How has Harper Lee prepared us for the trial?
In chapter 16 the trial is about to start and everyone is either going to it or talking about it.
On page 176 miss maudie says ‘ Its like a Roman Carnival.’ Miss maudie is meaning this towards all of the hype about the Trial. The meaning of Roman Carnival is that the Romans would gather and watch a Christian be slaughtered and torn to pieces like animals. What Miss Maudie is trying to say is that the court house will be like everyone just watching atticus fail with his trial and be slaughtered verbally and physically after that.
Another way that harper lee is preparing us to the trial is by giving us descriptions of new characters that would be taking part woth the trial, Haper Lee does this so that we (the readers) can get a view of who is in the court room. One character is the judge of the trial, Judge Taylor. Scout describes Judge Taylor as a ‘Sleepy Old Shark.’ She also describes him as amiable which means friendly.
June 2, 2015 at 3:30 pm
Aaron,
You have shown that you understand characters and events with some attempt to analyse language. I think you can go further.
Target
Go deeper with your exploration of language.
I find it interesting that you liken the ‘Roman Carnival’ metaphor to Atticus – can you say why this is? Why not Tom?
Why would you combine ‘amiable’ with ‘sleepy old shark’ – what do you think Harper Lee was trying to say about Judge Taylor’s character? Why?