To Kill a Mockingbird

Hmm...It was good writing, but I like my social commentary to be just a little subtle. Like when that passage about the Nazis and Miss Caroline saying how America was not like that, I thought, "Ugh, give me a break!" not because of the hypocrisy, but because this theme of hypocrisy was so obvious. And Atticus' long-winded speech was annoying, too.

 

I loved it but i just figured out scout was a girl I_I

 

Reffering to Kowae7's first post:

I'm sympathetic for you kowae7. I'm mixed and I still recieve racism, just like you. I don't hear it outloud but I definitely feel it and sometimes I just want to take action on it but sometimes its best to leave people in their ignorance. I believe karma will get them.

As for Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird" it was long and uninteresting as a whole but had some rather fluent hidden meanings beneath those words. I haven't read the book per se but it was covered in a presentation during class where we noticed that Harper Lee looked similar to our Language Arts/Literature teacher.

The movie to me was dull. In my opinion, I'm sorry if I offend anyone.

 

I found it a difficult book to read, not because of the content but the way it's written is just so confusing. I read about 2 pages and was lost.

 

I actually loved this book. There's a LOT of "between the lines" sort of refereces, and there is an overall lesson to the book.
Not many books are like that today, which is why I did't mind reading this in 8th grade and then again over the summer for 9th grade.

 

I read this book a long time ago, and loved it. I will admit, it is not a book for the light readers, as it covers many deep themes in its plot-line. A little bit of subtle political message is fine for most people, but when it's this blatant, there will always be someone to dissagree. I really enjoyed the character development and I always love a courtroom scene. (BTW, anyone ever read the old Perry Masons?) I really liked the writing style, the author did a good job of making her point to the reader while making it all go right over Scouts head, which I thought was a nice touch. And even though I wish Tom's trial had turned out differently, and even though I wish he could have made it through the book alive, I think it was a good piece of work and really drove the point home. It was one of the few books to make me cry. All in all, This is not a book I would recommend to just anyone.

 

I have always wanted to read this book and I can't say I regret. Granted, I had to read it for an English assignment, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I really don't like the racism though, and I really don't like the time skips in the book.
I must say that the movie was decent.

 

I haven't read the book or seen the movie in years, but I remember hating them. Not because it was some boring school assignment, I hated the novel and movie themselves. Tom Robinson, and other Black characters are plot devices, nothing more. Their only purpose is to glorify the hero Atticus. After the verdict in the courtroom scene, it's so strange, all the Blacks stand, and quietly stare at Atticus, honoring him for what he has done. They should be outraged! Insist the innocence of Tom! Storm the courtroom! But no. Only one race is the hero of this story, and that race is White.

 

This was one of those books that always appealed to me and I've been really wanting to read it- strangely enough, I can't remember the reason for wanting to in the first place.

I may read it at some point, a lot of my friends had to study it for english literature and their opinions were very varied, I studied Of mice and men of which I would NOT read just for fun so I want to know if To kill a mockingbird is any different. There must be a reason why they're classics though.

 

Mockingbird is so popular because of its supposed anti-racist message. I think people are scared to respond to it negatively. That or people are oblivious to the fact that the book is totally unrealistic.

 

I'm kind of confused. Can you explain to me in what ways it is unrealistic? Just being curious. :)

 

What I felt what was unrealistic about it was its Black characters. They're scared and helpless, they do not speak up, nor defend themselves.

A quote from Isaac Saney on To Kill a Mockingbird to sum up what I mean:

I've done a bit of searching and and found that Roger Ebert's review of the movie shares this view. I encourage all to read it.

 

I see your point. Thanx for clearing that up for me. :)

 

Do it just for Gregory Peck.

I'm Asian too. Some of the stereotypes are funny.

What could they do? They're being oppressed by racism and Atticus was the only one that stood up for them. Probably no other lawyer would take Tom's case.

 

This was the case. Atticus was the only decent lawyer who would be willing to put up with the gossip and BS due to his taking Tom's case. In the end, even though Tom was found "guilty", Atticus hit home and everyone knew who the real criminal was...

The end was the most exciting part simply because of the action and the funny coincidence with Scout and her costume... XDD

 

Yeah, I think so too. That was just awesome. My favorite character is Jem. lol, I had a crush on him for a bit after I read the book. Now, if I could only find a good guy that actually exists. :)

 

I thought the book dragged on but I did like the message. What I didn't like was how my classmates kept whining about it and how it was boring. I was never racist because of my family but there will always be racism.

Sigh.

 

Well, if you're asking if it is the worst book I have ever read then no (The Kite Runner) but it wasn't a very suspenseful book. I was interested in mostly all the parts but some parts just seemed like fillers. All in all, I give this book a one and a half thumbs up . . . that's all.

 

Oppressed does not equal defenseless, they could have stood up for themselves. As Ebert said in his review of the movie, the lack of any emotion or action after the conviction makes it clear that they're unwilling to fight back. The Black characters are essentially props.

 

They had emotion. They were grateful to Atticus for standing up for their rights and they were sad that Tom was convicted even though he obviously wasn't guilty. However, a person can have emotion without freaking out and causing damage. Honestly, if they had stormed the courtroom and formed an angry mob, than all the prejudiced white people would have chocked it up to them being black and they would have said that "you can never trust those kinds of people" and that "they knew something like this would happen. It just goes to show that you should never let a black person in the courtroom." (And I don't agree with that at ALL, just saying.) The people of the day didn't understand that they were people too. So, what I guess I'm trying to say is that I don't think that all the blacks were emotionless or only props for Atticus. I think that the black people showed immense strength and courage that only proved how human they were.