This is my first essay in year ten it is on Journeys.
Does every person change through the journey of life? Every person changes through the journey of life, this is shown by people maturing from childhood to adulthood through experiences that they undertake on this journey. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird(TKAM) written by Harper Lee shows this maturing or change through journeys through the eyes of the narrator of the story Jean Louise Finch (Scout). Another text which this growth or change is shown through is the song Deathbed by Relient K which shows how someone has changed through life and is now regretting decisions he has made.
Scout has many relationships in the town that are essential in shaping her into the young lady she is to become however at the beginning of the novel Scout is rather critical of her relationship with Calpurnia. “yyyCalpurnia was something else again. She was all angles and bones; she was near sighted; she squinted; her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard.” Here scout has referenced that her relationship with Calpurnia was one of discipline through the words ” Her hand was woe as a bed slat and twice as hard.” another relationship that scout has is with her father Atticus which is positive however Scout thinks that there is nothing that Atticus does that she can be proud of though Scouts idea of this is quickly banished when the mad dog is coming up the street and Atticus shoots it in one shot. “The very idea didn’t you know his nickname was Ol’ one shot.” after this event Scouts relationship with Atticus deepens as she now has a new found respect for her father. Tis further shows that Scout is beginning to change through events that she encounters on her life journey.
Scout has Many experiences throughout the novel that shape into the young lady she is becoming although she shows a great change from the beginning of the novel to the end. At the beginning of the novel Scout partakes in the tormenting of Boo Radley. “Jem parceled out our roles: I was Mrs Radley, and all I had to do was come out and sweep the porch. Dill was old Mr Radley. He walked up and down the sidewalk and and coughed when Jem spoke to him. Jem naturally was Boo Radley. Here it is shown that Scout was willing to partake in these activities. Though by the end of the book she would do the polar opposite. After the Halloween pageant at the school Jem and scout started heading back home across the schoolyard and under the big oak when they are attacked by a stranger. Jem begins to fight with the assailant who is later found to be Bob Ewell. Jem is then flung to The ground and someone steps in and saves Scout. Once Jem is home Scout discovers that the person that saved her was in fact was in fact Boo Radley whom Scout, Jem and Dill had tormented over the previous summers. Boo then asks Scout to take him home and does so like the young lady she’d become. “I wondered how many times Jem and I have made this journey, but I entered the Radley front gate for the second time in my life, Boo and I walked up the steps to the porch.” here Scout is shown as being a young lady and walking Boo home, this is a lot different to what she would have done had it been earlier on the novel.
There are two key issues that are experienced by Scout in the novel. The first of these is the court case. Here Scout, Jem and Dill sneak into town after Atticus specifically told them to stay at home. They sneak into town to watch the court case unfold before their eyes. At the end of the court case Scout describes how she felt after she had heard so much information. “I was exhilarated, so many things had happened so fast I felt it would take years to sort them all out…what would the evening bring.” Scout also experience a second issue that is horrible for a child of her age to have to bear. When Boo picks Jem up under the big oak when he broke his arm protecting Scout, scout begins to head for home witnessing Jem being carried inside and feeling the sheer panic that was beginning to envelope her. “by the time I reached the corner the man was crossing our front yard. Light from our front door framed Atticus for an instant; he ran down the steps, and together he and the man took Jem inside.
Harper lee uses intense language features throughout the novel but perhaps one of her best piece of writing was when Bob Ewell was taking the stand during the court case. “a little bantam cock of a man rose and strutted to the stand, the back of his neck reddening at the sound of his name” here the words “bantam cock of a man” suggest that he was small yet extremely aggressive and arrogant. It also suggests that Bob is not as trustworthy as he makes himself out to be. Lee represents scout in a positive light by the use adjectives to describe the way that Scout viewed things.
Deathbed by Relient K can be linked back to the fact that every person changes through the journey of life by the representation of a man who grew up in a rough family who was always busy. He lost his parents at a young age and began to smoke and drink. “By fourth seven I was fourteen I’d acquired a taste for liquor and nicotine I smoked until I threw up yet I still lit me up for thirty more years like a machine” here it shows that this man has begun to regret his decision to smoke and drink as it has led him to where he is today on his Deathbed. The writer uses smilies to express how horrible the habit was and how it has led him to his deathbed.
Throughout TKAM Scout grows through the journey that she is handed and despite the best efforts of her father she expenses the raw reality that is the disgusting behaviour of humans towards others. Atticus is like a lighthouse keeping scout away from the rocks that are the horrible experiences so she does not sink. In conclusion Scout changes through her complex and disturbing journey of life.
What do you think of this essay
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