Author: Barnaby

Following a description of Mrs Merriweather that says she is the ‘most devout lady in maycomb’ she then is stereotypical a d racist about people with black skin. This is satirical because it us mocking the political correctness of the situation and showing the problems in a humourous manor.

The Radley place is displayed as supernatural and Gothic to put a feeling of mystery around Boo Bradley and the household. ‘Picket drunkenly guarded the front yard’ this description of how overrun the house is also gives an impression of supernatural forces guarding the house. Using words such as ‘darkened’ and phrase ‘once-white’ the writing strengthens its Gothic feeling.

From the passage around page 68:

Harper Lee creates sympathy for Boo Radley and uses him to show the beginning of adolescence in jem. Boo Radley (or as is suspected) uses the hole in a tree to communicate with the outside world. As he has been kept in for so long the whole of Maycomb has a bit of a vendetta against him and use him as a scapegoat even for when the weather is bad! As it has been so long for him to meet anyone else it feels cruel when the tree is filled up and he can no longer. Jem has started to become of an age where events don’t just pass by, but he actually feels emotional about it. We can see this because after he is coming back with Scout he stays outside and cries for a little.

In 1929 the wall street crash caused a great depression across the whole world. In america the stocks crashed and as everyone was selling them they became worth less and less. As it hit america, they started to demand repayment from Germany as they had loned money from the Dawes and the Young plan. This spread the depression further around the world. It links to ‘to kill a mockingbird’ because the book is set after the event. We know the farmers around had been hit the hardest out of everyone- as Atticus stated. Also the Ewell’s instead of paying in money instead with what they had (in Woodstock).

From a Swahili course on water poems at SOAS.

Ten lines on water and knowledge:

Roughness of carpet against silk slip skin on thigh,

Trembling, soft resemblance of the lifeless reflection from creek and sky,

A doubt of awakening strikes the connection deep through my wellbeing,

Deep under the skipping stones off the surface of the lake mirage, so freeing,

The year’s drought in Whale’s Valley leaves dried bones dispersed,

The drip drop is soaked up eagerly by soils thirst.

Knowledge begins to stream down into hands of the needy,

A ripple through man’s population as a seed, he-

Suffocates under rip tide and crashing waterfall,

Connection is lost and found again- a barricaded, solid, brick wall.

The Courthouse in ‘To kill a mockingbird’ is symbolically described by Harper Lee to display the peoples desperate attempts to hang onto ‘Every physical scrap of the past’. This is in terms of the old ideas and beliefs of the old traditions but also laws to do with the discrimination of black people. The representation of law is obvious with the setting of the courthouse, it is built upon not only from ‘Greek revival columns’ but these views clash with the nineteenth century ones presented mostly from the South of America as the colonial start of the slave trade. Implementing the quote of hanging on to every scrap of the past we can see that Harper Lee is trying to show that although the new laws against the possession of slaves many or most of the people around were only made to do this and there views have not changed from the old tradition. These are rusty unreliable ideas compared to even the idealogical justice system put in place by the ancient Greeks that did not favour the people of white ethnicity.

To kill a mockingbird, novel by Harper Lee. In the book moral ideas are communicated through different devices, inexplicitly through most means- and by never forcing opinions on the reader. Putting her own own views forward, Harper Lee experiments with what we could deem as her own personal experience, and putting them into a young, naive female character.

Using the questions that bury themselves inside an intrigued character, those questions and ponders about society influence the reader to also think about the reasons behind stereotypes in society. As is well known about the current time and placings of the book’s setting racism was prominent, however never directly stated by any character in the book. The background racism was simply presumed by everyone, not questioned very often- because blaming the black people was an easy escape goat for any possible circumstance. However growing up in a family that sees Calpurnia- a black maid -as an equal to them and part of the family, the phase of growing up and questioning life

A graphic novel was the next choice of text to study the theme of antihero. As far as graphic novels go main heroes are usually outcasts fighting beside the law yet never coinciding quite with them. V in this instance is the usual, a failed experiment in which he escaped. This gave him a special mind set, and uses his own ways to keep the world society from evil etc etc. The ideas of breaking out of the controls of government through destruction couldn’t be by a pure hero- that would be sought through other means than the belief of total destruction bringing creation.

My first text was decidedly a challenging linguistic dilemma of a dystopian world, peppered with extremely appropriate antihero themes and ideas. The basic structure and ideas of the text are of a future time in English society where the youth are extremely violent, controlling much of society in gangs. When Alex is caught, the government try to use a new technique called the ‘Ludovico technique’ of which it’s purpose is to effectively brainwash and implicate moral values to change the way the person behaves.

As a character Alex is a character drawn out to gain the attention and side of the reader. His ‘humble narrator’ himself is somewhat of a likable person merely showing his grotesque juvenile life as a front man for the entertainment of youth violence. Representing the problems raised by an intellectual and ultraviolent young population, Alex is a showman of his own words- a delight to be toured around with. Even if some of the cruel events found uplifting to him and the droogs are morally wrong (if not perceived so by themselves) the narrator presents as an ordinary occurrence and manage to lull you in with witty irony. This is where the theme of antihero creeps in. It only succeeds for the people that get along with Alex, where that has to overcome the readers morals and for them to accept that what he is doing feels like the right thing in this world. Otherwise the book could fail with the reader hating the character, all he’s done and feeling no sympathy to what later happens to him. Matching definitions is easy as the protagonist is obviously displayed as the ‘good’ and main character. What he partakes and enjoys in is also respectably cruel, violent and unacceptable, creating a boy who is known for doing wrong but is still liked by the reader because you will have either accepted that he doesn’t know any better, right from wrong or don’t care less about his rebellious nature.

As well as the implications of the main protagonist, the Government contribute to a twisted idea of good and bad. While they are simply stopping crime on their streets by condemning criminals, the lack of free will attached to undergoing the Ludovico treatment changes perspective as noted by the religious gift to the prison Alex was previously held in. Flipping the coin to the other direction the ‘good’ side of the law limits the freedom of others so ends up as the villainous of the the side and Alex being sympathized with by the reader, therefore neatly presenting the theme of antihero.

Azerel

-powerful wizard

-(azar) health or support

-longer sentences

-sofistication

-pessimism

The same old game, Saturday’s training and we weren’t happening to enjoy ourselves. Pleasing the old man with some old fashioned hit ‘n’ run bringing them back down to they’re lowly juniority smashing around getting a pummeling by senior figures was just acquiring the support from their bottomless pockets. “Knock it hog” the flight flew at his skull. There was no need for clean play when the game itself was not a graceful one. End of the match and I was congratulated by a misapprehensive father who presumably thought everything that was done in the game was pleasirimg- and sure a thrill to watch, however derision  was more of a term I would have referred to.