TKAM Blog Post #2

Final Impressions

This book was very different from other books that I read, even in this genre. The Harper Lee was extraordinarily blunt with the use of racism and how it affected society as well as very refined in how he described the different characters reactions to racist situations and their impacts on them. An example of this would be Jem’s rationalization of the court case by saying there are many types of folks, but after he realized he was mistaken he shut out all memory of the trial and yelled at Scout when she brought it up. I also liked how Harper Lee made the book as accurate as possible,  shown when he made the verdict of the court case guilty and had Tom try to escape and die. It makes the idea the book conveys that much more impactful and adds weight to the story.

This book taught me that many, if not most people are very set in their ways. It would take a huge shift in their life to get people to change. This is shown by how hard Atticus pushed for the final stabbing to go to court, even though he thought it was his kid, but when he realized that it was Boo, someone who didn’t want attention, that stabbed Bob Ewell and saved his kids he made a huge moral shift and was willing to bend the rules this once. People are almost always willing to hide the truth if it would be for the greater good.

http://calcdosmockingbird.blogspot.com/2012/02/final-thoughts-on-to-kill-mockingbird.html

 

Scout

I feel like Scout was the best person to have as a character in this novel. You are able to see almost all of her thoughts and she is the main person we follow throughout the whole story. This allows for a unique glimpse at the impacts of observing racism on a daily basis as a child.

Some of the most important or standout quotes from Scout are “Jem was the one who was getting more like a girl, not I” and “Ladies in bunches always filled me with vague apprehension and a firm desire to be elsewhere, but this feeling was what Aunt Alexandra called being “spoiled.” The first quote shows how different she is from others of her gender and age. It is yet another example of how Scout has wisdom beyond her years and that the knowledge she has sets her apart. The second quote shows how she feels in social situations. She is very timid and doesn’t fit in with the normal behavior for high-society.

https://www.shmoop.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/scout-jean-louise-finch-quotes-7.html

 

Literature Circles

During our literature circles and socratic seminar we dove into Scout’s character development and some potential metaphors dealing with Atticus being the sacrifice of the town so they can act normally, his straight shot reflecting his moral compass and it’s near immovable stance, and the reasons for why Tom Robinson tried to escape. I found the first and last of these to be the most intriguing because having Atticus as a sacrifice makes us wonder if all the good he is doing is actually benefitting the society in the long run, especially if the racism he opposes stops him from making progress. The second was important because it shows how little faith Tom had in the judicial system and how he was willing to take his own chances at life over it.

https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-was-judicial-system-like-south-1930s-184159

 

Connections To Other Texts

On A Certain Blindness: 

This text is related to TKAM because of Scout, Dill, and Jem’s behavior towards Boo Radley. In the beginning they thought of him as some terrible person who had gone insane and wanted to hurt people. Later in the story, it is actually Boo who saves Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell, proving them wrong. This initial belief shows how quick people are to judge others, even if they have very little information. This judgement without sufficient information was also the focal point of On A Certain Blindness.

Black Men and Public Space:

This text relates to the story because in TKAM a large part of the story is devoted to Boo and his father. They both were avoided and treated with extreme caution while in the town, as you can see from Scout’s encounters with Boo’s father. Their seclusion could well have been due to their social treatment and a desire to avoid it. This is similar to the Black Men and Public Space article which showed how people are more wary of black people in public spaces and how some choose to take certain precautions to avoid discrimination (whistling/humming classical tunes).

Self-Segregation: Why It’s so Hard For White People to Understand Ferguson:

This text relates to the story because back in that time most people were surrounded by people sharing the same ideals with them (according to the author the reason why white people couldn’t understand ferguson), including racism. This would have made people more set in discriminatory ways, prolonging and amplifying the racism and inequality present in the American South.

 

TKAM Blog Post #1

First Impressions

I really enjoyed the first twelve chapters of the book and I am looking forward to reading more. The way the book was written from Scout’s perspective looking back on her past makes for a much different experience as a reader and is unlike anything else I have read. I suppose that is why this story is read by so many people and taught in schools today. The story also has a very clear cut message it tries to address, namely racism. It makes us think about what we are doing to other people in a system influenced by racism because it forces many characters to justify their actions to Scout. Needless to say, most of these answers are along the lines of “that’s just the way it is.”

Scout

Scouts character is very naive but smart at the same time. She doesn’t know much about things like racism or how to navigate a potentially dangerous or risky conversation, as you can see from her careless request to Aunt Alexandra to stay at Calpurnia’s house for a time She makes quite a few blunders and is quick to temper, but she starts to develop into a more knowledgeable and reasonable person as time goes by. This is seen when instead of Scout lashing out at Mrs. Dubose, it was instead Jem who broke first.

 

Important Quote

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One doesn’t love breathing.” -Scout

This quote is made after Scout’s teacher is telling her that she should stop having her father teach her how to read. It makes  Scout think that she will forget how to read until the third grade where it was taught as part of the Dewey Decimal system. This terrifies her because, although she had never previously treasured her ability to read and write, she uses it everyday as a necessary part of everyday life. Losing it would create great change for Scout, and people are often affected negatively by change, so the fact that it is threatened is enough to make her protect it no matter what. This leads to her deals with her father to make sure he would keep teaching her in return for her good behavior concerning the upcoming court case.

Literature Circle

During our literature circles and Socratic seminar many things were discussed. We looked at Atticus’ hesitance to use a gun, the reasoning behind filling the tree with cement, and a possible metaphor/ foreshadowing for the court case. I wish to focus on what I talked about in the lit. circle, the metaphor for the trial. This is after the quote “To kill a Mockingbird is a sin,” as they do only good things for us. I thought that the book might be hinting at the Tom Robinson’s innocence by comparing him to a Mockingbird. This would also lead to a slight bit of foreshadowing, since the quote also talked about killing the Mockingbird. One way that the Mockingbird, Tom, could be killed is if the trial finds him guilty and he is sentenced to death. While this is only my theory, it would also fit in with the theme of racism since even the most innocent of people can be killed because of the word of a white person.

