As we cling to our childhood we may just be letting go- To kill a Mocking BirdA

In the book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee Scout is a girl who is dealing with the confusion of letting go of her childhood. Boo Radley is the character who represents her youth. Throughout the entire book Boo is the hidden mysterious neighbor. He is the spark to their fun and the adventure to their day. In the beginning of the book Boo is one of the main subjects, Scout, Jem and Dill spend their days trying to get him out of the his house or reenacting when he stabbed his fathers leg.

As the story progresses Boo becomes more of a figure in the past. Scout still thinks of him sometimes but it doesn't really cross her mind that often. Showing Scout is growing little by little. No matter how little she thinks of him though Boo Radley is still hidden deep somewhere in his house. On page 227 Jem says "Scout I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up inside the house all this time... its because he wants to stay inside." Boo is afraid of the outer world. What happens if he goes outside and doesn't like what he sees but when he tries to run back inside the door is locked and there is no way of getting in. Scout doesn't want to let go of her childhood, its her spark and adventure. She is afraid that if she grows up she will become a boring adult.

On page 207 after Boo saves Scout she see's its him and says "Hey Boo." And then finds she should correct herself and say "Mr. Arthur." Mr. Arthur is saving Scout by going out of his house and putting himself in danger to help a little girl. Scout's childhood is saving her from the real world. She is coming out of this little world and taking a step into another planet. She is taking a huge step and is about to fall. When her youth pulls her back and helps her over the big crack separating one world from another.

A big step I had to take was stop sleeping with my night light. I always thought things would come and get me at night. My night light was one of the things that kept me safe. If I had to get up in the middle of the night it would guide me through the darkness of my room. But when I started sleeping without my night light it was scarier at night I would keep bumping into things every time I got up at night.. Sometimes I would have to plug my night light back in to avoid a stubbed toe.  My nightlight was my youth. My guide, and when I stopped using it I could get hurt, but little by little I learned to guide my way through my dark, dark room.

Harper Lee shows that growing up is the slow transition from childhood to adulthood. And its not about becoming a whole new person. Or changing the way we live. Its about becoming the improved versions of ourselves. More understanding, and even if we need a little help from our childhood being an adult doesn't have to be that hard.

As we grow we begin to think - To Kill a Mocking Bird

In the book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, Scout is a little girl with a short temper. She always finds herself in fist fights. Her father then tells her to stop using her fists and swallow her anger. On page 102  her cousin is insulting her father, and as she is about to attack him she thinks of her father. And she walks away. She says "It was the first time I ever walked away from a fight."

She backed down a fight. Something she would have never done a year ago. But she grew, she really thought about her fathers words. She may still just be a little girl, but she took a big step up by thinking before she did. If she hadn't she would be betraying her fathers trust, and taking a step  back in her process of growing up. It may have felt like it was something she needed to do it didn't mean it was necessarily the right thing to do. It shows she knows that now. Scout has come to an age where she can think, not just do.

When I was younger every night I would sleep with my stuffed dog that I named Black Dog. If I didn't have him it was impossible to sleep. At my house, at my grandmothers house, at a friends house, any where I was I had to have him. It was scary alone, because I felt a big connection to him. He may only have been a stuffed animal, but I had a theory that when I wasn't looking he would come to life. And at night when I was asleep he would stand guard and protect me from all the monsters. One night I went to a friends house and she lived about 45 minutes away. Before we went to sleep I realized that I didn't have Black Dog with me, and home was 45 minutes away. I had to be brave, that was the first night I had ever slept without my stuffed animal. It was a little scary but I had made it through the night unharmed. After that little by little I started to stop sleeping with my dog. It was a big step up for me. Just like it was for Scout we both had to give up something we did regularly, for her it was fighting and for me it was sleeping with a stuffed animal.

As we grow we think about things and give things up. We think we are keeping ourselves protected by doing these things, but as we get older we take down those shields, and find other ways to deal with our problems.  It may be hard and feel weird, but it is just a part of growing up. Learning how to defend/protect ourselves the right way.

Saving the Earth for your Image

Article Source/ URL: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/on-facebook-some-friendly-energy-rivalry/?ref=technology#

The article On Face book Some Healthy Energy Rivalry is about how the company Opower is using face book to keep people green. Keeping green has become less about saving the earth, but more about doing it to keep people thinking good of you. When you use a light bulb (that isn’t green) or electricity you are trapping carbon dioxide in the earth. If your neighbor see’s that you don’t use a green light bulb they might somewhat judge you. Nobody wants to be judged so they do whatever possible to fit in. It might not be what is morally right, but still it’s saving the earth! Opower has an app on face book where you get a certain number of points every time you use electricity. That way since everyone can see people, try and use a little as possible to not seem environmentally selfish.

The author of this article is trying to say that, to save the world from electronics we need electronics! We don’t care about what is important anymore just what other people think of us. Leslie Kaufman says “way that such information plays off social relationships and creates peer pressure” its what society does to us! Everyone pays attention to what others look like, the trends, ways to be cool. No one focuses on the true ethics anymore!

