Author: Love, Edie

“To Kill A Mockingbird”: A Review

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is one of those novels you can read and reread, and in doing so, you learn something new each time. I have read it three times now – twice in high school (once for fun in eighth grade, and then for the school curriculum in the ninth grade) and just last week. I forgot how much of a pleasure this novel was and have fallen in love with the messages contained within.

Recommended to: Absolutely everyone – the success of this novel lies in its ability to depict injustice and how it is relevant still to this day.

Rating: ☕☕☕☕☕

Synopsis

Scout Finch is a young girl living with her brother Jem, and father Atticus, in Maycomb, Alabama. She details the lives of the inhabitants of Maycomb in great detail and from the perspective of an innocent child. Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley is a source of fascination for the children – a recluse living in his parent’s house and has seemingly never left. His mysterious behaviour causes Scout, Jem and their friend Dill to speculate quite fantastically on what Boo is actually like – from peering into people’s houses at night to stabbing his father in the leg with some scissors. Much of the early plot is dominated by the children’s attempts to lure him out of his haven, with some unexpected missing pants and gifts left in a local tree hollow.

The main storyline focuses on a court case involving Atticus defending Tom Robinson, an African-American man accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. As the novel is set in 1930s Alabama, Tom is seen as guilty before the case begins. Some of the local men attempt to show us to the county jail before the trial, only to realise Atticus is sitting outside waiting and Scout, Jem and Dill are innocently defending him. Scout questions Atticus earnestly throughout the novel, asking him why he is defending Tom when she hears taunts from classmates. He provides some wonderful insight into society and morals that not only shape Scout but the readers who embark on this journey with the characters.

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A still from the film, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.

Opinion*read at your own risk*:

This novel is a rare gem – I think some parts made my eyes prick at just how beautifully written as well as how tragic this story is. It’s the kind of novel you read to make you feel things – even if those things are anger or disgust at the kind of injustice humans are capable of inflicting upon others. It is also tragic in that no matter how many times you read it, the ending will not change, but it will change you.

The quote that has stuck with me since closing the pages of TKAM is this one from Atticus:
906d744ebc3daf793a64f6c45b84e2c7.jpgHe explains to Scout his choice to defend Tom Robinson, although it makes him a social outcast. This is so applicable to everybody, we all have situations where we have to make some unpleasant choices. Sometimes what is popular is not right, or so the quote goes.

Bob Ewell is an awful man who abuses his daughter Mayella and other children yet seemingly goes unpunished by the law simply because he is white. Atticus quite simply proves Ewell incorrect, time after time, and it is evident to the reader that Tom is not the rapist that needs to be indicted. Harper Lee goes above and beyond depicting the difficulty in changing social mores, challenging the reader to look deeper into what is happening and not simply make assumptions on preliminary evidence. Ewell winning the court case left me fuming, which is probably a good thing for both my own sense of justice and Lee’s intention with the novel. She contrasts what it means to be good by society (in the Deep South during the 1930s) by depicting a white man with no positive attributes, who goes so far as to attempt to murder Scout and Jem late at night. Tom is an African-American man who is viewed suspiciously as he professes to have no ulterior motive in helping Mayella around the house even after a long day of labouring, although is pure of heart.

Boo Radley also helps Scout and the reader understand that appearances can be deceiving. He is fodder for the town gossip and a source of pretend play for the children in Maycomb. Boo manages to save Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell, and the moment Scout realises he is there she utters those heartwarming words to Atticus about how nice Boo actually was. I love the character of Boo. Although he remains a small part of the novel, he is crucial to the survival of the children and drives home the message that people are inherently good, and we need to go beyond appearances.

After reading this novel I ended up watching the film version to continue my love for the story just a little while longer. I felt almost melancholic when I finished this novel – which I’m not sure is due to the plot or because of my relationship on a deeper level with the messages of the story. TKAM is a beautiful story – it resonates with current social issues but also personal ones, which is what I think cement it’s status as a classic.

What are your opinions on this novel? Let me know if you agree, disagree or have something more to add to my review!

Flowers & Loss

This is a personal story, which details my pregnancy loss. If this will be upsetting to you, please do not read. Image via GraphicStock.

All my life, I loved flowers. My first word was ‘flower’, as my grandfather had a large garden filled with every kind imaginable (to my little mind, anyway!) I received flowers from my loved ones to celebrate graduations, birthdays, my engagement, job offers. That changed the day of my loss.

I remember every moment of that day as if it happened yesterday. The pain started the previous night, feeling like light cramping. By 5 am the next morning, I was hunched over on the couch, clutching my stomach, side, back. The pain would seem to be in one spot, then move as if to taunt me. It was like extreme period cramps, with an almost stabbing feeling on my left side. I tried to curl up in a ball, so confused about what was happening, although I had a gut feeling.

By 10 am I grabbed my husband, telling him we needed to get to the hospital. The pain was almost excruciating by this stage and I had noticed some brown discharge. I rushed into the emergency department, bursting into tears whenever I had to tell someone what I thought was happening to me. This was the last thing I had ever imagined months before.

