Tuesday, September 30, 2014

End of Book (28-End)

You've reached the end.

You may blog about whatever you choose...

OR

Often To Kill a Mockingbird is criticized for its disconnect between part one and part two. How do you feel about the two seemingly separate parts?

OR

Is justice reached at the end of the novel?

34 comments:

  1. I overall liked both parts of the book. They are a little disconnected but have 2 main themes going on. First, they are both about judging people.In part 1 Boo is judged for not coming out of his house and in part 2 they judge Tom for being black. They are two completely different people, but also the same because they did nothing to get picked on. Also, they are alike because it is about Jem and Scout growing. You see how much they progressed as they got older. The older they get, the wiser. Lastly, you see the two things connected. In part 1 they are young and believe all the rumors about Boo and even judge him themselves. However in part 2 they are curious about Tom. They wondered if he really did it, and didn't judge him like everybody else did. You saw he they really got more mature about judging in the different parts.

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  2. I think that part one and part two are connected in a way. Part one is about the children obsessing over Boo Radley and the second part is about the trial. These two topics seem disconnected but they both have the same theme; don't judge a book by its cover. Both sections of the story are about people assuming things about one another and those assumptions are false. They think that Boo Radley is a scary man but in reality he's a timid boy-man. He asks a 9 year old girl to walk him home in the dark! Tom is accused of rape although all evidence is pointed to innocence; but he's still convicted due to his skin color and all the things white people assume about black people/men.

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  3. I liked both parts of the book. even though they did get confusing sometimes, I liked the way they came together at the end. out if both parts, I liked the second half. I liked it better because with the trial going on, everything was so intense. I thought the beginning was kind of boring.

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  4. I think the book was challenging and boring at some parts but overall had a good message. I think that it is such a good book because everyone takes that message differently. They either think about how good of a father Atticus was or that the people you think are the strangest are also the nicest. Although Boo Radley is strange he saved Scout and Jems life. But, Bob Ewell was also very strange and proved to be insane. So it showed that you have to give everyone a chance even though it doesn't always work out the way you thought it would.

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  5. I think the difference between the first part of the book and the second is that Scout and Jem grew up. Scout used to run around acting like a kid with her brother doing the same but towards the end Scout has matured and became more of a lady when she was with her aunt and by how she was addressing Boo and how Jem has matured by acting a little more wise and more protective over Scout . Also, I liked the story Atticus reads at the end of the book called "The Gray Ghost" where everyone thought the Stoner's boy was messing up their club house but he never did anyone of those things and proved to be a nice guy. This makes me think of Boo because Scout and Jem thought Boo was insane and ate squirrels to survive but when Scout finally meets him she gets the impression that he is actually a very nice guy. Also, how Atticus explains that most people are nice when you finally see who they are which teaches Scout you can't judge a book by its cover.

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  6. My first question is what is a haint? My second thought is why was Heck Tate so persistent on saying Bob Ewell fell on his knife? Was he trying to defend Jem or Boo? Also why did everyone know what Boo looked like if he never left his house or was never seen by anyone? I feel that the two parts combine really nicely. It is a surprising set up that the story leads up to Jen breaking his arm. I was imaging Jem breaking his arm in a much more subtle way rather than almost being killed by Bob Ewell. However, I think it's sad that Tom had to die because everyone in town knew Bob Ewell was crazy and he could have been convicted of the crime and Tom could have been saved. Overall I really liked the story of the book and the two different parts. It made the plot more interesting by leading up to a simple memory like Jem breaking his arm. I also really like the ending with Scouts and Boos interaction. I liked reading their dialogue and friendly relationship.

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    1. I agree with Jillian. I was also very confused about why Heck Tate kept saying that Bob Ewell fell on his knife. I thought that Boo Radley stabbed him in the ribs with the knife in order to save Jem. I also agree with Jill when she says how everyone knew how Boo looked like even though he never left his house or nobody has ever seen him. I feel like the two parts of the book actually compliment each other really well. In the first part, Boo Radley and his family were the primary focus. In the second part, the trial and the Ewells were the primary focus. It all ends up going together because Boo Radley finally appeared in person and we were able to get to know how he looks like a bit better. The two parts connected because in the end, Boo Radley saved Jem and Scout's lives from Bob Ewell who was trying to attack and probably kill them.

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  7. The split between the two parts in the book came together very nicely in the end. I was also confused like jillian about the way Heck Tate kept saying over and over again how Bob Ewell fell on the knife. I think that he knew the truth but that he was just trying to protect the kids because he new bob deserved it. Also i like how after a couple minutes scout finally realizes that the man standing in her living room is actually Boo Radley, and finally understands that Boo Radley is a real person and thatches actually very nice and theres no reason to be scared of him. Scout realized that Boo isn't the ghost he's told to be he's actually a real sincere man. So overall i think that the beginning and the school scenes with the kids really ties the story together in the end with the parents and how everything plays out.

