Problems, Problems and More Problems

   With new issues and secrets, new suspense and new surprises, "To Kill a Mockingbird" quickly develops through each page I read. Jem was now twelve and Scout couldn't live with it since Jem believed he was a complete adult and behaved like so, without playing or doing fun things anymore. One Sunday morning when Atticus wasn't home to take the children to church, Calpurnia did so, but instead of taking them to their regular church, she took them to nigger church. By the time mass was over and Calpurnia was walking the kids back home, Jem managed to see their Aunt Alexandra, AKA: Aunty, sitting in their very front porch as if she lived in that house as well. Confusion and

This is how many problems Atticus has now

desperation was running through Scout, for Aunty was not in her best wishes since she criticized every aspect of her. It turned out Aunty will be living there with the complete permission of Atticus to give the kids a feminine presence and set new rules of behavior for them. Anyway, things were not that bad for Scout, one night Dill appeared under her bed. He claimed to have escaped from his father because he mistreated him. Adventures were starting to rise when suddenly the entire trial thing was bringing fun down and problems up. Atticus was acting very different, he had received a visit on the front porch by a man called Mr. Heck Tate, and even if the conversation was unknown, what could be inferred was that it was complete trouble. A few days later he leaves the house in the night and takes the car, an action so rare of him to do. Jem, Dill and Scout followed Atticus through the dark night trying to find out where he had gone. What they found was Atticus sitting in a chair in front of the cell of Tom Robinson and some men in front of him talking. They heard the conversation and immediately sensed trouble.  For this, Scout ran towards Atticus interrupting the entire meeting, Jem and Dill followed. In a moment Scout was able to recognize one of the men as a father of a classmate of hers, and talking to him very innocently she was able to make him rethink about what he was doing and ordered the rest of the men to leave the room. Things were getting real suspenseful, for the next day the trial finally begun.

While I was reading this book, I encountered a quote that made me question humans of the time, and even humanity, it was like this:

“They don't belong anywhere. Colored folks wont have them because they're half white; white folks won't have them because they're colored, so they're just in-betweens, don't belong anywhere. “ (215)

Totally agree, at least with the humanity of that time

   This quote refers to the mixed people, the ones born from white and black folks. This phrase grabbed my attention since it clearly expresses the racism that is held in Maycomb. In my personal opinion the color discrimination is completely wrong and inhumane. I just simply don't understand the difference between black and white people that people saw back in that time. For me it's illogical

to distinguish people from something so insignificant like skin color. What happens if you were black? Were you nothing? Were you even human in the white eyes? Where was humanity in that time?

I also found a quote that has flawless characterization usage:

“As Atticus’s fists went down to his hips, so did Jem’s, and as they faced each other I could see little resemblance between them: Jem’s soft brown hair and eyes, his oval face and snug-fitting ears were our mother’s, contrasting oddly with Atticus’s graying black hair and square-cut features, but they were somehow alike.” (203)

  Harper Lee used such a perfect descriptive language in this sentence that it made both characters, Jem and Atticus have intense characterization. This allows the reader to feel they know the character a whole lot more and that way establish a much deeper connection with it. The ability of Harper Lee to describe characters with such immense amount of detail is surprising and it adds deepness to the story making it more reader-friendly and more interesting. 

"To Kill a Mockingbird" is a book that with a simple topic is able to create a story filled with

For Atticus to win the case is almost as
unlikely as this

intrigue, love, family and with a sense of home. I am more than eager to keep reading to find out what happens with the trial, Tom Robinson and Atticus. Even as unlikely as it is, I really hope Atticus is able to win the case and be proud of being a Nigger-Lover.  

  

The Nigger-Lover

  As I continue to flip the pages of the amazing novel "To Kill a Mockingbird", the lives of Scout, Jem and Atticus continue to develop, this time introducing the conflict of the story.
With Jem and Scout receiving strange gifts in a tree hole near the Radley place, which later stopped since Mr. Radley filled up the hole with cement and snow beginning to drop around the neighborhood. With Christmas and its problems (specially for Scout) and the term nigger-lover dearly attributed to Atticus and his case on defending a Negro. With fire burning the house of Miss Maudie, a neighbor, a dog gone wild walking on the streets, with Jem and Scout having to read to Mrs. Dubose for an entire month because of a lost of temper Jem had and the death of this mentioned
lady, the story continues ending with the first part of the book and starting part two.
These last read pages mentioned several times the term nigger lover and its effects on the Finch family, mostly Jem and Scout. Since Atticus has been assigned the case of defending a Negro named Tom Robinson against a very powerful white family, he is now being called a nigger lover. This is a term that makes Jem and Scout terribly mad and makes them go out of their minds, which leads to fights between family, neighbors and classmates from school.
As the conflict of the story is introduced and is slowly developing, the interest and suspense of the novel builds up at the same speed leading to further mysteries, issues, consequences and solutions.

