TKAM: Week of 12-15-14

Prompt: Describe the characters throughout the book and how they change.

Jem at the beginning is very close with Scout and still has that mentality of a child. Throughout the book you see him turn more into a young man or that's how he changes himself. At one point him and Dill exclude Scout because she is younger and is a girl. This is the first point where you see Jem's mindset change from this kid to a maturing teenager. His role model is Attics and Atticus is very calm, humble, and forgiving. Scout tends to get annoyed because Jem thinks he is too old to do some of the stuff Scout wants to do. Although Jem is getting older he still has parts of being a kid. After the ruling at the Tom Robinson trial he cried and although adults cry at times he cried because it was not fair. Adults understood that it was unfair but a kid takes it more emotionally.

Scout in the whole book is never much of a "lady" and this bothers most of the characters in the book. Whether it be from the language she uses but mostly the way she dresses. She wears overalls instead of dresses and this to me is her not losing her childhood. She does grow a little older at one point in the book where she is wearing a dress at a dinner Aunt Alexandra is hosting. When asked about her "britches" at that time she responded in saying "Under my dress." She doesn't let go of her childhood and shows that she thinks differently than the rest. You see her develop and begin to understand more but there isn't a point where she loses her childhood. You see the innocence that she thinks with. For me during the Tom Robinson trial you see how kids think differently. They may know about blacks being of lesser but in that case you see that they don't understand why and that they don't see "color" like adults would. At the end of the book she shows her knowledge and further understanding by saying "Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn't it?" This shows Atticus her understanding and that she has developed over time. 

The story of Boo Radley otherwise known as Arthur Radley is like a myth and you realize his real story is actually quite sad. All these myths are made about Boo because you have never seen him. His family isolates him from the rest of the world and yet he still make a connection to Jem and Scout. He sews Jems pants, gives them gifts, but most importantly saves their lives. He changes throughout the book through the role he plays in Jem and Scouts lives. Jem shows sympathy towards Boo when he realizes what they are doing to him. When you learn that Boo's brother plugged up the tree in which Boo gave the kids their presents he realizes he is being isolated. Boo saves the kids lives when Bob Ewell, the evil man of the neighborhood tries to kill Jem and Scout. Finally in the end you see Boo. You know its Boo because the entire description shows he doesn't get any sunlight because he is always locked up. Over the story you see he isn't this mean, and crazy person but rather a nice who protects and is misunderstood and isolated.

TKAM - Found Poetry

Scout

I am Confident, no matter what

Find Life quite different, own views on things
Our families moral, you know your licked before you begin
You begin anyway

Atticus said, What she's got in store, these next few months
He taught me to, try fighting with your head for a change
To see what real courage is
Keep those fist down, Use your mind
Be the bravest person
It ain't right
You rarely win
I thought, all men are created equal
Standin up, I aint going
It aint right
The man is trash
See what real courage is
Its time we all did

The first 9 lines of the poem are there to represent who Scout is as a person and what she has been taught. The first few quotes is how she sees society or fits in to it. She sees things differently and isn't afraid. The next few parts is telling about what she has learned and how Atticus has shaped her. The last 8 lines are telling about her feelings during the biggest part of the book, the trial. She finds it unfair and in the book they show how children are the best at the way they approach things. It is because they don't exactly see color yet. They know how the system works but they don't see color like adults would. So it explains how Scout finds the ruling unfair and how her family reacts as well.

TKAM - Character Relationships

TKAM - Character Relationships

      I think that Dill and Francis are alter egos of each other. They are both very outspoken and confident. Dill at the beginning of the book was confident and bragging about being able to read and then Francis was confident when he spoke to Scout about her father being a "nigger lover" and such. In both of these situations they were confident in what they said and were not scared of Scout. They are also alike because they are testing of others. They both like messing with people they know they can get in trouble for messing for but they like to push it. Like Francis was trying to get Scout annoyed and get her to react to him bugging her. And then Dill is always trying to get Boo Radley to come out of his house. Francis knew that if he pushed Scout to the limit he could get in trouble. While Dill knew that if he went too far with trying to get Boo to show himself he could easily get in trouble. They are different because Francis has heavy influence from his parents while Dill has much less. Francis's has very strong opinions on Atticus and he seems to know a lot about what Atticus is doing. As a kid his age you gain most of your strongest opinions from your parents. Therefore he must be with his parents a lot to know all that about Atticus. As we learned Dill's parents kind of just put him aside and do as they please. So from what Dill has said and Francis's opinions they are different because of the presence of their parents in their lives. They are also different because Scout likes Dill while she absolutely hates Francis. Dill has this personality that Scout likes and they enjoy the same things. Also Dill doesn't judge Scouts father and call him mean things. Francis on the other hand doesn't care to be on Scouts good side so he is mean.

     Aunt Alexandra and Uncle jack are foils of each other. I believe this because of what they believe in. Uncle Jack is very critical of the way Scout talks while Aunt Alexandra is very critical of the way she dresses and acts. Uncle Jack just wants Scout to be more of a good person while Aunt Alexandra wants to completely change scout to what she visions is good. Uncle Jack is also more supportive of Atticus and his kids while Aunt Alexandra is more of the way where she judges them and forces them to change. Uncle Jack does not try to change Atticus, he more tries to change the kids in little ways. Aunt Alexandra convinces Atticus to change and this brings out bad things. They are also alike in some ways. They both aren't very accepting of how Scout is not very ladylike whether it varies from language to clothes. She is unladylike when she is in their presence. She swears and dresses not fit for them. They both also jump to conclusions without at many times knowing all the facts or being in direct authority. Like Uncle Jack goes and hits Scout after Francis bothered her but he lied and Aunt Alexandra told Scout she could not goes to Calpurnia's house even though Calpurnia is a nice person. Both of them did things that were more in the hands of Atticus.

      Dill is Scouts fiance or basically best friend. He is the light of her summer, without him she would be bored all summer. He effects her because he makes her have fun. She gets bored with just Jem especially since he is "growing up" and all. But he also brings out the daring side of her. Francis is Scouts cousin and Scout absolutely hates him. He effects her very negatively because he just gets her in trouble and gets her angry. On a day where Scout was trying to be good, he was so bad as to push her to punch him. She would be hit for doing that. Aunt Alexandra is Atticus's sister and Scout does not like her. She is always trying to fix anything she thinks is wrong. This has a bad affect on their family because she forces Atticus to change. This makes Scout cry and Atticus realizes hes doing wrong. Uncle Jack is her uncle and he is nicer to the family than most of their relatives. He is the one person who doesn't think Atticus is a complete disgrace.