| Ending To Kill A Mockingbird |
Above are today's notes regarding the close of To Kill A Mockingbird, as well as the definition and application of the bildungsroman. We learned in class that a piece of literature classified as a bildungsroman is any story in which we witness the maturation of the protagonist, especially in a psychological, emotional, or moral sense. The obvious choice to assign as a protagonist is Scout, as she is the novel's narrator; however, I believe it would be foolish to deny Jem and Atticus equal billing. Scout's evolution is easy to track - we know she matures throughout the book by what she notices (and, ultimately, doesn't notice) in other people. We also see Jem's maturity coinciding with his pubescent stride into manhood, as well as Atticus' evolution as a parent.
The problem with identifying TKAM as a bildungsroman does not lie in identifying the characters, as well as the manners in which they mature; the problem lies in the conflict. We see Scout at war with so many forces surrounding her and her curious nature that actually challenge what she knows about the world at large. We could psychoanalyze her and say that she has a perpetual question which piques her curiosity (i.e. "Why did Momma have to die?") and that she hasn't let go of questioning since. We can also say that she is simply a precocious 6 (7...8...9...) year old who makes simple sense of the world and wonders why nobody else can just do the same. The reason why the trial of Tom Robinson bothers her so much is because, for her, the problem is concrete - the evidence exonerates him, therefore there is no case. The people of Maycomb do not agree, and therefore, conflict ensues. Same with acting like a girl, or wearing overalls versus dresses, or listening to her Aunt Alexandra versus Atticus, or understanding why Jem is so moody. Scout has a lot of conflict going on around her, but it doesn't affect her until she has questions about that trouble.
So, we have an archetypal curious child who does not see the world the way many others sees it, yet has a very clear 'black-and-white' concept of what she believes the world should be. Part of the reason why Scout is read this way is because Scout is telling this story in retrospect - as soon as Jem breaks his arm at the end of the book, a signal goes off for the reader...a little deja vu, if you will. We know Scout can reflect on her world in this way because she has learned from her experience, and shed her innocence in the process. It was easy for her to see the world in black and white because there wasn't much to hang around and complicate it. But, as soon as other truths come in to fulfill her curiosity, they immediately disrupt and clash with what she understands about the world, losing even more innocence.
Ah, what a wonderful book. It reveals the human condition of growing up, learning about all those nasty truths that our parents shield from us, and what it is like to finally face them, put all the information together, and realize that the world is not a nice place...that it is nasty, abusive, and full of lies that we sometimes tell ourselves. And yet, we also see that we are grateful for sunshine, for random acts of kindness, for human decency. We wonder how the beautiful and the ugly can coincide and exist in unity when they seem to clash so violently against each other. This, my students, is called growth. Flowers grow out of dirt. Beautiful can always emerge from the ugly. It is contradiction and confusion, but it is the truth of human reality.
Enough waxing poetic for me. Post if you have questions about today's discussion.
-Ms. B
The problem with identifying TKAM as a bildungsroman does not lie in identifying the characters, as well as the manners in which they mature; the problem lies in the conflict. We see Scout at war with so many forces surrounding her and her curious nature that actually challenge what she knows about the world at large. We could psychoanalyze her and say that she has a perpetual question which piques her curiosity (i.e. "Why did Momma have to die?") and that she hasn't let go of questioning since. We can also say that she is simply a precocious 6 (7...8...9...) year old who makes simple sense of the world and wonders why nobody else can just do the same. The reason why the trial of Tom Robinson bothers her so much is because, for her, the problem is concrete - the evidence exonerates him, therefore there is no case. The people of Maycomb do not agree, and therefore, conflict ensues. Same with acting like a girl, or wearing overalls versus dresses, or listening to her Aunt Alexandra versus Atticus, or understanding why Jem is so moody. Scout has a lot of conflict going on around her, but it doesn't affect her until she has questions about that trouble.
So, we have an archetypal curious child who does not see the world the way many others sees it, yet has a very clear 'black-and-white' concept of what she believes the world should be. Part of the reason why Scout is read this way is because Scout is telling this story in retrospect - as soon as Jem breaks his arm at the end of the book, a signal goes off for the reader...a little deja vu, if you will. We know Scout can reflect on her world in this way because she has learned from her experience, and shed her innocence in the process. It was easy for her to see the world in black and white because there wasn't much to hang around and complicate it. But, as soon as other truths come in to fulfill her curiosity, they immediately disrupt and clash with what she understands about the world, losing even more innocence.
Ah, what a wonderful book. It reveals the human condition of growing up, learning about all those nasty truths that our parents shield from us, and what it is like to finally face them, put all the information together, and realize that the world is not a nice place...that it is nasty, abusive, and full of lies that we sometimes tell ourselves. And yet, we also see that we are grateful for sunshine, for random acts of kindness, for human decency. We wonder how the beautiful and the ugly can coincide and exist in unity when they seem to clash so violently against each other. This, my students, is called growth. Flowers grow out of dirt. Beautiful can always emerge from the ugly. It is contradiction and confusion, but it is the truth of human reality.
Enough waxing poetic for me. Post if you have questions about today's discussion.
-Ms. B
RSS Feed