More Complex Issues

I know I read this book in junior high, and I think again in high school, but I am able to have much more appreciation for the book now than I did the first few times I read it. As I read it now, I am able to see all of the many different complex issues raised in this book. What is so wonderful about this book is that it is able to capture so many different aspects of life. I’ve always remembered the book in terms of the trial and the race issues, but there is so much more to it than that, and I am glad I am rereading it and seeing all that it has to offer. We get glimpses of ineffective education and illiteracy. We see complex relationships in terms of community, religion, race, and many other factors. It’s nice to pick up this book years later and take from it all that it has to offer.

One of the main issues that arises in the beginning of the book is the loss of innocence in Jem and Scout not only from growing up, but also from everything they have to endure and see in relation to the trial. We see Jem especially growing up and making connections that are still over Scout’s head. When Jem becomes distressed over Atticus giving the blanket back to the Radley’s many things come together at once. Jem is beginning to understand that Boo Radley is a victim of circumstance, whereas Scout still fears him. Jem is knows that Boo wants to be a part of life outside of his home, but in many ways he is a prisoner. Jem is deeply saddened when the tree gets cemented not because of his own loss, but because of the loss Boo is sure to feel. That was Boo’s way of feeling connected with people outside in the world, and it was taken away from him. It’s nice to see how Jem is able to pick up on all these issues relating to Boo and beginning to understand Boo in a very different way than when the book first began.