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    1. I agree with Gigi. I was also confused about why Heck Tate was saying that the only way that Bob died was that he fell on the knife. I thought that Boo Radley stabbed Bob to save Jem. Also, I agree with Gigi that scout finally realizes that the man standing in her living room is actually Boo Radley. Everyone in Maycomb thought Boo was a creep. Jem and Scout was interested and wanted to believe he was a real person. Through out the book Boo was watching them, giving them gifts, and now saved their lives. It was nice to read that Scout got to see Boo in person. He's not a ghost but a really nice guy.

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  8. Overall, I really quite enjoyed this book. I think that the two parts were connected in how Scout and Jem and Dill were always trying to see Boo Radley in the beginning and in the end, after they had given up, they finally do see him. Ever since the beginning of the story, Boo was always watching over them, giving them things, and at the end, even saving their lives. I think Boo Radley is really a very admirable character. He does all these little things for Jem and Scout, like giving them things in the tree and giving Scout a blanket, and they gave him nothing in return. Yet, he still decided that they were worth it. I liked how at the end, he asks Scout to walk him home and after he has gone in his house, Scout sees what he has been seeing for the past few years. I also think it was a very interesting way to think about what had happened; how Boo had been seeing Scout and Jem as his own children. I think that this is why he wanted to pet Jem's head before he left their house for good, and why he wanted Scout to walk him home. I feel like Boo wanted to let them know he was always there and had been all along. Petting Jem was his way of telling himself, it's okay, your child is okay, and having Scout take him home was him showing her that he meant no harm, only to be her friend. He is a character who was always looked like as the Gray Ghost was in Atticus's story. Everyone thought he was doing bad things for the town, saying he watched Miss Stephanie in her sleep, etc., when in reality, he was watching over the people in the town, particularly Jem and Scout. Mr. Arthur Radley was the same man from the beginning of the book to the end. He never changed. What changed was the views that people had about him. In the end, he was finally shown justice for his good deeds, by being given positive attitudes towards him for once in his life. It seems like all he ever wanted was for Jem and Scout to be safe and know he was there for him, and he finally got this justice in the end.

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  9. Now that the book came to a conclusion I feel justice was reached. I have this opinion because every problem that played out through the novel seemed to fall into place in the last few chapters. Mr. Bob Ewell had died. When Heck Tate came to get the full story of how Bob Ewell died he kept repeating that Bob fell on his own knife that, because of his weight, plunged through his ribs. I feel he kept repeating this point because as he said, "Low down skunk with enough liquor in him to make him brave enough t kill children. He'd never have met you face to face." Heck Tate knew that justice was served for Bob Ewell, he got what he deserved and Jem should not have to be charged because of a unintelligent man's decision to try to kill him. I also feel that justice in the book was reached when Scout met Boo Radley. The rumors of Boo were suddenly cleared when she got to meet the true guy hiding behind those walls. Scout learned that he is really a nice guy who has good intentions. He looked after Scout and Jem for all those years and she felt sorry that she never re-payed him. In my opinion justice was reached at the end of this novel.

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  10. While the book did have a large contrast between the two parts, I feel that the last few chapters brought them together. By introducing Boo Radley into the story, the first part of the book was connected to the second part. In the first part of the book, the Radleys were a primary focus. In the second part, the court case and the Ewells were the primary focus. When Boo Radley appeared in person, he connected the two parts by helping to save Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell. Therefore, while the two parts were different, the last few chapters tied them together.

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  11. I think that Boo's appearance at the end of the book shows Scout's (and Jem's) growth between the two parts. The first part takes place before Scout is matured by her experiences with Ms. Dubose, the trial and the general segregation within the town based on race. She is innocent and immature, and is slow to understand intangible concepts like empathy or compassion. This is reflected in her idea of Boo Radley as a sort of boogeyman character, to be feared but also observed like an animal at a zoo. However, in the early stages of part two she learns a lot about life, between Ms. Dubose, the trial, and Atticus's general wisdom. When she finally meets Boo Radley, he is a frail, harmless man that deserves compassion. I think she really grew when she stood on the porch and understood Boo's point of view. The book is separated into parts to show the two stages of her growth, which I think was a very smart way to present the main focus of the book, her development as a person, as opposed to the trial.

