TKAM ~ Blog for 12/18/15

- How has this book changed you? What are your thoughts on it?

- If you could change something in the book, what would it be and why?

          This book has changed me by making me see new perspectives on life I had never seen before. This entire book is filled with such amazing quotes about life, for example “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." To me this is so inspirational, because so many people think that courage is a man behind a gun, when in reality it can be so many other things. This book has also changed my perspective on how to look at people,  mainly because of the really good quote Atticus had said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” I think I've misjudged many people in my life by not thinking of what they could be going through, which is something I wont be doing from now on.

        To Kill A Mockingbird has to be one of my favorite books now, because of all that I've learned about it. There's so many different things to take out of that book, for example the main theme throughout the book "empathy".  I don't even think I can explain how much this book means to me now, it has so many life lessons inside of it that I don't want to let it go. I remember thinking, "this is going to be boring" however once we started reading more of it, I fell in love with all of the characters, in my opinion, Scout and Boo being the best.

~SPOILERS~

          Something really small that I would change inside the book would be to make Boo stay out with Scout a bit longer at the ending. Yes I know he was exhausted from saving Jem and Scout, but I really wanted to see him interact with them some more and actually talk to Jem. I mean Harper Lee had built up so much suspense for Boo's character, as he never came out, however only coming out for an hour at most made me a bit sad. Especially how nice he was to Scout, asking her to take him home.

TKAM - Character Relationships

- Aunt Alexandra & Atticus

          Aunt Alexandra and Atticus are similar in many ways. This includes them being from the same family (as they are brother and sister). They also both think that Scout should be around more women, to get that "feminine influence". As in page 127 for the hard covered books, it says "We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence." This meant that because Scout was always with Atticus or Jem, Atticus and Aunt Alexandra both worried that Scout wouldn't have that feminine side to her like most girls at the time.

          However, Aunt Alexandra and Atticus are also very different at the same time. Where as Atticus is more relaxed with his kids (for example he doesn't really care what they wear etc.), Aunt Alexandra thinks the kids should be more tightly watched as to what they do, eat, dress etc. for example when she tells Scout that its not proper for her to be wearing overalls. They are also different in the fact that while Atticus is friendly towards the African Americans, Aunt Alexandra does not like them in any way, she's very racist towards them.

          Aunt Alexandra and Atticus both have similar relationships towards Scout. Atticus is her father, while Aunt Alexandra, the sister of Atticus is her aunt, therefore having similar relationships. Obviously, one who has read, or currently is reading TKAM can easily note the differences between both relationships. For example Scout loves her father, and loves the time they spend together, mainly reading. She's always trying to spend time with him, even with his busy schedule as a lawyer. Aunt Alexandra however, mainly disproves everything Scout does, so its not that hard to tell that Scout's relationship with Aunt Alexandra isn't very strong, as there's also the fact that they almost never see each other. While Atticus is with her every day.

          Both Aunt Alexandra and Atticus have a huge impact, or effect on Scout. Atticus has been there for Scout since she was born, and has taught her all she knows now. For example, her "non" love to read, as she states, "Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing," (Pg. 18 Hard Cover). As Scout isn't really fond of Aunt Alexandra, the effect that she has on Scout obviously isn't as strong as the one that Atticus has on her. However, Aunt Alexandra does have some times where you can see her effect on Scout. For example, even though Scout doesn't like being told to act more lady like, dress more like one or talk more like one, these helpful suggestions that her aunt is telling her could be a valuable thing for her in her future. A perfect example would be marriage, In the book Dill and Scout are already "engaged" but when she grows older and tries to find love, I'm guessing no man would marry a girl that wears overalls instead of dresses. At least in the time period that this book takes place.