TKAM: Week of 12/15

Do you like what you read? Why or why not?

     Personally I thought TKAM was pretty good. It wasn't bad or absolutely amazing, but it was good. One of my favorite things about the book was the fact that it was presented from a child's point of view. Scout at her ages throughout the book had not developed prejudices to match those of the other community members in Maycomb, so we're able to have the events in the book described to us without any bias or prejudice at all. On the same topic, the child's POV also lets you see how the events in the story were interpreted by and affected a child's innocence. That was honestly a really interesting part of the story. You'd have an event occur where Scout didn't understand what was going on but you do, so it's like dramatic irony.

     Another thing about TKAM that I enjoyed was how it went through multiple years of Scout's life. You're able to see how she changes and how the people around her change. For example, we're able to see how she first views Boo Radley as a myth or just a story that fascinates her but then finally sees him as a real person at the end of the book. For Jem, we're able to see how he matures throughout the book as different events affect the way he feels or views things. The most obvious perk of having the story take over multiple years is the fact that the larger time frame allows more events to happen. With the larger time frame we were able to read about Scout's different school years; the trial; and Bob Ewell's death.

     The characters were also pretty enjoyable, if  I may say so myself. They're very realistic (in my opinion) and the author was always able to give them realistic emotions. To me, it seemed as though the characters had been well thought out. None of them seemed to be put in on a whim or anything. They all served a purpose; not just to take up empty space. Even the negative characters (shout out to Mr. Ewell...) were still enjoyable. They were well written and they still had depth to them. As the story is a snippet of Scout's years, the characters can also show you the kind of people you may meet in you life. You might meet someone as bitter as Mr. Ewell or someone as honest as Tom Robinson. You might meet someone with morals as good as Atticus' or as strong and determined as Scout.

     Overall, the story was pretty good. Although it was pretty good, I don't think I would read it again. For me, it's a good book for a one-time read.