Month: June 2015

Lesson 15/06/15 Miss Maudie’s view of Maycomb

June 15, 2015 / / 1 Comment

How does Lee use details in the passage to present Miss Maudie’s view of Maycomb?

Miss Maudie’s view of Maycomb that they are a very safe society and people “We’re the safest folks In the world.” They’re supposedly a Christian state but Miss Maudie says “We’re so rarely called on to be Christians, but when we are, we’ve got men like Atticus to go for us” this would indicate that not many of then practice their religion or are good Christians, or act as a Christian. However I believe this saying has a deeper meaning than religion as I believe it doesn’t necessarily mean ‘called upon to be… Christians’ but I believe when Miss Maudie says that she means being called upon to do the right thing even if people don’t agree with it or may hate you for it you have to do it because you know it’s the right thing to do e.g. Atticus defending a ‘negro’ Tom Robinson against a two white people; Bob Ewell and Mayella Ewell after they have accused him of rapping Mayella Ewell which at this time would have been a set case a black man simply wouldn’t win, their word was inferior to the white man, they were second class citizens and anyone who defending a black man would be killed, abused or classed as a traitor. That’s why Miss Maudie says but when we are, we’ve got men like Atticus to go for us” meaning we’ve got men like Atticus to be brave, courageous and do the right thing no matter how people think about it or what the consequences may be.
That’s why Miss Maudie labels this as an unpleasant job “There are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your fathers one of them.”

There’s also a handful of people in Miss Maudie eyes that will step up and be ‘good Christians’ and do the right thing “People like Judge Taylor people like Mr heck Tate.”

How does harper Lee present courage in Ch11

June 2, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Harper Lee presents courage in Ch11 from the characters Atticus, Jem, Scout and Mrs Dubose. Mrs Dubose is a very old sick woman who we later find out is dying. She repeatedly antagonises the children Jem and scouts ‘‘don’t you say hey to me you ugly girl! You say good afternoon, Mrs Dubose!” She also insults their father Atticus about him ‘lawing for niggers’ and on his parenting style. However Atticus shows great courage by being very nice when he sees her, exchanging pleasantries and he always make sure either Jem or Scout is around to show them how to treat her, be courageous and to hold your head up high, Scout even says ‘‘It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived’’.

Jem and scout are also been presented in a courageous way as they have to visit her and read to her for a whole month even though they don’t have to and have to put up with her insulting them and their father. Scout also is presented as courageous as she doesn’t even have to go and visit Miss Dubose it was Jem’s punishment for destroying her flowers but yet she goes with Jem until it’s over.

Atticus is also presented in a very brave and courageous way as his ‘lawing for niggers’ comes up in the book and he says ‘‘This case, Tom Robinson’s case, is something that goes to the essence of a man’s conscience—Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man.” Despite the fact that he knows the abuse he will be receiving and his family and that he knows that it would be considered morally wrong from the Maycomb society point of view.

 

 

How is Calpurnia’s identity shown in Ch12 of too kill a mocking bird

June 2, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Calpurnia’s identity is shown in Ch12 as something that is confused and lost. We learn basic information about her which would seem normal to know of anybody else, Calpurnia life seemed to be alive with the finches we didn’t know how she was outside the finches. We learn that she’s older than Atticus Finch , she doesn’t know her own birthday so she chooses to celebrate it on Christmas. “I’m older than Mr. Finch, even.” “I just have it on Christmas, it’s easier to remember that way—I don’t have a real birthday.” She’s from Finches landing and has been with Finches or the Buford’s all her life, ‘‘were you from the Landing?” Jem asked. “I certainly am’’, ‘‘I’ve spent all my days workin’ for the Finches or the Buford’s’’. Zeebo was her son and the eldest.

