I was a teenager when I first saw this book in my classmate’s hand. I asked her what does the title mean? Do I need to read between the lines to understand it? She was a blunt one and quickly retorted,”What does mocking mean?” . I replied being the meek one ,”making fun of someone.” She then added,” so make out the meaning now.”I put up the pieces together and came to the conclusion that the title means ,’ how to tackle someone who is making fun of you’.
It was not until I was 23 years old and purchased the book for myself and read it page after page , that I came to know that the book was much more deeper than what I thought it to be. The protagonist of the book is the best father any child can have. The book in itself is a Bible for moral teachings. The author has so vividly described the childhood of the two kids that the reader is bound to reminisce about his childhood while turning the pages. The children running to the corner of the street to escort Atticus when he comes back from work, Scout not wanting to go to school ,Dill running away from his house,the children boasting about running as close as possible to the scary neighbor’s front yard and the stories about the neighbourhood monster.Harper Lee’s humor is subtle but an observant reader would admire its depth. Only a literary genius can write,” Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."
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The book very well describes that how the events which we witness in our childhood shape our outlook for the rest of our life. It exemplifies how adults are more or less resposible for setting examples for the children. Scout and Jem learn some valuable life lessons while growing up ,not only from their father but from their neighbors and even from their Black maid Calpurnia. Atticus makes Jem go to read to their cranky neighbor Mrs Dubose as a punishment for destroying her Camellias. But it is only after Mrs Dubose passes away , Atticus reveals the real reason behind it. When Jem becomes perplexed as why his father wanted him to read to a morphine addict? And even so, why did Mrs Dubose in her very last days wanted to quit her morphine addiction ? Atticus says ,” 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 licked before you begin but you begin anyway…you rarely win, but sometimes you do. Atticus further explains that as Mrs Dubose was old,terminally ill and was about to die soon , she could have continued with her addiction to ease the pain , but she chose otherwise , she wanted to die unattached to anything or anyone and she succeeded.
In an another incident, when Atticus shoots a crazy dog in their neighbourhood and Scout is numb with surprise as till that point the children weren't aware about Atticus's knowledge of shooting with guns.Miss Maudie Atkinson tells her that ,”people in their right minds are never proud of their talents.”
The children even learn something when they visit Church with their maid Calpurnia.They notice that when Calpunia is at their house,she speaks in a more refined manner.At Church, while talking to her people , she is talking like them.Scout asks her," Why did you talk like them when you know better ?Calpurnia teaches her that people need to learn on their own ,and if they don’t want to learn , there is nothing you can do but to speak their language. Most people don’t like someone knowing more than themselves.
The list of these lessons is so big that it is a subject of another article.But the most important of all lessons Scout learns from Atticus is ,you cannot understand people unless you walk in their shoes. The book sure deals with the sensitive issue of racial discrimation in the olden days and the typical outlook of white people towards black people,but it has some real sweet moments which make it so adorable .I sure am in love with each and every page of this extraordinary book . The cheerful banter between Scout and Jem , Jem’s withdrawal into his own little world with the onset of teenage, the children’s anguish on the arrival of their Aunt , Scout’s rivalry with Calpurnia in the beginning.The book is a classic because it is written with the outlook of a child and you can admire it only when you have outgrown your childhood but still have those marvelous childhood memories in your heart.
So my friend , if you are reading this , specifically for you I am quoting Atticus ,” Kill all the bluejays you want but remember, it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.”Mockingbird in the book signifies the innocent people who are victims of society.In this case the black people who were exploited by the white people and this kind of exploitation my friend is a sin !
It was not until I was 23 years old and purchased the book for myself and read it page after page , that I came to know that the book was much more deeper than what I thought it to be. The protagonist of the book is the best father any child can have. The book in itself is a Bible for moral teachings. The author has so vividly described the childhood of the two kids that the reader is bound to reminisce about his childhood while turning the pages. The children running to the corner of the street to escort Atticus when he comes back from work, Scout not wanting to go to school ,Dill running away from his house,the children boasting about running as close as possible to the scary neighbor’s front yard and the stories about the neighbourhood monster.Harper Lee’s humor is subtle but an observant reader would admire its depth. Only a literary genius can write,” Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."
_02.jpg)
The book very well describes that how the events which we witness in our childhood shape our outlook for the rest of our life. It exemplifies how adults are more or less resposible for setting examples for the children. Scout and Jem learn some valuable life lessons while growing up ,not only from their father but from their neighbors and even from their Black maid Calpurnia. Atticus makes Jem go to read to their cranky neighbor Mrs Dubose as a punishment for destroying her Camellias. But it is only after Mrs Dubose passes away , Atticus reveals the real reason behind it. When Jem becomes perplexed as why his father wanted him to read to a morphine addict? And even so, why did Mrs Dubose in her very last days wanted to quit her morphine addiction ? Atticus says ,” 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 licked before you begin but you begin anyway…you rarely win, but sometimes you do. Atticus further explains that as Mrs Dubose was old,terminally ill and was about to die soon , she could have continued with her addiction to ease the pain , but she chose otherwise , she wanted to die unattached to anything or anyone and she succeeded.
In an another incident, when Atticus shoots a crazy dog in their neighbourhood and Scout is numb with surprise as till that point the children weren't aware about Atticus's knowledge of shooting with guns.Miss Maudie Atkinson tells her that ,”people in their right minds are never proud of their talents.”
The children even learn something when they visit Church with their maid Calpurnia.They notice that when Calpunia is at their house,she speaks in a more refined manner.At Church, while talking to her people , she is talking like them.Scout asks her," Why did you talk like them when you know better ?Calpurnia teaches her that people need to learn on their own ,and if they don’t want to learn , there is nothing you can do but to speak their language. Most people don’t like someone knowing more than themselves.
The list of these lessons is so big that it is a subject of another article.But the most important of all lessons Scout learns from Atticus is ,you cannot understand people unless you walk in their shoes. The book sure deals with the sensitive issue of racial discrimation in the olden days and the typical outlook of white people towards black people,but it has some real sweet moments which make it so adorable .I sure am in love with each and every page of this extraordinary book . The cheerful banter between Scout and Jem , Jem’s withdrawal into his own little world with the onset of teenage, the children’s anguish on the arrival of their Aunt , Scout’s rivalry with Calpurnia in the beginning.The book is a classic because it is written with the outlook of a child and you can admire it only when you have outgrown your childhood but still have those marvelous childhood memories in your heart.
So my friend , if you are reading this , specifically for you I am quoting Atticus ,” Kill all the bluejays you want but remember, it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.”Mockingbird in the book signifies the innocent people who are victims of society.In this case the black people who were exploited by the white people and this kind of exploitation my friend is a sin !
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