To Kill a Mockingbird : January 2013

The Trial - By Scout

Jem and I went to see the trial on Tom Robinson, Atticus was so confident during the whole thing, we were sure that he will win. But when they pronounced Tom guilty, I did not know what to think! I am still sure that he is innocent. It was obvious that Mayella Ewell was lying. I feel so bad for Tom. Why does the world have to be so unfair? He didn't deserve to go to jail. He said that he always helped Mayella whenever she asked him to. How can people be so ungrateful? Tom Robinson suffered great injustice but I also feel bad for my dad, who worked so hard on this case but still lost. This is so unfair. Atticus gave so much evidence towards Tom's innocence but no one listened to him. Jem is also very upset because of the jury's verdict. Each guilty was a separate stab between his shoulders, I think that Jem got more angry than me. I am hurt and so is my brother because of the jury's decision. It feels like a dream, like nothing of this didn't happen. Oh God, I wish it was all unreal. All I have to say is that Tom Robinson is innocent and he had been accused of being guilty wrongly.

The Halloween night that could have become my last one. - by Scout

A couple of hours ago I came back from school's Halloween play. Trust me, I was never as happy to come home as last night.Thanks to Jem and Boo Radley I am now alive and safe. Let me tell you what happened. Jem and I were walking home from school when suddenly my brother heard some noises. We first thought that it was Cecil Jacobs trying to scare us again. Then someone started runing after us. The costume I was wearing was very hard to move in, so I fell to the ground. I heard how Jem was fighting with someone and then I was pulled away. I tried to find Jem but I couldn't, so I started walking towards my house and saw a man carrying my brother. I didn't know who it was but then some time later I realized that it was the man we were creeped out by, a man who never really talked to us, a man who was the object of gossips and legends, a man who saved me and Jem - Boo Radley. The man who tried to kill us was Bob Ewll, father of Mayella Ewell. If it wasn't for Boo, I wouldn't be here. Thank you so much, Mr. Arthur Radley.

All it takes is kindness :) - By Scout

Yesterday, a group of men came to our house to tell Atticus that Tom Robinson has to move to the Maycomb jail. Jem got worried about Atticus, so we sneaked out of the house and followed our dad to the town center. Then we saw another group of men arguing with Atticus. I was so scared for my dad that I couldn't stand him being alone against that crowd. So I went there, dad told us to leave, but of course we didn't. I realized that that group of people was different from the one that came to my house (awkward). Then, I saw Mr. Cunningham and asked him to say "hey" to his son, he said he will. After that, he told everyone to leave and guess what? They did :D I was kind to him and in return he was kind to me. I am glad everything turned out well, that was easy, pheww...

Things are getting confusing around here... - By Scout

Atticus had told me that he is the lawyer if Tom Robinson, a black man who got accused of raping a white woman. I asked Calpurnia what 'rape' means but she wouldn't tell me. So then I asked my dad and he explained it to me but I still don't fully understand it :$ I guess it is something bad, since Tom Robinson has to go through a trial for it. What is really annoying is that as soon as people found out that my dad is helping him, we started getting these weird looks from people and some even whisper behind our backs. What is wrong with our dad helping that man? He might be innocent after all. I mean, if my dad decided to help him, he is probably sure of his innocence. We'll see what happens next...

Gifts from the Tree. - By Scout

One day, I was coming home from school and I saw a shining glimmer from the sunlight in the tree beside the Radley's house. I went to see what it was and I found a piece of gum. Jem asked me what I was chewing and when I told him, he told me to spit it out because of where I found it. From that day on, Jem and I started finding "gifts" in that tree hole. The things we found were another piece of gum, Indian-head pennies, a ball of grey twine, two figures carved in soap, that looked like Jem and I (well that isn't creepy :o), a medal, and lastly a pocket watch. When we would come back from school, we would always have something to look forward to, it was exciting to find all these little things in the tree hole. It was Boo, who gave them, we are sure about it. One day, we had seen that the hole was filled with cement. We asked Mr. Radley if he did it. He told us he had filled it because the tree was sick. We asked Atticus about it and he said that it looked perfectly healthy. I don't understand why Mr. Radley doesn't want us to be friends with Boo and he is making him even more unsocial. Jem and I were devastated and Jem even cried because he understood Mr. Radley's injustice towards Boo. I just wish he was more fair to him and never did it :'(