She acts in a different way when around the ‘Negros’ and talks ‘nigger talk’ , “What you want, Lula?” she asked, in tones I had never heard her use. She spoke quietly, contemptuously. Again I thought her voice strange: she was talking like the rest of them. Calpurnia says ‘‘you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.” She says ‘‘their language’’ not ‘ours’ or ‘my’ which I thought was great example of how she’s missing her identity and is confused. When Jem asks her why she talks ‘nigger talk’ when you know it’s wrong “That doesn’t mean you hafta talk that way when you know better,” said Jem. Calpurnia Says “Well, in the first place I’m black”

Calpurnia tilted her hat and scratched her head, then pressed her hat down carefully over her ears. “It’s right hard to say,” she said. “Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks’ talk at home it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white-folks’ talk at church, and with my neighbors? They’d think I was puttin‘on airs to beat Moses.”

 

How is tension created and relieved in CH-15

June 2, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Tension is created in chapter 15 when Atticus is at the county jail with the ‘negro’ who he will be defending in court, Tom Robinson. He is there to look after him and keep him safe just in case anybody arrives looking for trouble. Jem, Scout and Dill follow Atticus to find out what he’s up too as they are very suspicious in why he’s leaving the house so late. They arrive at the county jail but hide in the shadows, suddenly cars start to pull up at the jail and men start to come out and head towards the jail and towards Atticus, who was sitting in front of Tom Robinson’s cell. Tension is then created as Scout tells us that Atticus “seemed to be expecting them”. We also get told the conversation between the men Atticus and the men which helps creates tension “you know what we want”, Get aside from the door, Mr Finch” Atticus also tells the men that Heck Tate; the sheriff of Maycomb is around in hope to get them to leave but one of the men reply by saying that “Heck’s bunch’s so deep in the woods they won’t get out till morning”. It would appear that these men have called Mr Tate off a ‘snipe’s hunt’ in order to get him away from the scene so he couldn’t help and interfere with the mission. After hearing this Atticus says “that changes things doesn’t it ?” , Scout tell us “this was the second time I heard Atticus ask that question in two days , and it meant somebody’s man would get jumped”.

Tension is both created and relived when Scout notices Walter Cunningham’s father and tries to chat to him in hope to get him to leave “Mr Cunningham displayed no interest in his son, so I tackled his entailment once more in a last-ditch effort to make him feel at home”. Tension is finally relived when Mr Cunningham orders his to leave “Let’s clear out”, “Let’s get going, boys”

How does Emily Brontë use the characters of Cathy and Catherine Linton to comment on the social attitude towards women in Victorian England in Wuthering Heights?

February 19, 2015 / / 0 Comments

This essay discusses how Emily Brontë uses the characters of Cathy and Catherine to comment on the social attitudes towards women in Victorian England. Brontë uses Catherine as somewhat of a cautionary figure, who largely, but not wholly, conforms to society’s gender norms. Cathy, on the other hand is used as an ideal, she goes through traumatic hardships and is predominantly oppressed, violently even, but nevertheless maintains her independence throughout.

