Coming of Age--3 Novels

There were so many many common themes surrounding the three books, To Kill a Mockingbird, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and Blankets.  I think the theme most prevalent was Coming of Age.

First of all, all three main characters in these books started out with one point of view, and grew into a more mature, changed view point over time.  All of them discover the harsh truths of the world around them.  In the beginning, Scout simply believes what adults tell her because that is how children are raised, to just accept what they are told as correct by the authority.  But as she grows and the book continues, she learns that not all adults are right all of the time, and that everyone has vulnerabilties, regardless of age.  Her dad teaches her this when he tells her that he couldn't forgive himself for refusing to defend Tom Robinson not only as a citizen, but as a parent, he couldn't have the pride in himself to teach Scout and Jem right and wrong because he would just be being a hypocrite.  Through Atticus, Scout learns the meaning of right and wrong, and why people's actions should always reflect upon their beliefs.  Scout develops into a person who sees through the prejudices in her community and looks at them through the scope of someone who is too innocent to judge, yet too knowledgable to accept everything that is going on in around her.

In Oranges, Jeanette also learns that sometimes, feelings of the heart can be put above convictions of the mind.  Her whole community has also told her their beliefs of what is right--but unlike Scout, she has to find out on her own what is truly correct, because she has no figure to stand up for her beliefs for her, she's all on her own.  Her personal battle between what is right in her religion and what is right in her heart is how she comes of age in the book; learning to accept both.

In Blanket's, Craig's coming of age is literal, as he grows from little boy to grown man from cover to cover of the novel.  His story deals with the struggles of a boy who is just growing up trying to be a good kid.  When his teacher tells little Craig that he cannot draw in heaven, this seems to traumatize him for all of his childhood, as he is constantly thinking about how he can dedicate himself to god, at one point even trying to draw biblical comics...In one picture, the comics are spewing out of his head--and I think this shows further how disturbing this teacher's comment really was to him, because these drawings are his imagination, and in a way, they're all him.  Like the other two novels, many of Craig's struggles revolve around growing up and self-acceptance.

I think the greater purposes of these texts is to write about how hard it is to grow up, but that the hardships that are handed to you can be overcome.  I think they also talk to us as a society because all of them show that if you stand up for what is right, you can win the battle for yourself in the end, no matter how much injustice has occurred in the middle.

Blankets

In regards to Professor Wheeler's essay, I must say that he is EXTREMELY CORRECT when assessing how the students of America know how to read, but they don't know how to grasp the ideas of what they are reading...I've been disappointed to find in so many of my classes in highschool, kids who are being praised for memorization rather than intelligence, two things I find are completely different.  In my opinion, having a good memory does not necessarily mean you are intelligent.  Just because you have memorized someone else's words, by no means, means that you understand them or could ever come up with an idea that stands on it's own and is creative or meaningful.  People here get praised all the time for simply memorizing words, but a lot of the time it's never for finding meaning inside the words.  It's almost like the true use of language has been forgotten.  Memorization does not equal intelligence.

Anyways, I could go on, but more importantly I have to talk about BLANKETS, so here I begin.
I chose the passage where Craig and Raina break up, because this one in particular confused me.  Maybe it was because I was rooting for the couple, but I could not understand for the life of me, why they broke up.  Craig portrayed them to be so in love, the way the story was written, I couldn't believe they were not.  So when Craig and Raina broke up, it made me question Raina's character.  I wondered whether Raina actually loved Craig to decide for them to be, "just friends," even with all the stress she had in her life... Maybe it's because I'm a different person than Raina, but it seems like having Craig there, even just to say sweet things to her over the phone, would be enough if they were really in love.  I understand why Craig broke up with her--it was because he couldn't take all of the pain she was giving him by being so neglecting towards their relationship.  It was unfair.  I understand that most of the time, long-distance relationships don't work, but I had a lot of faith in this couple and it was disappointing to find them break up in the end.

I liked how Craig kept his characters simple looking so we wouldn't be quick to judge them like McCloud shows in his book, "Understanding Comics."  The more real a person looks, the harder it is to take them seriously--I hate those prejudgements, but it's true.  Symbolism forces us to find meaning in pictures, rather than search through the details.  Simplicity is a filter.

Belief

I believe that everyone is here for a reason, no matter how bad it gets...I know so many people who don't believe this, and don't try hard enough to find themselves and see their inner potential...I think that you have to use yourself in order to accomplish your purpose, whatever that is.  So many people just sit there and wait for things to get better...I have had friends who've taken a turn for the worse who I still love to death, but they won't try to make themselves the amazing person they can be.  And I think that's because inside, the reason why they continue to make all of these mistakes is because they don't believe that they can be that way.  Yet no matter how much convincing I try to give, it's never enough.   I've learned in life, that most of the time people never actually follow advice.  Ultimately, they're going to do what they want to do, whether you like it or not... I still try to help these friends because I can't just sit there and watch them do this stuff with my mouth shut--but my words can't change the patterns that they are stuck in, only they can.

