To Kill a Mockingbird
Nov. 19th, 2008 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackThis is an interesting one. It seems like everyone was forced to read it at school, and is mostly still annoyed about that, but about half of people think it's great, and half don't like it at all. (Or maybe no-one likes it but me and the education system, I forget.)
I just reread it. I noticed that when I last read it, my impression from reading it at school lingered, which is seeing everything from Scout's point of view. But now, I see everything from all the adults' point of view instead, which gives a fascinating binocular vision on all the events. I remember Scouts painful first lesson at school, but now I sympathise with the poor, young teacher which I never thought to do at the time; and see a lot of the narrative with the Radley house imagining what young Radley would have thought of it
In retrospect, the English lessons about it were reasonably good, I was just at a stage of objecting to analysing books on principle because all analysis seemed either obvious, or nonsense. A few small questions raised in class however still linger in my mind:
* Jem and Scout make a snowman out of mud and a thin coating of snow. I was told that was a metaphor, but obstinately refused to listen. What do you think? If so, which metaphor?
* A very unsavoury question. Mayella Ewell says she's never kissed a man. "What my pa does doesn't count." Is that referring to family affection or sexual abuse? It doesn't make any difference to the narrative, since she's awfully physically abused anyway. I thought the innocent reading made more sense, but the fact that line was there inclined the other one.
* Atticus reports Tom Robinson cutting and running from the jail he was sent to. "Seems to me he was tired of taking white men's chances." Is that true, or a mildly comforting lie to Scout on account of him being murdered by the guards and a story spun. (As always, when I first read it, I took the literal/simple reading.)
I just reread it. I noticed that when I last read it, my impression from reading it at school lingered, which is seeing everything from Scout's point of view. But now, I see everything from all the adults' point of view instead, which gives a fascinating binocular vision on all the events. I remember Scouts painful first lesson at school, but now I sympathise with the poor, young teacher which I never thought to do at the time; and see a lot of the narrative with the Radley house imagining what young Radley would have thought of it
In retrospect, the English lessons about it were reasonably good, I was just at a stage of objecting to analysing books on principle because all analysis seemed either obvious, or nonsense. A few small questions raised in class however still linger in my mind:
* Jem and Scout make a snowman out of mud and a thin coating of snow. I was told that was a metaphor, but obstinately refused to listen. What do you think? If so, which metaphor?
* A very unsavoury question. Mayella Ewell says she's never kissed a man. "What my pa does doesn't count." Is that referring to family affection or sexual abuse? It doesn't make any difference to the narrative, since she's awfully physically abused anyway. I thought the innocent reading made more sense, but the fact that line was there inclined the other one.
* Atticus reports Tom Robinson cutting and running from the jail he was sent to. "Seems to me he was tired of taking white men's chances." Is that true, or a mildly comforting lie to Scout on account of him being murdered by the guards and a story spun. (As always, when I first read it, I took the literal/simple reading.)
no subject
Date: 2008-11-20 11:09 am (UTC)<raises hand>
Not, I confess, that I can remember anything at all about it; but then that hardly sets it above most other stuff I read in school English lessons. The only texts I can remember anything more than the title of were Lord of the Flies and a couple of the usual-suspect Shakespeare plays, and in the latter case that's probably only because you hear of the same plays everywhere else and absorb the plots by osmosis. (Though LotF I did genuinely like and have since gone out and bought a copy to re-read for pleasure, which I think makes it actually unique among things I encountered in English lessons.)