One of the most classic Southern Gothic novels, To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee from a little girl Scout’s perspective, tells the story of the struggles for justice in an Alabama town during the Great Depression. Scout’s dad, Atticus, defends a black man against a white girl’s accusation of sexual assault and faces disapproval from the whole town. Through Scout’s perspective, we see, in a sense, how everyone around her are “mockingbirds”—all innocent but affected by the deep-rooted injustices in society. On the surface level, Tom Robinson, as a black man, is a definite “mockingbird” who is incarcerated and eventually shot due to societal prejudices. Robinson gets accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, and is sent to trial. However, during the trial, it is discovered that Mayella’s bruise was on her right eye so the person who attacked her must have used their left hand, yet Tom’s left hand is useless. All Tom ever did was slightly push Mayella to stop her from kissing him. It was clear to all that Tom had nothing to do with Mayella’s bruises during the trial but Tom is still sent to prison, and shot. Despite Atticus’s clear evidence and reasoning that Tom was innocent, the community still chooses to believe the white man Bob Ewell. Although white, Scout and her family are all “mockingbirds” who are judged by the community due to their unpopular belief in racial equality. At school, Scout’s classmate, Cecil Jacobs, yells, “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an’ that n****** oughta hang from the water-tank!” (131). Scout’s dad, Atticus, simply wants to defend an innocent Black man; there is nothing wrong about defending an innocent man, but the whole of Maycomb County goes against them, purely because Tom is Black. Atticus even receives several death threats and attacks from white men disapproving of his choices. While Scout and Jem could have been enjoying their childhood innocence, they have to confront attacks from the community for their father’s choices. Digging deeper, in a sense the whole white community is also a “mockingbird” due to their lack of knowledge of what is right and wrong, leading them to follow the evils of power dynamics. Nearly the whole community supports Bob instead of Tom despite clear evidence suggesting otherwise. However, the white community is still innocent in a sense as the issue of racism is not in their hands to control. They were born, taught, and raised to tout white supremacy; this has been going on for generations and generations. Throughout the book, Scout narrates all the events surrounding Tom Robinson’s unfortunate death, which shows the entrenched racial prejudices in society, thereby implying the difficulty of going against racial norms. Everyone in this book were “mockingbirds” in some ways, either by being who they are, supporting equality, or following the habits of their ancestors. What To Kill a Mockingbird reveals is a need for education on justice and a change in society so that one day nobody will be judged purely by their identity. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Harper Perennial, 2005. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Book Reviews
How to Find What You’re Not Looking for, Reviewed by Anushka, 11
Veera Hiranandani’s How to Find What You’re Not Looking for is a book that stays with you long after you have read it. The book explores difficult questions concerning religious and cultural differences that divide our society. This book also questions the meaning of religion and culture and their significance in everyday life. Is religion so important that you could sacrifice your family for it? The book is set in 1977 when young Ariel is about to start middle school. Ariel’s older sister, Leah, falls in love with an Indian man whose name is Raj. Ariel and Leah’s parents do not approve of this relationship because Raj is not Jewish. They are adamant about preserving their Jewish culture and heritage and forbid Leah’s relationship with Raj. The Supreme Court had recently banned state laws that forbid inter-racial marriages. Leah is so upset and disappointed at her parents stunning narrow-mindedness that she elopes with Raj. Ariel’s family pretends not to care and seem to go on with their lives as if Leah was not a part of their family any more. Ariel, who has a close and loving relationship with her sister, struggles to understand Leah’s decision to run away from home and her parents’ intolerance toward non-Jewish people. That is not the only problem Ariel has to deal with. Ariel’s family owns a bakery that will have to be sold and her family will have to move away from their home. During these difficult times, Ariel turns to poetry for support. She finds a new teacher who can advocate for her and help her with writing, which has always been hard for her because of a learning disability. Writing poetry helps Ariel cope with her feelings of loss, anti-semitism that she experiences, family tensions, and her confusion and disappointment over the intolerance of the adults around her. This book is a revelation on multiple levels. Much like Ariel, I was stunned at how the Ariel and Leah’s parents could be so stone-hearted. In discussing the plot of the book with my family and researching inter-faith marriages in India, my own heritage, I was surprised to learn that while the majority of Indian people think it is important to respect all religions, a staggering proportion of people oppose inter-faith marriages and think it is important to stop inter-faith marriages. The same research finds that many Indians would prefer keeping people who practice a different faith away from their neighborhoods. While people in America may be more open to inter-faith marriages today, most Americans still marry within their faith. At the same time, political, ideological, racial and ethnic polarization is a defining feature of contemporary American life. My family does not practice religion so I was intrigued at the impact religion could have on people’s decisions and their lives. Frankly, I never really understood how religion could be so important to some people that it could control your whole life, make you sacrifice your relationships, and not let you be with whom you love. It seems to me that some people are scared of letting go of their culture. It is hard for them to accept that culture changes and grows over time. They want their culture to stay the same. Another revelation was learning how healing poetry can be. I JUST LOVED Ariel’s poems in this book. They