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  12. I believe that the two parts are connected by a similar theme. The whole book is centering around the idea of not judging and making assumptions about other people without even knowing them. In part 1, you saw how Jem and Scout were centered around the idea of Boo Radley and how odd and weird he was. In part 2, the town was judging Tom Robinson about the rape he was said to have done. They were judging him based off of his race. Overall, the books theme is on how society judges people without getting to know them. Harper Lee not only connected it to a theme in the book, but it also connects with what happens in the modern world. Society judges other constantly and it will not stop. It is just one of those things I think people will do forever.

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  13. I thought the book was really good. At first it wasn't too interesting, but when the trial came along, it was enjoyable to read. I kept wanting to read more and more to see what was going to happen. I wonder why Heck Tate defended Bob Ewell so much in court, and then when he dies, he doesn't really care. They were obviously friends, so one would think that he would be upset that his friend died. Heck probably knew that Bob was lying and that he was abusive, which could be why he didn't make a big deal about his death. I'm happy with the way Boo Radley made his way back into the book. It showed that he isn't a crazy person and that he is actually quite helpful.

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  14. I feel that the book brings out its overall theme and message at the end. Scout starts explaining the book that Atticus was reading to her just to prove that she heard what he said. When Scout repeated back the events, she noticed that the message of that book was that you can hear rumors about people and believe its true, but until you see the actual person and experience time with them you won't know how they truly are, and in that experience the person was nice. It seemed that as she continued to explain it, she found that it related to the town and Boo Radley. Atticus' remark about most people being nice once you finally see them, makes it all the more obvious to relate the two stories. Another theme that was shown at the end was how Scout realized that Atticus was right, "you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them." It's a common theme shown throughout life and what's stated is true. To fully understand what people see in their life and why they react to it a certain way, you need to be like them for some time. The perspective that you can get from being someone else is so surreal. It relates to Slam. In Slam, Sam didn't understand how everything was going to work out with Alicia being pregnant. So when he went to the future he got to experience the different perspective. Even though he was still himself, he understood everything that was going on more than just the way it was going to happen. Just from Scout standing on the porch, she also saw that different perspective.

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  15. The most important theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is the book’s exploration of the moral nature of human beings. That is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. The novel approaches this question by making Scout and Jem’s transition from a perspective of childhood innocence, in which they assume that people are good because they have never seen evil, to a more adult perspective, in which they have confronted evil and must incorporate it into their understanding of the world. As a result of this portrayal of the transition from innocence to experience, one of the book’s important subthemes involves the threat that hatred, prejudice, and ignorance pose to the innocent: people such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are not prepared for the evil that they encounter, and, as a result, they are destroyed. Even Jem is victimized to an extent by his discovery of the evil of racism during and after the trial. Whereas Scout is able to maintain her basic faith in human nature despite Tom’s conviction, Jem’s faith in justice and in humanity is badly damaged, and he retreats into a state of disillusionment.

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  16. I feel that the two parts are different in a way but connect towards the end. In the first part it explains the circumstance about Boo Radley and how he never leaves his house. In addition it explains how Scout and Jem live their lives day by day, while in part 2 it concentrates more on the trial and many effects that occurred due to it. For example, Tom was found guilty and was shot trying to escape prison. Also it talks about Bob Ewell trying to seek revenge on Atticus. Although towards the end of the novel they all seemed to somewhat connect at the end because it shows how Boo actually cares Scout and Jem due to the fact that he saved their lives even though they bugged him to no end trying to get him to come out. Also the two parts connect because it comes together created by the general theme of the story.

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  17. I enjoyed the two parts. I thought it to be very clever in advancing the plot quickly. The first part if the story offered a brief time in the life of two siblings and how they lived in a small southern town. As well as their obsession with their neighbor. The second part dramatically changed into these siblings seeing how the real world was and how their time period effected the thoughts and actions of the people around them. Overall these two separate parts defined the personal life of two siblings and then how they saw as well as learned from the events of the world around them.

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  18. I think this book is a great way for students to be able to connect to different parts of the book. The two seperate parts of the book is a great idea because when reading the book kids can connect with Scout and how she is dealing with her challenges. Then people can also connect with things that happen during the trial such as what it's like for Atticus and how he feels in his point of view. In the end I liked how both parts kind of joined together to create an overall feel of the all of the conflicts that went on. Also without the both parts the book wouldn't have been so interesting because this way we can see how adults deal with things and how kids deal with them. And overall everyone deals with situations using all kinds of different methods. This book was a good way to reach this point across.

