments are also excellent rhetoric, taking into account the presumed prejudice of the jury and pre-emptively addressing their assumptions and concerns. He handles it in a way that doesn't sound admonishing or preachy.
(5) Throughout the whole book you get a clear dichotomy between people who live in the town and people who live outside it. Townsfolk being more accepting and tolerant of blacks than people who live rurally.
- Even people like Underwood, who's said to hate black people, helps Atticus defend Tom Robinson from the mob. Despite his personal feelings, he acts the way he's expected as a member of the community.
- With this in mind, the result of the trial was never in doubt, given what Scout says about townsfolk rarely ever being on juries: how they're always struck or excused.