I know I've always been really shy, but I became more independent in elementary school because the kids were mean!!!  I don't know if they were actually that bad to me--but I was a very sensitive child and for the rest of my life I made it a point not to become cliquey or ever be mean to someone because they are different...The very best people I have ever met in my life are the ones who are not trying to be perfect all of the time, they're happy with who they are insecurities and all.  I can't get along with people who portray themselves as something they're not.  Then you can't talk to them about anything personal because they're always worried about appearances--boring!

I also love my crazy friends too--I mean, I would be SOO bored if I had to sit there and behave all the time!  We do the dumbest, most fun stuff ever that only teenagers in highschool and college students would do, like yell funny stuff at people out of our car windows, but I hope we never grow up.  I have total peter pan syndrome because I'm so afraid I'll have to turn into basically a different person once I become an adult!

I'm sure my belief system has been challenged at one time or another--but I can't remember...

In the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird," beliefs that have been upstanding for years in the deep Southern city of Maycomb are challenged.
I think the major part of the novel where an, "awakening," occurs, is when Boo Radley saves the children's lives.  In the beginning, they saw him as a scary monster.  Here, they realize that he is actually a decent guy.  Scout's eyes are opened again when she sees the discrimination and racism occurring against Tom Robinson and says that killing him  would be, "kinda like killing a mockingbird."  Throughout the novel, because of the things she has witnessed adults doing, Scout herself grows to become a compassionate person who can tell the difference between right and wrong.

Discrimination Issues

I think that our nation is in a far, far far away place from where it was during the Scottsboro Boys trials...However, I still think we have a long way to go. I think the reason why so many people like to say that we are so accepting, is because when we compare our present to our past, we are immensely more accepting than we used to be. I think we're allowed to be a little proud of our accomplishments, but I don't think we should be too satisfied. Even now, our country still has inequality and racial tension. Just today, "Save the Last Dance," happened to be on the television and my roommate and I began talking about interracial dating--to think we even have a term for dating amongst races, I feel says enough about our stance as an accepting culture today. If, "interracial dating," were not something people are concerned about, we would have never felt need for the phrase.) On the part where Julia Stiles' black boyfriend's sister gets mad at her for dating her brother because Julia is white, I mentioned to my roommate that I didn't see what the problem was with them dating. I said that if his sister thinks that, "white women" keep taking away all of the decent black men, why should it matter, can't they just find someone who is decent who isn't black if there are not any left? I felt that ultimately what she was saying was she would rather date an indecent black man than a decent man of another race. My roommate said that her dad would not be happy with her if she dated a black guy and that the reason his sister said that was because she was feeling tension about her black husband leaving her with a baby, and also that African American's deserve to still feel anger towards white Americans because of the way we treated them in our past. I could see what she was saying, but it made me sad to think that we are still not over our past mistakes. While it's true that most of us as two races can get along with each other and accept each other, it's clear that there is still some tension between us, whether we would like to admit it or not.


In this cartoon, there is black paint covering the majority of the image, with just one white square open revealing a pair of eyes. There is then a man's large, hairy arm holding a painting tool that is about to paint over the eyes, and the arm hair actually reads as, "Afghan Radicals." I feel that this portrayal of the Talaban's control over women is very true; I wouldn't think the issue would be a concept of debate amongst many Americans. It is very clear these men feel they have complete control over these women, and it's unfair. The eyes seem to be seeking and wanting something, but with only eyes and no other body parts, they cannot control what they are seeing, only obey. The arm in front of the beautiful eyes is very ugly in comparison, as if to show that what these men are doing is hideous, and destroying beauty and capability. The painted darkness represents the evil that they have created and spread around. I feel like the eyes peeking out of the darkness are like a speck of hope contrasting amongst all of the desperation.

Scout's ideas about race and prejudice mature more and more as the novel goes on. Like the above comic, her eyes see the wrong-doings occuring and contemplate and acknowledge the discrimination that is going on, but at this time she is incapable of doing anything about it. At the very last part of the novel, Scout sees everything clearly for the first time. Boo Radley, who was a monster in Scout's eyes at the beginning of the novel, turns out to be a decent guy near the end. She realizes that she has put the same prejudices on Boo that the rest of the town has done towards Tom Robinson. During a conversation with her father about the trial, she says that charging him with murder, would be like, "shootin a mockingbird," reminding her father of his own compassionate advice. I feel like this scene above all others shows Scout's maturity of mind, because she is thoughtful enough to apply metaphores to real-life instances and find what is wrong with adult situations--situations which most children would naturally find to always be correct, but Scout has grown already to learn adults can't always be right. By the end of the novel, Scout Finch has gone through a deep transformation of her view on life, from childish points of views, to ones that would be considered more mature than most of the residents of Maycomb.