To Kill a Mockingbird Final Blog Post
Final Thoughts
Now that I have finished To Kill a Mockingbird, I am very surprised to say that I loved this book. Compared to other books that I have read as a class in school over the years, this is one of the best. I usually dread reading these books and never really get into them, but this was different. I am now very excited to watch the movie on Netflix when I get a chance. I'd recommend that everyone read this book as it contains a mix of humor, truth, morals, and everything else I'd expect from a really well written classic novel, like To Kill a Mockingbird.
My Characters
As I have discussed in my previous blog posts, the two characters that I
was focusing on while reading this novel were Boo Radley and Calpurnia. I personally really liked Boo Radley as a character and enjoyed how Harper Lee chose to develop him. Even though he was only present in the beginning and end of the novel and had only a single line, he was still able to have a huge impact. He turned out to be a game-changing character when he appeared to rescue Jem from the fight with Bob Ewell. Now, Calpurnia I liked as a character, but she was not one of my favorites. To me, she didn't have a huge impact on the
plot of the story, but aided more in the development of other characters, like Atticus and Scout. One quote from Calpurnia that really stood out to me was a very simple one. She states, "It's not necessary to tell all you know" (Lee 126). To be honest, I do not know why this quote stuck in my mind, but I think it says a lot about Calpurnia and her double life. Even though these were my characters, my favorite, as I said before, was Atticus.
Discussion
I enjoyed how we completed this week's discussion, starting with two groups discussing at the same time and then transitioning into a large group. I think this worked better than using the inner and outer circle
because no one feels like they missed out on joining in because they were in the outer circle. The discussion about Boo Radley, especially in my small group is what I found to be the most interesting. We talked about how he did not need more than a single line to leave his mark. I also found the discussion about who killed Bob Ewell to be very intriguing. I personally assumed it was Boo Radley, who seems like he'd do anything to protect Jem and Scout.
Secondary Discussion
For our secondary discussion, we read an essay by William James called, "On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings." Taking into consideration the fact that Scout is the narrator and a number of the main characters are children (Dill and Jem), it seems that blindness and innocence have a connection. It's as if the children in society are blind to America's past. However, at the same time, they are able to see
more. The children can see that the way people are living in Maycomb County is wrong. Others, especially adults, cannot see this because they are so stuck in the past. These aspects of history along with the secret lives that everyone seems to live is what blinds the people of Maycomb from one another. This clearly reveals that we do not always know as much as we think we do about another person. We cannot possibly know all there is to know about someone, and we need to understand that. After all, Atticus said it best: "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."
Check out the essay by William James!