For students, one of the perfect leisure activities of all time is to read.
One of the perfect lockdown activities is to read even more. One of the most topical subject of our generation to read about is race and racism. And one of the best books about this matter of contention is To kill the mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Receiving mixed opinions, the controversial part of the novel is the exposition, which, to some – even the supporters, being too insipid, slow and seemingly unrelated to the plot.
Placed on the baby character, the view point of the story results in the gradualness of this part. Yet, in order to keep the story as neutral and objective as possible, the narrator can be neither Atticus nor Jem. Not only because the story is not a lecture about whiteness study from Atticus’ perspective, but also because of the irreparable motherhood in Jem, who, in some brief moments, vaguely doubts about himself and his father. This, however, illustrates our mistrust in the activists and their movements worldwide when things get tough and the sacrifice seems too costly, as we – just like Jem – have our own irreparable ideal of fairness and peacefulness. Scout, therefore, is the only one whose heart made of unconditional love – one that goes beyond any racial and political ideologies – for her father, unconditionally.
For students, one of the perfect leisure activities of all time is to read. One of the perfect lockdown activities is to read even more.
Anh-Hoang
Exploiting the theme of wars, choosing a candid narrator is the key to the success of the work and a child – for both sides – always plays the role of both the victim and the hope. Since for them there is nothing such as natural and immutable right and wrong, but only something that convinces them to believe and maintain that belief.
For me, for Scout, the only thing that convinces her is the faithful love for her father. Hence, To kill a mockingbird is not a classic that celebrates the victory of the blackness, because the blackness in the story did not win. Instead, what makes the work a classic is the love of family, no matter what war is going on in the outside world.
A work with a similar motif: The boy in the striped pajamas by John Boyne