Finally laid my hands on this classic. The book's a fine read. After years i finished a book over a weekend. The book is about 2 kids coming to terms with things around them. Through Jem and Scout the author paints the world through the children's eyes. Where everything is black or white, and there are no shades of grey. This conversation between Jem and Scout , i feel , is the crux of this book.
"Jem kicked off his shoes and swung his feet to the bed. He propped himself against a pillow and switched on the reading light. 'You know something, Scout? I've got it all figured out, now. I've thought about it a lot lately and I've got it figured out. There;s four kinds of folks in the world. There's the ordinary kind like us and the neighbours, there's the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.'
'What about the Chinese, and the Cajuns down yonder in Baldwin County?"
'I mean in Maycomb County. The thing about it is, our kind of folks dont like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams dont like the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and despise the coloured folks.'
...
'Well Jem, I dont know-- Atticus told me one time that most of this Old Family stuff's foolishness because everybody's family's just as old as everybody else's. I said did that include the coloured folks and Englishmen and he said yes'
...
'Well then, how do you explain why the Cunninghams are different? Mr Walter can hardly sign his name, I've seen him. We've just been readin' and writin' longer'n they have.'
'No, everybody's gotta learn, nobody's born knowin'. That Walter's as smart as he can be, he just gets held back sometimes beacause he has to stay out and help his daddy. Nothin's wrong with him. Naw, Jem, I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.'
...'That's what i thought, too,' he said at last,'when i was your age. If there's just one kind of folks, why cant they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time...its's because he wants to stay inside.'
Comments