Friday, October 28, 2011

What are a few lessons that could be learned from the entire book TKAM other than lessons about the racism found in Maycomb?

Another lesson is one of conformity.  Boo Radley refused to conform to his father's beliefs, and the result was that his father contributed to his isolation and pain.  Nathan Jr. showed his willingness to continue that by cementing up the tree, but dangers of conformity is repeated through many different characters other than Boo.

Scout is berated for learning to read because it does not conform with the expectation that *school* should teach her that.  She's different from her classmates; therefore, something's wrong.

Dolphus Raymond doesn't conform by having a family with a black woman, and he must pretend to be the town drunk to avoid a confrontation with racists who would otherwise see a sober white man as too good for a black woman.

Jem conforms to the norms at school and tells Scout that while they'll continue to play together at home, she'll see that school is just different.

Even the Tom issue can be seen in terms of conformity.  Tom broke the norms of that society... he felt sorry for a white woman (which implied he felt superior to her).  By doing this, he made himself a target for those who want to maintain the status quo (namely that blacks are inferior and cannot ever feel sorry for whites)

No comments:

Post a Comment

In Act III, scene 2, why may the establishment of Claudius's guilt be considered the crisis of the revenge plot?

The crisis of a drama usually proceeds and leads to the climax.  In Shakespeare's Hamlet , the proof that Claudius is guilty...