In Memory of Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose. - by Scout

Today my father, Atticus Finch told me that Mrs. Dubose had died, he also told me and Jem that she took morphine, just to feel less pain. Now, I understand why she wanted us to read to her so badly, she was able to forget about her pain for these couple of hours. Me and Jem always thought that she was just an evil old woman who had nothing better to do but insulting people. We knew that she was sick but we never realized how much pain she had to go through. Mrs. Dubose was a truly courageous woman. I now understand that you shouldn't judge people until you understand what made them the way they are. I will never forget her and how strong she was. Rest in peace, Mrs. Dubose, you are in a better place now.

Jem's punishment. - by Scout

Mrs. Dubose was so mean to me and Jem and she said bad things about our dad. Of course Jem couldn't stand her rudeness anymore, so he destroyed her flowers because he got so angry. Mrs. Dubose now wants him to read to her for a month! How crazy is that, I mean, that woman hates us and our family. How come Atticus doesn't understand that she hates him? I will come with Jem everyday to read to her because I am not leaving my brother alone with this woman! Jem has to do it, he doesn't have a choice. Well, what can I say to that? I just hope this month will be over soon :/

First day of school - definitely not the happiest day of my life. - By Scout

Most kids are excited for their first day of school. I never wanted to go there but it was still interesting to see what it is like. I guess school hates me as much as I hate it. My teacher, Miss Caroline, really has no idea how to deal with children. She was angry with me just because I knew how to read! She even hit me. I mean, where is her logic? I thought it's a good thing when you are able to read. But then Jem told me that it is the new way of teaching. Whatever. Though I kind of felt bad for Miss Caroline when she cried because of this boy in my class - Burris Ewell. He was sooooooooo rude to her. Anyways, I just really hope I don't have to go to school ever again. :(

To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies and Romeo & Juliet comparison. - By Kateryna

All of these books share one theme (though not necessarily main theme) - loss of innocence. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet goes from a young girl, who always obeys her father to a more mature young woman. In a very short period of time she falls in love, gets married in secrecy, and finally kills herself. In Lord of the Flies, the boys are well-raised British kids, who by the end of the book become deadly savages. They lose their innocence partially because they had to survive on the island alone, without any adults, but also because they killed two members of their group, two human beings (Simon and Piggy) and then hunted down the third one (Ralph). In To Kill a Mockingbird, we see how Jean Louise Finch (Scout) matures and learns her life lessons. So does her brother Jeremy Atticus Finch (Jem). One quote that shows how mature Jem becomes is the following: "It's like bein' a caterpillar in a cocoon, that's what it is, like somethin' asleep wrapped up in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that's what they seemed like." (Chapter 22). All three of these books focus on children/teenagers and losing innocence is the natural part of growing up.

Harper Lee - the author of To Kill a Mockingbird - By Kateryna

Harper Lee is an American author, who is best-known for her one and only published novel To Kill a Mockingbird. She was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. Lee studied law in the University of Alabama but she left it in 1950 and moved to New York. Her good friend was Truman Capote, who is best-known for his novel In Cold Blood (Lee also helped him with research for this novel). She finished the manuscript of To Kill a mockingbird in 1959, it was first published in 1960 and in 1961 the novel won the Pulitzer Prize Award. To Kill a Mockingbird also contains some of Lee's autobiographical details. One of them is that Scout, like the author, was the daughter of a small-town Alabama lawyer and another example is that Dill's character was inspired by Truman Capote, who was her childhood friend. Harper Lee only wrote one book, but it became an American classic and one of the best books ever written.