This
section was filled with world-building, describing the community and how they
relate to the Finches. What I found interesting about the community was how
everyone, even the children, knew people through their families and associated
them with reputation. For example, Jean mentioned that “the Cunninghams never
took anything they can’t pay back.” I feel as though this will eventually
become a plot point, considering how destructive this way of knowing people can
be. Classifying people will eventually lead to misunderstood stereotyping, and
I can’t help but see this happening to a relative of the Radley’s.
At the same time, establishing
characters through family may be helpful to the reader. Characters that haven’t
even been named can already have traits established. For example, a new
Cunningham character will be expected to have the same dependability when it
comes to debt as her/his family. Besides
characterization, the reader may be able to find some foreshadowing. For
instance, after what Burris did to Miss Caroline, it wouldn’t surprise me if
one of the Ewell’s ended up to be the story antagonists because of Burris’s
bully-like attitude.
I agree, Angel, that the author's intention here could be two-fold. I think that some of this generalizing does help the reader make sense of future events in the story, and I also think it characterizes the people of Maycomb a certain way (as a people set in their ways).
ReplyDeleteI read that the author was inspired by her own childhood in Alabama. Maybe the generalizations are organic and based off of what she remembered in her past... It will be hard to tell until new characters are brought up.
DeleteI think if we stuck the city of Maycomb in present day the community would be conservative because it's citizens do classify each other. And when someone comes along that doesn't conform to their definitions that's where conflict and disorder arises.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! The Radley's are a great example for that idea of conformity-conflict. Merely keeping to themselves was " a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb." New people and ideas would probably be shunned before they had a chance.
DeleteDefinitely! The Radley's are a great example for that idea of conformity-conflict. Merely keeping to themselves was " a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb." New people and ideas would probably be shunned before they had a chance.
DeleteThis is interesting. I never thought of the reputation being a source of foreshadowing. It just kind of seems like the people in Maycomb will talk about any and all reputation, even if it was good. It'd be really intriguing to see some of the characters defy their reputations that have been established, and become a different person in contrast to what was initially described.
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ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the way the inhabitants of Maycomb have adopted in recognizing each other could prove to be toxic since often times people can surprise us. Not everyone lives up to there stereotype as people are capable of change; I'm wondering if the book might culminate with an apparent change of stereotyping for the Radley's since at this point they seem to be the focus of the narrator.
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