While I was reading this book I encountered several quotes I found essential lessons we need to apply on our daily life, however the one I found the most compelling was the following:

"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win." (101)

   First of all, this quote made me stop and think for a while since it connects to some things my

parents used to tell me all the time when I was younger: knowing you're probably going to lose is not an excuse to not try to win and try your very best without minding who you're playing against. Furthermore, I am impressed by the way Atticus teaches his children, mostly Scout about life. He shows them so many important things about the way they should be and the way they should behave in order to be successful in the parts that matter about life. However, even if he teaches them this, he sti8ll allows them to be who they are and have their very own personalities, as rare as they may be. I find all of these qualities Atticus has essential for a father and that is what makes him such a fascinating character to me.

In addition to my comments on Atticus teachings above, I found a quote that builds up with this idea, it goes like this:

"This time we aren't fighting the Yankees, we're fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they're still our friends and this is still our home." (102)

This quote is referencing to the trial that is being held against Tom Robinson, the Negro. Atticus is the lawyer that defends Tom, however, his colleagues are the lawyers that defend the white and powerful family. Because of this Atticus is being offensively called a Nigger-Lover. Going back to

my previous point on Atticus teachings, I believe this one is a lesson that shows how nothing is more important than family and friends. By the author writing this phrase as something Atticus is telling Scout, she allows the reader to connect deeper with the character and learn a lot from him.

To conclude this post I want to state one single quote that grabbed my attention for the confusion it brought to my mind, the quote indicates the following:

"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit them, but remember, it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (119)

To Kill a Mockingbird

"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is known as a highly acclaimed classic of literature and a must read by anyone. Even though in the beginning of any book the conflict is never introduced, in this prize winning novel interest is built up since the very first page.

It all begins in Maycomb, a Southern American country, with two siblings, Jem Finch and Jean Louise Finch  AKA: Scout Finch and their father Atticus Finch. Atticus is a lawyer, a very respected one there in Maycomb. Through the first pages of the book we get to know Dill, a boy who became as close to them as family. He visited Maycomb every summer as soon as class ended, which marked the start of countless adventures and fun. The lives of Jem, Scout, Dill and Atticus are not yet to be considered extraordinary or rare, they are rather seen as normal. Nevertheless, this perception sets aside one small detail: the Radley Place and Boo Radley. This place is terrifying and its inhabitants are just as equal. Boo Radley is a human being who is said to never leave his house and who is known for eating cats.
    After school ends and Dill arrives, Jem, Scout and Dill prove each other's bravery by making challenges on things regarding the Radley Place. The dares begin with complete simplicity; making Jem touch the front door of the place and start getting more and more threatening as summer time passes by; acting as Radley members, sending letters to Boo Radley and more. Atticus, as any father, was in complete disagreement with this sort of "games" the children were playing and unsuccessfully attempted to stop them. On the other hand, the kids got more excited each time the challenges were closer to the Radley Place and death, with the exception of Scout. She was afraid and at times eager to stop what they were doing, for which she got excluded from the group and was forced to be with either Calpurnia their made or their neighbor.
     The last game exposed in the pages I read was to take a look at Boo Radley. Scout was admitted in this plan with the condition of keeping quiet about what was going to happen. Everything was going as planned for Jem, Scout and Dill until a shadow approached them and a gunshot was heard. In the middle of the commotion they ran away as fast as they could and in the process Jem lost his pants, which led to him inventing an excuse to tell Atticus who had perfectly heard the shot. Jem, Scout and Dill got away with it, however, all of them, especially Jem, got threats of death by Boo Radley.
     

Here are Scout, Dill and Jem

   Just flipping the first pages of this novel I encountered an appealing and very real quote that stated the following:

   "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around it." (39) 

     This phrase is in my opinion an enormous life lesson we all learn at some point in our lives. Yes it’s easy to judge another person's thoughts, actions and behaviors, but no, it is not logical to do so without first knowing why they do, think or act the way they do. I am in complete agreement with this quote, for it takes us to a much more global thinking of life and humans. People tend to critique others based on their principles; however, every single human being has its reality and its morals. This quote also made me question: If we are who we are and others are who they are, then why do people keep insisting to deny setting for a moment in the authenticity of others, in order to then draw conclusions on them instead of judging others from one's reality? 

Another quote I found very interesting in terms of description was the following:

"The nightcrawlers had retired, but ripe chinaberries drummed on the roof where the wind stirred, and the darkness was desolate with the barking of distant dogs." (76) 

In this small sentence of the book, the author manages to instantly transform letters into an image in the reader's mind. You can sense the intensity of the night ahead of Scout and you can even feel a little fear and loneliness coming out of it. The barking of the dogs, the wind, and the desolate darkness allow you to position yourself in the middle of the scene occurring in this particular moment. Harper Lee, with something as simple as a sentence, created a magnificent way to add a connection and to add deepness to the story, which I find to be impressive.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" is on the top charts of reading books and even if it hasn't fully expressed its magnificence through letters to me yet, I am sure it will in a very short while. In this few introductory pages suspense, intrigue and excitement has been already shown. With adventures and dangers, family and friends, the story begins developing right in front of me. I am eager to find out more about all characters of this novel and their lives and conflicts. There is only one way of doing so: flipping each page with more and more enthusiasm and eagerness to never seize my interest thanks to the book's suspense.