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  19. I feel that the two different parts help you understand the plot and the characters. In the beginning you learn a lot about Scout and Jem. But in part two you get to know Atticius's character, what type of father he is and the type of people he wants his kids to grow up to be. You also get to see Scout and Jem grow up. Mostly Jem how he tries to take care of Scout and protect her. Putting the two different parts made for a better book to read, If it was only focused on Boo or the court house then the lesson of the mocking bird wold not have been as prominent. Also the two parts are connected in the end with the explanation of Jem's brocken arm and Scout finally meeting the infamous Boo Radley.

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  20. Yes, justice was met at the end of the book. When Scout says "Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird..." The sheriff says that Ewell killed himself when in actuality it was Boo. It would be like killing a mockingbird to send Boo to jail for murder. I like how much the title tied into the meaning of the story.
    It also greatly impacted me because of how, you never know a person until you walk in their shoes. (As Atticus says to Scout in the story.) This book has many different themes and is a good book to learn from.

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    1. Scout was in Boo Radley's position when she was on his porch. She saw things in his point of view, from that angle. ^*^*^

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  21. I like how there are two different parts in the book. In the first part they're younger and the whole idea is them and Boo Radley. In the second part it totally changes and it's all about Tom Robinson and the trial. In this way, I can see how people don't like it. Although, at the very end of the book, when Scout connects the ideas it all makes more sense. I really like how she looks back to what's happened over the past years at the end of the second part. If there wasn't that connection between the two parts then I can understand why people don't like it, but they're so different that it's just be awkward not to separate them.

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  22. I think that both parts of the book needed one another to use each other to form the overall message. In part one there was a lot of drama but with family, friends, and school. While the second half had more drama about the trial that Atticus was obviously heavily involved in. Although both parts needed one another, they each were about their own thing which had complimented one another. Some ways that had shown that one another had been different is that in part one a lot of obsession with Boo Radley had gone on, but in the end was the one to save them. Another thing was that Atticus was sometimes portrayed as not a good father and people would call him things such as that kid Cecil, but in the trial he did his best and showed people what the obvious choice was, but its not his fault he cant change the way black men are represented and seen as in that time or in Maycomb. But also by Scout telling about old times and almost having like an over view of her past, it showed how things all came to be and came together. But most importantly, to show the message by using the book name "To Kill A Mockingbird" and how significant it actually really was.

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  23. The two sections of the book are completely different and I needed to be so. The first section was more of the backgrounds and social classifications of the families and the children. The second section was more of the actual way in which people act toward different people. Without the first section we wouldn't have known who or what Boo Radley is abou

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    1. Boo radley is about and why he acts a certain way. The second part needs the first part because it informs the reader of all the social and economic classes and standards in the town of Maycomb.

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  24. I think that the disconnect between parts one and two was more or less necessary because not a lot of things were talked about in part two that occurred between parts one and two. The gap is to simply fast-forward and age the younger characters and accelerate Scout's education so that the author can make a connection between it and the trial with the Hitler lesson. I think that the death of Mr. Ewell is not like as other people said ^ and it does not give a meaning to the phrase "To Kill a Mockingbird". I think that it just draws a conclusion to the story and brings to that justice has more or less been served.

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  25. I think the first part was about how Jem and Scout did many things little kids would do out of curiosity, like going to Mr. Radley's house all the time, which was wrong to do. Also, how they held an impression of Boo that he was a crazy man who rarely leaves his home. By the end of the book, Jem and Scout has grown so much and learned from their experiences. Scout actually saw that Boo wasn't crazy at all, he was actually a nice guy. I liked how during the course of the book the two siblings learned a lot, especially about their obsession to their neighbor Boo Radley.

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  26. Justice a defined in many ways. One of these is the administration of merited awards or punishment. To say that justice was served by the people in true in this sense. Even though it wasn't society as a whole that killed Ewell, it was someone outside of the law. Ewell basically killed Tom Robinson ever since he called Sherriff Heck Tate, and now he was killed by Boo Radley out of protection for another being. The other meaning of justice is the administration of the law. In this meaning, justice was not served because Boo Radley is not from the law and would be sent to court for a case on possible murder or self defense. If this was to happen, I have no doubt Atticus would take the case.

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  27. I believe that the 2 parts are connected because of the message that Harper Lee is trying to put out. In the 1st part scout and jem both judge people but to them its normal and inthe second part judging is show in the case when Tom is put to death because he is black because there was no solid evidence of him having raped Mayella. The two parts are connected because e they both show how society not only judges silently because it is human nature but they also judge publicly because it is something that has always been done

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  28. After going through this rather unusual part of their lives. I feel that Jem and Scout swill be strong once they get older. They will know right from wrong because of Atticus and they will know the dangers that discrimination can provide if it is not taken care of completely. It is best to accept each other the way they are because some things can never be changed no matter how hard that they try.

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