 

Predictions and Questions

• Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson will lose the court trial
• Boo Radley will make an appearance and become a major player later on
• Scout will visit Calpurnia’s home against Aunt Alexandra’s orders
• Will Calpurnia’s church play an important role in the near future?
• Will Tom be found guilty, and if so what will the sentence be?
• Will Boo Radley be sane if and when he finally leave the house?

Haroun Second Reading Second Thoughts

After rereading Haroun and the Sea of Stories, I can say that a good number of my questions have been answered. I had previously thought that Soraya had come back to the home because of the story water even though she might not be happy, but after the seminar I believe that the water changed her opinions about Mr. Sand caused her to want to come home. I believe this is the case because the story water was designed to give Haroun a happy ending. This means that things would have to work out for years to come and not just when it was raining, so it had to have changed her mindset on Rashid and his stories. This would have made it so they could have a long and happy marriage.

Also, during my second reading of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, I was able to confirm that this was most definitely a childrens’ story. This is because of the strange and simple names we see in Kahani such as Butt and Iff in addition to the happy ending the author seemed to slap onto the end of the story, even though it had just shown Haroun get over his 11-minute attention span problem. Since Haroun got over his attention span issue, I don’t know why he would need his mother anymore who betrayed him and his father. Therefore, the inclusion of a happy ending wouldn’t be for the benefit of the characters of the story as much as it is for the young readers who would want everything to return to the way things were.

Something that made me curious was the plug they were going to use to stop the inflow of new stories into the Sea of Stories. Wouldn’t the increasing amount of stories being created build pressure under the plug and eventually burst out? Also, if you block off one out flow couldn’t another inactive vent become active and undo all of the work done by the shadows? Speaking of shadows, how was the ship, something made fully of shadow, able to hold a plug which was physical object above a big hole?

Another issue I had with the book was the speed of the moon being great enough to conceal it from sight and instruments. This speed would have to be equal to or greater than the speed of light, a speed that is high enough to tear matter apart, and is also unreachable to us. This is because no matter how much energy you put into an object it will never be as fast as the speed of light. Due to this, I was wondering how they were able to accelerate the moon without any dangerous side effects.

There were many things that I was unsure about why they were included, and Haroun’s relationship with the guard was one. I think that the story would have been just as good if he had been doing it for his own family instead of trying to Kahani for her. Also, when the story ends, their relationship is totally pointless because he turns his back on it and goes home, most likely never to return. Another thing I am unsure as to why the author included it is Bezaban. What was the purpose of this statue that Kattam-Shud created other than it ironically falling down on him as a sign of his creation killing him? For the most part it seemed to be useless. The people in the dark didn’t worship the statue but they worshiped Kattam-Shud himself as proven by his cult of closest followers that new him personally. One speculative reason that I have is that it was created to serve as a warning to the people living on the light side of Kahani, as it was seen by them as Kattam-Shud’s creation and something he used to enforce his power. This is seen on page 75 with the quote “This looks like the doing of the leader of the chupwalas, the cultmaster of Bezaban.”

Haroun First Chapter First Thoughts

After reading Haroun and the sea of stories, I was left with two major questions . First, why did the city become so sad to begin with? It said that everywhere else was very happy, but that they had enough sadness to share. However, later in the story it comments on everyone’s lack of imagination., which could be the reason why. Secondly, I was wondering why Rashid couldn’t say  the stories to the crowd in public, but he was able to tell them to his son who couldn’t even appreciate them after 11 minutes and was wholly ungrateful.

Everything Is A Remix

I believe that the movie Haroun and the Sea of Stories has lots of parts in the story which refer to remixes. It introduces the plentimaw fish as creatures with many mouths capable of taking many different stories and excreting a new one as a combination of the old. This  is an example of a remix, which is defined as “combining or editing existing materials to create something new.” It also brings attention to remixes through the mention of the well of stories having fresh story streams that would go into the ocean and mix together, turning into something totally new. This statement is a justification for the different ways some stories are told, the most prominent examples being older folktales which have changed from their original version as time and location change.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories First Thoughts

After reading Haruon and the Sea of Stories, I can safely say that many of my questions were answered. I was wondering why the city was always so sad and what could have caused it. This was soon answered by the author when he tells us that the city had forgotten it’s name, and that the people there were lacking imagination, as my chapter one first thoughts suggested. We were also given the question of whether it was a kid’s story or not, and while I said yes to begin with due to it having similar traits to other kids stories (alphabetical naming), I was having doubts when it incorporated more adult elements into the story such as war and sowing someone’s mouth shut to keep them from speaking ever again, which caused them to have an intense fear of needles for the rest of their life (similar to PTSD).

I was taken aback when the mother returned home to make everything happy and good in the family, and this was for a few reasons. First, did she leave Mr. Stengupa due to the effects of the Eggheaad’s happy ending or was it because of her own will that she decided to return? Secondly, why did Rashid let her back in without any doubts or second thoughts? She had essentially divorced him to be with someone else, but a few days later when she had enough of them, he accepts her back like nothing changed. You would think that something like this would have long lasting repercussions on anyone’s relationship. That leads me directly to question three. Because of her swift exit and return, what would the effect on their marriage be, especially in the long run. Would it be too fragile and shatter or did it make it potentially stronger because he sees that she had seen both ends of the spectrum and chose him?

More Information on the Novel:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haroun_and_the_Sea_of_Stories