The emergency room doctor was haphazard, pressing randomly on different parts of my lower abdomen. It was agonising and she diagnosed it as an infection, due to my cervix remaining sealed. This sliver of hope was worse, knowing what was to come. We immediately were cheered (slightly – I was still clutching my side and wincing). We went through the motions of waiting for an ultrasound, and thankfully I made it in quickly. The technician was moving the equipment over my lower body, searching for an inflammation, infection, swelling – something that would explain my pain.

Then – my waters broke.

I started hyperventilating, frantically asking the technician what had happened. She stared back, wide-eyed, and ran to get the nurses.

Then I knew.

I was slowly wheeled back to the emergency department, with mournful faces all around me. My bed was wet beneath me, my face and hair matted from tears. The doctor came into the room and confirmed what I already knew, and my husband wept.

We hadn’t told anyone we were pregnant yet. The day of my miscarriage was the day of our 12-week scan. It seemed a cruel twist of fate.

Then we had to make the calls: parents, friends, colleagues, employers. They found out that we were pregnant, and that we were no longer.

Being sent flowers is a kind gesture, but for some reason (be it grief warping the passage of time or a really great flower company) these flowers lasted for weeks. These bunches reminded me of my loss every single time I looked at them.

Why should flowers get to live, when my baby died?

Why should I look after them, when I couldn’t even care for myself?

There they stood, pretty, proud and perfect. I was lost and wilted.

Eventually, the flowers did die and I threw them out, unceremoniously into the garbage. There was an end, there was finality. And strangely, that is what had happened to me. I grieved long and hard for my baby, but not for the flowers. Both lives had a short beginning and end. I guess that is the mystery of life – some things can give you such beauty for such a short period of time, feeling like they would last forever but also were terminated before they really had a chance to shine.

Almost a year on, I still grieve every now and then. I definitely recommend seeing a counsellor and talking to employers, friends and family. We need to end the stigma around pregnancy loss at any stage. Once I began to speak, I found friends had been through the same thing, and we shared our stories.

I wish every parent to know that there is love and support for you, and it is not something you should keep hidden. You have gone through the worst, and it does get better.

“The Host”: A Review (spoilers)

As a teenage lover of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, I finally have made my way to reading The Host; a science fiction novel set in a dystopian world. As a fan of reading post-apocalyptic fiction of many varieties (Stephen King, Scott Westerfeld, John Marsden) this was definitely up my alley in terms of books I enjoy.

Recommended to: Lovers of Twilight, young adult fiction, Vampire Academy readers (although less adult themes)

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕

Synopsis
Earth has been taken over by an alien species called “Souls” that are inserted into a ‘host’ creature (geddit?), or in this case, humans. The aliens are small, squid-like, silvery creatures that are inserted into the brain via the neck. They have access to their hosts’ memories, and in the case of Wanderer, the person has not truly disappeared and remains a constant voice throughout the novel. Melanie is ever present and both she and Wanderer converse frequently, which is unusual for the Souls to experience. Wanderer seeks to silence Melanie, yet starts to be given flashbacks to the love of her life Jared and brother Jamie. She overrules the conventions of society and heads out into the wilderness, searching for these two characters. She finds them alive in a commune with other humans, including her ‘crazy’ Uncle Jeb, the man responsible for the shelter and in charge of the community. A love triangle, danger and tough decisions ensue.

Opinion *read at your own risk*:
The Host was well written and followed the conventions of a novel almost perfectly. I preferred the writing style of this novel compared to the Twilight series, probably because Meyer had a chance to hone her craft and was not catering to a horde of Edward and Jacob fanatics. She seems to capture the ‘first love’ of teenagers quite well, understanding passionate and spontaneous infatuation. I did find the love triangle (square?) between Melanie, Wanderer, Jared and Ian quite similar to Twilight, and it was quite frustrating to have 20-year-olds behave this way, with the two males in love with Melanie/Wanderer (Jared for Melanie’s body and Ian for Wanderer’s soul).

I was not a fan of how Jared was depicted – he was extremely angry at Wanderer when she arrived because her existence meant the death of Melanie, his lover. That part is understandable, sure – but he physically attacks her and shuns her throughout the novel until near the end, and is rewarded by Melanie’s unrelenting love throughout the novel, her jealousy of Wanderer’s physical proximity to Jared, and finally, her return. Other characters distrust and dislike Wanderer, but only two males are physically violent to her – the rest either refuse to acknowledge her or come around quite quickly through discussion. I am not a fan of Meyer’s reduction of male-only characters to being violent, and both of the main perpetrators are forgiven by the end with little punishment or character growth.

I did enjoy the plot by the end and the Souls are quite interesting and fantastical creatures with an unusual society and history. There is romance but nothing in the physical sense – the females lie about their ages to develop their relationships with the male characters, who treat them respectfully but give importance to virginity. This could be a reflection of Meyer’s Mormon background or the fact most readers will be teenage girls. The ending was sweet – Wanderer was allowed to live on, though attempted suicide through selflessness, in the character of a girl who apparently looked innocent and reflected Wanderer’s personality. Ian’s character grew on me when he mentions that he took care of her soul (as a silvery worm) whilst they were finding a body, and he loved her regardless of her form. I feel that this was a better depiction of love than the Melanie/Jared dynamic that dominates the majority of the novel (and the previous paragraph explains how I feel about Jared).

This novel did bring into question the dynamics of good v. evil and what it means to be human – although it’s also good for a light weekend read.