Brontë presents Catherine’s dependency on male characters through her superficial nature. Nelly’s narration reveals that when Catherine is in the company of both men, her loyalties are continuously swayed. “when Heathcliff expressed contempt of Linton, in his presence, she could not half coincide, as she did in his absence” In contrast, Catherine’s ambition is shown when she fails to defend Heathcliff against Linton in order to gain his favour “she dared not treat his sentiments with indifference”. This would suggest that the approval of Linton, and the potential for social elevation, is of more importance than her love for Heathcliff, despite her declaration of her love for Heathcliff, comparing it to “the eternal rocks beneath”. This is reflective of Victorian society as women’s power was very limited to the point where all decisions were made solely by men.
Brontë utilises Catherine as a commentary for the responsibilities placed on women by Victorian society through her social ambition. Through Catherine’s conversation with Nelly in chapter 9 through which Catherine states that she has “no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I [Catherine] have to be in heaven”. In addition to this Catherine’s distress is shown when she claims that “if the wicked man in there [Hindley], had not brought Heathcliff so low … It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff, now”. This indicates Catherine’s ambition for social elevation holds more importance than her love for Heathcliff, in spite of her announcement of her love for him “resembles the eternal rocks beneath”. The simile “resembles” exhibits the significance of Catherine’s bond with Heathcliff, believing it will last eternally rather than the length of a season. In opposition to this is Catherine’s comparison of her love for Linton as “foliage in the woods”, claiming that she fully knows that “Time will change it… as winter changes the trees”. These metaphors are used by the author to convey natural imagery, emphasising Catherine’s superficial nature and need for social elevation over her love for Heathcliff. By showing the vast difference between Catherine’s feelings for Heathcliff and Linton, Brontë cautions women of following the gender norms that Victorian England’s society had applied to women and encourage the defiance against these gender norms.
Moreover unlike her mother, the character of Cathy is used to symbolise female independence in the novel. During Mr Lockwood’s first visit to Wuthering Heights he attempts to aid Cathy in attempting to reach some canisters which provokes her to respond with;  “I don’t want your help,’ she snapped, ‘I can get them for myself.'” From this Brontë presents Cathy as a shrew, effectively forcing her conformity to gender stereotypes. According to Hans Bertens; “female independence (in the seductress and the shrew) gets a strongly negative connotation”¹. Cathy’s exclamation; “I’ll not do anything, though you should swear your tongue out, except what I please!'”  while “closing her book, and throwing it on a chair” at Heathcliff after being told to clean up continues Brontë’a presentation of Cathy’s conformity. Through assertive language the author uses the character of Cathy to actively encourage the social change of gender norms of women. The shrew is a largely negative gender stereotype of women in literature, usually representing an obstacle to overcome. Katherine from William Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of The Shrew’, for example, in which one of the main male characters, Petruchio, makes it his mission to “tame the shrew”.  Shakespeare’s presentation of a shrew eventually conforms to her gender role, while Cathy contrasts this by maintaining her independence throughout the novel, allowing Brontë to encourage social defiance of gender norms for women of Victorian England. Within Victorian England women were seen as belonging to the domestic sphere and were expected to keep a clean house for their husbands, at least by the middle classes. After marriage a women became property of their husbands, and as such when Cathy’s late husband, Linton Heathcliff died and let all his possessions and let all his possessions to his father,became the property of Mr Heathcliff.
Another essential point is the similarities and differences between the characters of Cathy and Catherine. In terms of characteristics, both characters are similarly spoilt by the Lintons; after Catherine’s marriage to Edgar, Nelly comments that “It was not the thorn bending to the honeysuckles, but the honeysuckles embracing the thorn.” The “thorn” is representative of Catherine while the “honeysuckles” represent the Lintons, use of this aphorism allows Brontë to represent society’s view of women at the time. “If ever a servant chanced to vex her, it was always: ‘I shall tell papa’… I don’t believe he ever did speak a harsh word to her.” Nelly’s clear analogy regarding Catherine and young Cathy further emphasis this. In contrast to this Catherine is seen as dependent on the attention of male characters; “for when Heathcliff expressed contempt for Linton, in his presence, she could not half coincide, as she did in his absence”. This indicates that Catherine has a superficial nature which relies on male attention. This is further evidenced when “Linton evinced disgust and antipathy to Heathcliff, she dared not treat his sentiments with indifference” Catherine’s dependency at the cost of loyalty to those she supposedly cares for is a representation of the responsibilities of women in Victorian England. Whereas Cathy expresses independence to the aid of a man; “I [Mr Lockwood] made a motion to aid her… ‘I don’t want your help,’ she snapped, ‘I can get them for myself.'” the antithesis of these characters allows the accentuation of their purpose of commentary on social attitudes. Catherine is presented as a caution, while Cathy seems to be an ideal for social change, Brontë makes use of both characters to actively encourage a social change regarding women.

