August+Chayden

Chayden- I thought that this book was really slow in the beggining, but then it started to speed up when they started talking about boo radley.

August- I agree, Chayden. Chapter's one and two put me at a point where continuing to read and underline became cumbersome. Boo Radley is an interesting character. I am quite curious to know when (or if ever), Scout, Jem, and others will grow out of the whole myth of Boo Radley. Or is it a myth? I sometimes think it is just a metaphor, but I have yet to figure out what that metaphor is...

Chayden- Well August Jesus, and God are all metaphors, they are metaphors for unknown accurences. Boo radley is a metaphor for the fear that is hidden deep inside yourself that you never want to see let out.

August- Interesting thought, Chayden. I myself do not believe that Jesus and God have a relationship of father and son, but maybe the author, Harper Lee does. Not only the author, but the town of Maycomb and the people who live there all seem to be quite religous. On to a new topic, I think that Scout is quite clueless. When I started reading the book, I thought Scout was the character who knew what was going on, and Miss Caroline was just a clueless woman from somewhere far away. Now, after seeing the way Scout treats Walter Cummingham, I have decided that Scout is so naive, and should be more respectful to other who or less fortunate than herself, or even to people who are just different from her. Do you concur? I am curious to see how Scout will treat African-American's and other people who do not look, act, or speak like herself.

Chayden- I do concur, but i dont think that it is scouts choice, i beleive that it is how she was brought up, if Aticus says blacks are bad then scout will say blacks are bad. I think that when someone is that young they are just little miniture people of there parents. I think that because the finches are not nessasaraly weathly but there not poor, i think that the reason they put down people who are less fortunate is because they dont want to become like that someday.

**August & Chayden -- you raise some interesting points here. I think that Chayden's sense of Scout is mature -- she is who she is simply because of her age. You're right, August, there is reason to not fully trust her version of reality, but at the same time, she is our only narrator, so we have to figure out what we can believe. It's an interesting tactic for an author to use. Watch some of your wanderings, like the whole Jesus/God metaphor thing. That hasn't really come up in the book, so it feels like a completely random distraction. This chat work is a good opportunity for you to work on weeding those things out. One last thing -- remember to make connections between your lives and the book. AND, since Chayden is slaving away on the slopes today, you two will need to make up Monday's chat for homework. -- Ms. C.** August- Chayden, I know you are gone today, but I do want to know your opinion on what has been happening in the last few chapters. I will start with the very first few paragraphs in chapter nine. Cecil Jacobs has called Scout's father (Atticus) defends n*s. Later, Scout's cousin Francais claims that Atticus is a n* lover. I have two things to discuss with this. The first is, do you think Atticus and family will be looked down upon now that Atticus is defending a black man for allegedly raping a white woman? I also want to know what you think about Cecil and Francais saying these things; Do you think they say this because they get it from their parents, or do you think they actually say such derogatory terms because it was common back then? Unfortunately, I believe these terms were just so common back then in the deep south, that in some cases, they were not even considered derogatory. Are any people who are not white respected in the town? Have stereotypes kicked in yet? Is Atticus the only man in town with common sense? You don't have to answer all of these questions, Chayden, because you probably don't know the answers either. Maybe my questions will be answered later in the book. If not, I guess we will have to go to the last resort...Wikipedia. Oh, and by the way Ms. Clark: Good point. I don't really know where we got the whole religous thing from... I feel so bad for you, Chayden. I'm sorry you have to skip school today to go skiing, and have to miss out on all the fun filled seven hours of school. Chayden- I think according to the time period people were just plain racist back then. I think back then people had no respect for blacks because they never had given them respect in the past. I know that this makes absolutly no sence, but if you look at scout she doesnt frown apown black people but she does frown apon people who have always been frownd apon; people who are less fortunate than her.

August- I concur. Scout probably does not look down upon black people (as well she shouldn't) because her father does not. Then again, I will have to contradict myself when I say that Atticus does not look down on the Cumminghams, whereas Scout does. I think the two biggest influences on Scout are her father and the other people of the town. Now onto the next few chapters, the most important thing I can think of is once again on racism. Obviously, Tom Robinson and Atticus Finch are going to lose the case, mainly because of the white racist jury. Do you think the jury really believe Tom Robinson raped Mayella because they are stereotyping a black man, or because they don't want to see a black man win? Here is another question, a little off topic but her I go: If we were back in the Great Depression, with the racism and the terrible economy, do you think Barack Obama could get elected? I believe the answer is likely no, but I think it is a question that is still up for discussion.