reveal Ariel’s state of mind and her feelings incisively. In fact, Veera Hiranandani writes from a second-person point of view, which puts you (the reader) in Ariel’s shoes. This second person perspective immersed me in Ariel’s feelings, made me imagine the vivid scenery, feel close to Ariel, and helped me engage with story, rather than read it passively. This approach, in combination with poetry written from Ariel’s perspective and unique abilities, highlights the author’s extraordinary talent, creativity, and empathy. This approach makes the characters and setting extremely well drawn, making the reader a part of the story (as opposed to a passive viewer). I believe that there could not have been a better way to approach such a difficult and complex topic and make it accessible for children and youth, all without making it simplistic. How to Find What You’re Not Looking for is an intriguing title. I have concluded that the title is just like poetry. It can be interpreted in different ways and its meaning can change depending on the person’s experiences. For me, this title and the book is about how to deal with change and how to learn from those changes — joyous and sorrowful, expected and unexpected. The unexpected and sad events in Ariel’s life help her cultivate her own thoughts, talents, and independence. I was so inspired by the first Veera Hiranandani book I read and reviewed for the Stone Soup blog, The Night Diary. This book is equally inspiring and thought provoking. I am convinced after reading this book that we should do more to encourage meaningful interactions and friendships with people from different religious, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds at an early age. Exposure to books like How to Find What You’re Not Looking for is one such meaningful interaction. I strongly recommend it for readers of all ages for this very reason. How to Find What You’re Not Looking for by Veera Hiranandani. Kokila, 2021. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
Anne of Green Gables, Reviewed by April, 13
As quoted by Buddha, “With our thoughts, we make the world.” For Anne Shirley, a young, bright-cheeked orphan brought to the budding beauty of Prince Edward Island, the world cannot be more lovely than she imagines it. From a huge lake that she nicknames the “Lake of Shining Waters” to the multicolored flowers she fashions into crowns, Anne’s imagination knows no limits. In L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, Anne believes she is being brought to a permanent home—a place called Green Gables owned by siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. Matthew fetches her from the orphanage and she fawns over the gorgeous land the entire ride back to Green Gables, giddy with joy at finally leaving the orphanage. But when they arrive, strict Marilla drops the bomb that Matthew was too shy to expose: they wanted to adopt a boy, not a girl, and intend to send Anne back to the orphanage. Brokenhearted, Anne cries herself to sleep, but it is not the sight of her tears that moves Marilla: it’s the prospect of Anne being adopted by another cruel old lady instead. Marilla is strict, but she is not wicked. With much reluctance, and to Matthew’s joy, Marilla resolves to keep Anne after all. Is it just the magic of the beautiful Green Gables? Or is Marilla’s gradual softening of heart for Anne a show of real parental love? Anne begins as an insecure, gangly girl whose temper and absentminded dreaminess land her in all kinds of hot water. But in the grass and flowers on the banks of the Lake of Shining Waters, Anne grows up slowly and surely—and any amount of blunders and mistakes on her part cannot take away from how much she is loved by all. This book was wonderfully, heart-achingly gorgeous. I love classics because they so often follow one person’s entire life, and it was splendid to live in Anne’s world from childhood to womanhood. She was such a vibrant character, her quirks and dreams and shortcomings truly taking life on the page. I feel as if I’ve grown up with her and loved her just as much as Matthew and Marilla did ever since she arrived at their doorstep. It was bittersweet to see Anne grow into a woman because I adored her starry-eyed youth, but I was so proud of her in the end for always striving to be the best Anne she could be. She grew past her flaws and did her best to protect the people she loved. The writing style was impeccable—it is marked by many a monologue, as Anne loves to talk for pages upon pages about what she is passionate about, something that endears her to me and everyone around her. There’s something indescribably warm about L. M. Montgomery’s writing that evokes the sweetness of spring, the nostalgia of summer, and the heartache of autumn all at once; reading it is truly an experience I think everyone should have. And the setting! Green Gables was so lush and natural, filled with little brooks and lakes and forests, mirroring the purity of Anne’s heart. It felt just right for her youthful, carefree soul, but I’ll admit to being a little (and by little I mean intensely) jealous of Anne. I mean, who wouldn’t want to frolic among blooming flowers and old-fashioned white houses with sprawling fields bracketing glittering lakes? Anne made so many stories in her head by simply living there, establishing an ethereal quality about the book. What I adored most, though, was the omnipresent motif of love. It was executed perfectly in that subtle way that can’t help but pull on one’s heartstrings—Matthew’s openhearted, pure love for Anne, Marilla’s grudging, developing, and eventually wholehearted love, Anne’s love for her parents and friends, Anne’s friends’ playful love for her. Montgomery knows how to add these elements without overdosing on them, and her small but significant ways of showing love were both heartwarming and tearjerking—a perfect combination. Anne of Green Gables is an iconic book. It has passed through hundreds of years and survived until today because it tells, perhaps, one of the most important stories of all: the story of a child who started out small and grew to be great because she knew how to love and be loved. Mind you, I was bawling my eyes out by the end from the pain of letting this book go, but I always end up loving a book that makes me cry. Even if you don’t shed any tears, I hope you find the same comfort in Anne’s story as millions of other readers have, including me. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Puffin Books, 2014. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
