Second Post :)

I'm not quite finished with the book but so far its really good and for some reason, I'm not being able to put it down. The way this book is constructed reminded me of another book, House of Mango Street. In both stories every chapter holds a different story (sort of), and each chapter the author talks about someone different. For example, in chapter 10, Lee talked about Atticus and in chapter 11 Lee talked about Miss Dubose. Similarly, Cisneros writes about a different character in each chapter. :)

In the story so far, my favorite character is Atticus. He is very understanding and has so much to offer. He has seen a lot in his past years but always believed that there was something good in everyone. "Mr. Cunningham's basically a good man... he just has his blind spots just like the rest of us" (179). Through his years, he has learned to appreciate the good qualities in people and to help them come through their bad qualities. He told Jem to continue reading for Miss Dubose after the month was over because he knew that Miss Dubose just wanted a little company to keep her mind off the pain she went through. He is the only man in Maycomb that is not racist towards the colored people. "... some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women. But this is the truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men" (232). He is a good teacher when it comes to Scout and Jem. He teaches them not to hold a grudge against anyone and to always be respectful to the elderly. Although at first, Jem and Scout are embarrassed of him since he is growing old and doesn't get as involved as other kid's parents. I really liked one of quotes when he was talking to Scout: "...before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself" (120).

As I read on, my opinion of Mr. Arthur is beginning to change. He doesn't' seem that harmful as everyone had mentioned. For instance, when Scout was cold (during the fire) Mr. Arthur brought her a blanket and she didn't even notice. I think he probably doesn't come out much because of all the rumors and stories everyone made up of him. Maybe he's too ashamed to come out since everyone thinks of him as the antagonist. Everyone in Maycomb is like a family. Whenever someone new comes along, they all give the new person a warm welcome. Maybe Mr. Arthur feels as if he doesn't belong to that family since everyone is afraid of him. Whatever it may be I think that Mr. Arthur is just socially detached from the rest of the society and hopefully he will come out and talk to others later on in the story.

When the jury made its decision about Tom Robinson I was not expecting them to find him guilty. It was not fair. Grrr. Obviously this was a lie and the jury should've given the person who really deserved to be punished a punishment. I thought it was weird how the children saw the unfairness in the trial rather than the adults. This, perhaps, shows the innocence and heart in a child. For example, Dill came out crying from the courtroom and Jem saw injustice happening. This also, I guess, proved one thing to Jem: the society isn't fair and that life isn't always fair to those that are innocent. He was really upset about the whole decision because he was confident that his father was going to prove Mr. Robinson innocent. Hopefully he doesn't blame his father for what had happened in the courtroom.

Since I have a few chapters left I'm going to keep reading. Happy Reading to everyone else. :)

~Sharena