Brontë uses a variety of endings for characters to encourage social change of women, one of which is the sad ending of Catherine; In contrast to this Brontë also makes use of a happy ending regarding the character of Cathy; “as soon as they [Cathy and Hareton] are married; and that will be on New Year’s day.” The use of “New Year’s day” could be interpreted to represent the beginning of a new age regarding gender norms. Throughout the novel Cathy continuously defies gender norms; “the young lady, closing her book, and throwing it on a chair…  I’ll not do anything, though you should swear your tongue out, except what I please!'” Through use of exclamatory punctuation Brontë uses Cathy to symbolise defiance against the gender norms which is further emphasised through her actions. “The flash of her eyes had been succeeded by a dreamy and melancholy softness” The ironic use of the verb “succeeded” reflects Brontë’s attitude towards gender norms in Victorian England as a battle that women must fight against. The adjectives “melancholy” and “softness” add weight to Brontë’s attitudes towards gender norms as Catherine was previously portrayed to be fierce. When Edgar attempts to stop Catherine’s violence against Hareton she turns against him, “In an instant one [of Catherine’s hands] was wrung free, and the astonished young man felt it applied over his own ear in a way that could not be mistaken for jest.” Ironic use of violence by Catherine against Edgar presents a defiance of social attitudes which, Bertens believes, were that women were “helpless and renouncing all ambition”¹, Catherine’s marriage to Linton was based majorly on her ambition to raise her social position and from her acts of violence she was evidently not helpless. In chapter 3 Catherine is used further to reflect the author’s attitudes towards gender roles; “The hand and clung to it, and a most melancholy voice, sobbed, ‘Let me in – let me in’ ‘Who are you?’ ‘Catherine Linton’ it replied shiveringly… ‘I’m come home,I’d lost my way across the moor!'” Through use of the adjective “melancholy” Catherine’s character is presented as being unhappy even after death. Brontë uses the Catherine’s end to reveal the ramifications of following society’s gender norms, encouraging defiance of women against their gender roles.

To conclude, Brontë uses both Catherine and Cathy as commentary on society to great effect. Catherine portrays the Victorian women who conforms to society’s issued gender norms, by marrying Edgar rather than Heathcliff she is forced to choose social elevation over love, and eventually dies as a result. whereas Cathy disobeys gender norms throughout Wuthering Heights, when oppressed by Heathcliff she openly defies him, despite the threat of violence. Through Catherine’s death and Cathy’s birth Brontë is stating that the old ways in which society thought about women must die and give reign to a more equal social view for society’s progression. 

Bibliography

  1. Literary Theory: The Basics (2001 edition)
  2. The feminist reader – Essays in Gender and the politics of Literary Criticism – Edited by Catherine Belsey and Jane Moore (1989)
  3. A brief History of divorce – Cambridge Family Law Practice (2012)
  4. Gender roles in the 19th century (article) – written by Kathryn Hughes (Professor of Lifewriting and Convenor of the MA in Lifewriting at the University of East Anglia)
  5. Wikipedia – women in the Victorian era
  6. The Taming of the Shrew – William Shakespeare
  7. Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë

Ch22- how has Harper lee shown the change in children’s character after the trial?

June 2, 2015 / / 1 Comment

Harper Lee has shown the change in the children’s character after witnessing the trial the children have witnessed racial discrimination first hand towards Tom Robinson a black man on trial now convicted for raping Mayella Ewell a white woman, even though Tom Robinson couldn’t have done it and it was in fact the father who had beaten up Mayella Ewell  after seeing her kiss a black man. The case was as clear as day but however this case was simply a matter of white vs black, and white racist won.

The children; Jem, Dill and scout realise the injustice and unfairness of the trial and start to judge Maycombe society and the folks who live there “I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like.” This quotation Said by Jem  I believe shows all the children’s change in character, view and perception of Maycomb county and the people in it. Another significant event to outline in support of my piece is the fact that Dill wasn’t able to stay in the court room due to treatment of Tom Robinson at the hands of the lawyer he said it made him sick.