Main Themes of To Kill a Mockingbird

The main themes of To kill a Mockingbird would probably be the themes: Discrimination and Growing up, among other themes.

Discrimination is the most obvious theme of all - the Discrimination is seen between the Negroes and the White people, the Ewells and the other residents of Maycomb, as well as the Radleys and the Maycomb residents.

The discrimination against the Negroes can be seen with they are forced to sit in a separate court balcony, forced to live in a separate part of town, and use different facilities, etc.

The Ewells can be seen to be separated from the town - "She [Mayella Ewell] was as sad, I thought, as what Jem called a mixed child: white people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn't have anything to do with her because she was white. (Ref Pg 198)" as well as "Maycomb gave them [The Ewells] Christmas baskets, welfare money, and the back of its hand."

Next, the Radleys are portrayed as being antisocial and thus, the town is somewhat prejudiced against them for being different from everyone else, although more towards Arthur (Boo) Radley. "The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb."

Furthermore, Arthur Radley was believed to be a monster. This was further perpetrated by Miss Stephanie Crawford, who spread rumours that Boo Radley "looked at her" while she was sleeping. This shows that any difference which made a person stand out might also cause the town to be prejudiced against them. Furthermore, this prejudice lasted for a long time, as the town was unwilling to let go of their bigoted beliefs.

Quote: "Any stealthy crime committed in Maycomb were his [Arthur Radley] work. Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people's chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker's Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions." (Page 15.)

The second theme, The growth of Scout and Jem, can be seen throughout the story as Jem becomes disillusioned with the town after the trial and subsequent conviction of Tom Robinson. Although Scout does mature nearing the end of the book, she still maintains a slightly childish perspective on life. Furthermore, at the end of the book, Scout realizes how to look at life from some one else's point of view as she stands on the Radley Porch and comments on Boo Radley's life and perspective.

Newspapers.

Newspapers - We encounter them practically everyday either at home or at school. But how much thought do we devote to the humble newspaper?

The purpose of Newspapers is mainly to inform people. Of course, there are two major types of newspapers, each with their distinctive features. These two newspapers are the broadsheets and tabloids. Broadsheets have a large layout and inverted pyramid layout for major stories which places the most important information at the top of the page. Broadsheets mainly report on breaking news and international events. The tone is usually very formal and quite analytical. In contrast, tabloids focus more on visual pictures as well as very sensationalized stories, which mainly are human interest stories.

Furthermore, each section in the newspaper has a specific function to cater to a specific type of reader.

Lastly, there are also newspapers which fall into a "unclassified" catorgory, such as Singapore's Today, published by Mediacorp, which is given out for free, and contains snippets of news but with a tabloid layout. Today is also heavily sponsored by advertisers.

A Song - Strange Fruit

Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

This Song is composed by Billie Holiday, a black singer who was popular with both White people and Black people.

The song makes obvious references to Lynching - The fruit appears only in the South (Which was against the freedom of Negroes), it also has a few lines which refer to the Lynched Person - "The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth as well as Then the sudden smell of burning flesh"

The song is more poignant, as it only implies the Lynching, but it does not explicitly state it is a lynching. This increases the effectiveness of the Song as the listener automatically makes their own inference about the lyrics, so that the message is stronger. However, I also find the lyrics very poignant as it highlights the irony of "gallant south" since the message is conflicting - Gallant yet they bully and oppress others.

Comparison between Mississippi Burning and To KIll a Mocking Bird

Both TKaM and Mississippi Burning are set in the South during the same period - ie, after the American Civil War. Although specifically, Mississippi Burning is during the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi, and is loosely based of the true murders of three Civil Right Activists. TKaM could also be said to be loosely based off the Scottsboro Boys.

Mississippi Burning focuses more on the KKK and how they segregated and attacked Black People, specifically burning "black" churches as well as intimidating any blacks and preventing them from talking to the FBI about the missing Civil Right activists. The main examples cited in the movie are lynchings, burning of homes and houses, and beating informants. The other main method of intimidation was to place a burning cross near the house of whoever they wanted to intimidate as a warning.

TKaM however was more focused on general segregation of Negroes and also (to some extent) Human nature. This is emphasized when certain characters rejected the segregation of the Jews, but still supported segregating the Blacks. However, the book focused less on violent scenes, and focused more on day to day events in Maycomb.

However, this can be explained through the fact that Movies in general are more fast paced than books, so the movie would not focus on day to day events as the movie would be more boring. Furthermore, as Maycomb was described as an old and sleepy town, the likelihood of a Lynch Mob/Lynching occuring would very slim, despite the fact that a Lynching almost happened when Atticus was approached at the Jail.

However, in General, both Mississippi Burning and TKaM are focused on the same theme.

To Kill a Mockingbird - Ending of The story

Guiding Question - Did the ending of the novel surprise you? If you were the author would you have ended the story differently? Explain.

I think that if I was Harper Lee, I would still have ended the story in a similiar method, as the ending of the story encompasses several main points:

1. Appearance of Boo Radley
2. Death of Bob Ewell (End of the Conflict)

Therefore, the end of the story, also allowed for the closure of the main story arcs, being the Kindness of Boo Radley, and Bob Ewell's actions. The ending also shows how Boo Radley left the safety and comfort of his house to protect Jem and Scout, even though he might have endangered himself in the process. Also, the death of Bob Ewell ends the story on a calmer note. The last few sentences of the story, implies how Boo was actually like.

" 'An' they chased him 'n' never could catch him 'cause they didn't know what he looked like, an' Atticus, when they finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of those things ... Atticus, he was real nice....' " (Pg 287)

Lastly, the last sentence of the story, ends the story on a calm and peaceful note, with Scout falling asleep in bed.

To Kill A Mockingbird - Character Analysis

My favourite character in TKAM is Miss Maudie Atkinson. I find that her defining qualities are how she is very sharp tongued, and also quite sarcastic.

She is also very witty, and her sharp tongued comments usually force the other party to give in. For example, when Miss Stephanie Crawford told the town that she saw Arthur Boo Radley staring at her at night, Miss Maudie replied, "What did you do Stephanie, move over in the bed and make room for him? That shut her up for a while." (Page 51, Chapter V)

Furthermore, unlike other characters in the book, Miss Maudie treats Scout and Jem very fairly (like Atticus), and does not hide things from them. She also tries to teach them about how all people are equal. She might also be seen as teaching Scout and Jem many lessons throughout the events of the book. For example, when Jem was upset by the outcome of the trial of Tom Robinson, she reassures him that the town was taking baby steps to become less prejudiced. Also, when Scout is embarrassed of Atticus, Miss Maudie tries to convince Scout that Atticus is quite talented, although Scout is only convinced after Atticus shot Tim Robinson.

Also, Ms Maudie is very strong, as even after her house burned down, she still continued her gardening, and did not seem to be deeply affected be the event.

Chinese New Year and Other News!!

Today was the HCI CNY celebrations! usually, after the celebrations, we would go visit our primary schools. However, today, there was a bit of a problem as Henry Park Primary celebrations ended at 10. However, HCI celebrations ended at about 10.30. This meant that we couldn't visit our teachers this time...

Anyway, the celebrations were as usual. We had the Lion Dance, Chinese Orchestra Performance, Choir, a few games, etc. However, in my opinion, last years CNY celebrations were more lively compared to this years! A good thing is that a performance area was set up in the middle of the hall, so everyone could have a great view. It was a great idea!!