I think that its good that Opower thought of this! Millions of people use face book every single day! Including myself. This could become a big part of saving the world! I just find it frustrating that the only reason why  people really try and help the earth, is to keep their image good. People think the world is too big to help. But if everyone thinks that no one will even bother helping. And everything will just get worse. Then what will people think they will tell themselves “ its not my fault what could I do?” they could of made a impact even if it were a small one it could catch on!

The powerful have no power without the people

I am reading Witch and Wizard- The fire by James Patterson. This book is about two teenage brother and sister who are wizards and live in a world where they are being hunted down. This world is ruled by a man called The One who is The One, he banned books, art, music, dance, and any type of uniqueness! He believes if you do anything wrong you deserve to die. The girl Wisteria has the power of a million, and has a mission to destroy The One. He either wants to combine his power with hers or kill her.

Wisteria knows she is the most powerful person in the world, she feels the energy of her magic rush through her. But yet defeating The One seems impossible for her. She has him in her grip and cant bring herself to look at what she has done to him. She doesn’t want to be that kind of person, that kills for what they want. When she turns away he rises again even stronger. It shows he thrives off weakness. For that moment she showed no mercy he was powerless. Everyone was always afraid of him so no one stood up to him and stopped him. When someone finally does prove their power over him, he doesn’t believe that he is stronger. She doesn’t want to become him, someone who knows they have power, and that people should look up to them. She feels that by looking at him she will become a monster that it would take to kill someone. But to be that monster you have to kill because you just want to.

I have never liked people who thrive off power. The ones who put themselves on a throne above everyone else and expect to be respected. And they are, no one knows really what to say to them. I had a friend who did that, was mean and controlling to everyone and expected them to still be friends with her. After about five years everyone got sick of it, even her closest friends. People told her she wasn’t acting cool but she ignored them, and thought how dare they say that to me! Its not until everyone just left her did she realize, wow how have I been treating these people? Its like a chair, you need it to sit at a table, be high up and supported. Without the seat or legs of the chair you fall and get hurt. They don’t support you anymore so you cant be higher than them! 

Our classes get bigger, but our brains get smaller

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/03/26/elementary-students-in-large-classes-tripled-report-shows/?ref=nyregion

The article Elementary Students in Large classes Tripled by Anna M. Phillips is about how in the past three years due to the recession there have been budget cuts in schools leading to lays offs. Which means there are less teachers but the same amount of students, so there are bigger classes with 30 or more kids in them. In the past 3 years about 5,300 teachers have been laid off. In some school districts up to 20% of the classes have more than 30 students! And a just a couple of years ago in 2009 the average fourth grade class was about 23 students!

Anna M. Phillips is trying to say that the recession has not only hurt the economy but children’s education. With so many children in one class, the teacher doesn’t have time to focus on all of them and give each one of them the attention they need. In the sixth paragraph a man named Mr. Lander said “ Both the data and common sense tell you that having a kid in a class of 30-plus means the teachers can’t possibly focus on them.”  And its not the teacher or the student, it’s the budget cuts. But everything affects everything. The economy lays off teachers, children have a worse education (due to bigger classes) and then we are left we unemployed people. Its not like they get another teaching job easily, no one is hiring.

I think that the children of the present are accomplishers of the future, and education is the beginning root to a good future. We have to know things to succeed. Learn how to interact with people and have more knowledge. The doctors, teachers, politicians, police men/woman, mothers and fathers of the future, need to have gotten their share of attention just as they were beginning to grow. Its like our life is a cake recipe. One of the most important parts of a cake is the flour, the ingredient that we start off with. Without it, after the cake has been taken out of the oven its just a pan of hot goop. And how can we get anything of that? Or a plant, it needs roots to take in water. And they may not be visible, but they are there. And without the roots the plant dies. It has nothing to keep it supplied. And nothing to even just keep it propped up!

The five stepping stones to understanding

Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen

Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

Caught in a landslide,

No escape from reality

Open your eyes,

Look up to the skies and see,

I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,

Because I'm easy come, easy go,

Little high, little low,

Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to

me, to me

Mama,

I just killed a man,

Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger

now he's dead

Mama... life had just begun,

But now I've gone and thrown it all away

Mamaaaaa oooh,

Didn't mean to make you cry,

If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,

Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters

Too late, my time has come,

Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all

the time

Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go,

Got to leave you all behind and face the truth

Mamaaaaa oooh,

I don't want to die,

I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

(Guitar solo)

I see a little silhouetto of a man,

Scaramouche! Scaramouche! will you do the

Fandango?!

Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening

me!

Galileo, Galileo

Galileo, Galileo

Galileo, Figaro - magnifico

I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

He's just a poor boy from a poor family,

Spare him his life from this monstrosity!

Easy come, easy go, will you let me go

Bismilah! No, we will not let you go

(Let him go!) Bismilah! We will not let you go

(Let him go!) Bismilah! We will not let you go

(Let me go) Will not let you go

(Let me go)(Never) Never let you go

(Let me go) Never let you go (Let me go) Ah

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia, let me go

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me,

for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

So you think you can stop me and spit in my

eye?!?!

So you think you can love me and leave me to

die?!?!

Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby,

Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta

here!

(Guitar solo)

Nothing really matters, Anyone can see,

Nothing really matters,

Nothing really matters to me...

Any way the wind blows...

Life and death is the scariest thing to think about. One moment you are there, then your gone. You don’t have a say in it, it just happens, which is one of the worst things about it. When its over, its over, vanished, no longer.The song Bohemian Rhapsody -Queen, was written by Freddie Mercury who wrote it as his goodbye song when he was dying of aids. Through out the song Freddie goes through the five stages of grief, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance all in different order. Which is confusing but life can be confusing.

Freddie Mercury is a person that shows that taking grief step by step just helps you get through it. In the first verse he goes through the stage Denial he says: “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a Landslide, No escape from Reality.” He feels that either way he looks at it, he is trapped by this disease. He wishes he could just close his eyes and be free. In the second verse he goes through depression and regret he says: “Mama... life had just begun, But now I've gone and thrown it all away.” He was just beginning to learn about life, he wasn’t done with it, and he wanted to complete the journey.  He feels that if could just undo his mistake then he would have everything back, and finish.  In the third verse he goes through the stage of acceptance he says: “Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go, Got to leave you all behind and face the truth.” That is the hardest thing to do accept the fact that you wont live forever. It means you lost hope, but if anything it makes you stronger, you don’t hide from the truth. You breath it in. In the fourth verse goes through the stage bargaining he says: “Scaramouche! Scaramouche! will you do the Fandango?!” He is saying I am an idiot, who isn’t careful. Who bets anything and expects to be safe and protected. In the seventh verse Freddie Mercury goes through anger he says: “So you think you can stop me and spit in my

eye?!?! So you think you can love me and leave me to die?!?!” He is saying you led me on kept me going and now, life, you are just letting go of me when I need you most.

Nobody likes the thought of not being here, and no one should. But we don’t remember anything from before we were born so how can we remember anything if we don’t exist anymore. Your life is a memory the first time you rode a bike, or took your first steps. Not the first time you sat alone in a room for the rest of your life, doing nothing, thinking nothing, completely brain dead. Your heart may be beating but you have no life in you And that is what everyone loves, having life flow through their veins, having the experience and the memories. The five stages of grief just help you understand that it doesn’t matter how many memories you may have, (because its not like you can remember them all) but just how important they are and with how much life do they fill you with?

Sacrafice- Harry Potter 7

        In Aztec Culture people would sacrifice themselves to their god. They believed that human blood would help sustain the earth. They need the earth to survive without it they would be floating around in space. It keeps them sheltered, happy, protected, and alive. It is irreplaceable. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows without sacrifice, love does not exist. Love is the root of sacrifice, and love is believing and caring in someone. Throughout the whole Harry Potter series everyone makes huge sacrifices, and that proves just how strong they really are.

        First, Harry’s mother, Lily Potter sacrificed herself because she loved Harry. She wanted Harry to live not only because she loved him but because she knew he would go on to do great things! She knew he had a strong power in him, and he was young, and had his whole life to live.

         Second, in chapter 36 the Malfoys sacrificed their relationship with Voldemort and the Death Eaters so they could leave and be a family with no one over powering them. They not only left a dangerous psychopath but created a possible enemy. They turned on someone they once worshiped. But they did this for love. Voldemort had completely split up their family. He tried to turn Draco into a murderer, and take over what they had of a family!  Belatrix, may understand love but in a different way than good, its not sacrifice but selfishness. She “kisses up” to Voldemort because she wants to be his favorite. The one that will always be safe, and Voldemort would never kill. She loves herself too much to understand or even pay attention to other people. It’s not even Voldemort she loves. She does all these evil deeds for her own benefit.

          Third, in the big battle (chapter 36) Belatrix Lestrange is about to kill Ginny and Mrs.Weasly jumps in front of her and kills Belatrix. She truly showed sacrifice. Like Lily Potter no hesitations, it took her a second to decide. I love my daughter and I can’t loose her. Her decision didn’t only save one life but so so many others. If Belatrix hadn’t died then, she would have killed many others not only in the battle but after it. We make choices for the ones we love, we can’t go back and regret because love beats regret.

           Fourth, everyone thinks of Neville as a forgetful coward, but in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows he proves them all wrong. While Harry, Luna and Ginny were all gone he took over! In chapter thirty four pg.695 Neville says “Harry, you’re not handing yourself over are you?”  He knows that so many people will die in this battle and possibly including himself. But he wants to fight and sacrifice himself for what he believes in. For what can truly change the world.

             Fifth, as Harry was walking to the forbidden forest he thought about life and death. How so many people had died for him, and dieing for him right at that moment. He thought about how so many times he had come so close to death. But he had sacrificed himself to stop a horrible person. He didn’t need time to think it over he just knew what was the right thing to do. But on his walk to death he thought a lot about it. For the first time in his life he was really scared. He couldn’t face Voldemort with a hope that he would defeat him, he was going to die no matter what. But he did it any way and that proves that even without hope sacrfice beats all.

We do crazy things for the ones that we love and look up to. But really are they crazy, or just brave?