Boari Lidia-Monica

Inner conflict Mister John Keating

Now Id like you to step forward over here. Theyre not that different from
you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you
feel. The world is their oyster. They believe theyre destined for great things, just like
many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too
late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you
see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you
can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it?
Carpe hear it? carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives
extraordinary! (http://readwatchwrite.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Dead-Poets-
Society.pdf, page 20).

These are the words that Mr. John Keating gave to his students when the boys first
entered his class.Keating begins his unusual teaching methods by showing his students
pictures of previous Welton graduates.Thepictures were the legends of the school, those
who had died, but had contributed something special to life and whose memory would not be
easily forgotten.

The story about the school rules in the 1950s is quite attractive for some students
because one young teacher, Mr. Keating dared to disobey the rules of the four pillars and to
try new methods of teaching.

But, on the one hand, there were a lot of conflicts he created in the lives of those he
taught, on the other hand, there was his inner main conflict between the rules of a very
rigorous society and his open mind who did not admit the rules. That is why his favourite
saying to the teenagers was: Carpe diem, seize the day, boys; make your lives
extraordinary!. This quote has left a mark in every students life. And with his new, unusual
teaching methods, with his way of looking at one thing from two different perspectives he
managed to be loved by his students but hated by his fellow colleagues and parents.

I think that his main conflict has the starting point when he was a student at Welton
Academy and he had to adopt the requirements and rules of the school. Later, when he came
here as a young teacher, he decided to show his students a different way of seeing life and
learning. From here is a conflict between individual will and social rules. He challenges the
people he knows but the real motif of his behavior is hidden in his unfulfilled dreams and
expectations.

As a student, he formed a group for reading poetry under the name of Dead Poets
Society. When he started teaching he tried to make his students to see a different point of
view, to express their minds and to have courage to confront their parents. Being a former
student at this school he wanted to prove that other methods are better for teaching and
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forming students minds. For example, he keeps some classes out in the schoolyard, he asks
one of his students to stand on his desk for to change perspectives, he makes students tear out
pages from book because they are not significant: he tried to make students think for
themselves, to form their own views and not just believe what others had said. Mr. Keating
gives his students advice about trusting their own way and intuition as individuals: Lads,
there is a great need in all of us to be accepted.

But, it seems that his inner conflict and his actions create other conflicts which can be
named external. The most important is the conflict between Mr. Keating and the headmaster
of the Welton Academy, Mr. Nolan. What is more, the students discover in an annuar of the
school that Mr. Keating formed the Dead Poets Society and they decided to re-create it.
They met in a cave to read, analyse and create poetry.

One of the most active students was Neil Perry whom the teacher encouraged to
discover himself and to stand out for his dreams. Neil has found in Mr. Keating a reliable man
and he had the courage to talk about his personal problems. But his father was too strong and
stubborn to accept his love for acting, forcing him to give up his dreams in order to become a
doctor. As a result, torn by opposite forces, Neil commited suicide. This led to the conflict
between Neils parents and Mr. Keating who was blamed for the young boys death and was
expelled from the Academy.

When Neil entered in Mr. Keatings room, he found him writing poems, but a thing got
his attention: on the desk was a framed picture of a woman. Mr. Keating explained that the
woman is his girlfriend but she lives in London. From here we realize that Mr. Keatings inner
conflict was so strong, the willingness to give a life meaning for his students and to change
the Welton Academys rules was so great that he gave up his personal life.

Todd is a lonely, painfully shy boy who is under presure to live up to his brothers
reputation. He is encouraged by Mr. Keating to find his own way and at the end of the story,
he manages to stand up and confront the headmaster when he salutes Mr. Keating leaving the
school with O, Captain, my Captain!.

I think that every poem he had chosen to discuss with his seventeenth students and
every piece of advice he gave them, were steps in their development in order to confront real
life and get ready to fight, to have a war with rules, to break free from restraints. Even if at
the end he had to give up everything he loved and represented him, he would be calm and
would know that had a huge impact on the teenagers lives. He knew how important it is to
leave something memorable behind your passing through a place or through life. His only
problem was that he was not capable of giving Neil Perry enough courage to confront his
family and not care what they say.

The teacher John Keating is a model of person who can touch your soul or can give
you a new direction in life. And, because he had to struggle alone to find some truths of
fighting for survival, he decided to give some guidelines to his students, to make them
courageous, with an open and flexible mind and to teach them to trust themselves in order to
find freedom.
 Boari Lidia-Monica

In conclusion, even though times have changed, Mr. Keatings teachings may remain
valid for us and can be a staring point in life. So, Carpe diem, seize the day, girls! Make
your lives extraordinary!

To Kill a Mocking Bird- social conflict (Atticus vs. Society)

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is
a man with a gun in his hand. Its when you know youre licked before you begin but
you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but
sometimes you do.

This quote is from the end of chapter 11 and represents, from my point of view, a
good phrase that illustrates the social conflict, which is between Atticus and Society.
This could be a prime example of Man vs. Society conflict. It appears when Atticus
agrees to defend Tom Robinson. The conflict in the novel shows how society is
judging and discriminating people who are different. Members of the town feel Atticus
should not defend Tom, because he is black, and the novel is set in a time of racial
discrimination. Atticus is looked upon poorly, threatened and even harassed for being
Toms lawyer.
Returning to the quote, I motivate my choice by saying that it refers to Atticus, who
demonstrates how brave he is by taking a case that everybody think its a lost one.
When defending Tom, he takes the word of a black man over that of a white woman.
Mr. Finch had good intentions while thinking about defending Tom Robinson, but the
people in Maycomb felt like they were losing their social status. The townspeople
accused Atticus of being a negro-lover. Dills aunt, Miss Rachel Haverford, said:
If a man like Atticus Finch wants to butt his head against a store wall, its his
head. While Aunt Alexandra hold a missionary tea, Mrs. Merriweather
expressed her disagreement: I tell you there are some good but misguided
people in this town. From citizens point of view, Atticus made a bad decision
when he decided to defend Tom Robinson. They said that he didnt respect
their rules and traditions. His act was seen as a betrayal one.
Maycomb is described in the beginning of the novel as being a tired old
town. Scouts description fits to the minds of the people from Maycomb. Also,
their beliefs are described perfectly by Scouts description. The majority of
people in Maycomb are averse to change radical ideas of moral thinking. Mr.
Dolphus Raymond, Miss Maudie, Mr. Link Deas are good examples of people
who suffer scorn from the towns choice of living. People from Maycomb chose
their way of living, and their mentality doesnt seem to change. They think that
Atticus should have refused the case of Tom Robinson, instead of defending a
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black man. They consider Atticuss fault for those white people who are
supposed to be lying. In that era, a white will always say that truth, while a
black will lie.
Atticus felt bad, because he knew that people around him will disagree with
his decision; even knowing that, he still took the case, hoping the he will win
and in this way could demonstrate to all citizens they are wrong in judging a
man by his skin colour. Those who accused Tom Robinson, Mayella and Bob
Ewell, were very sure that they will win. They were convinced that everyone will
believe them, because, according to them, everyone who is black, is lying, is
an immoral person and cant be trusted when theyre around women. As I said,
Atticus tries to convince people to stop judging a book by its cover. He asked
the Court of Justice to make their duty and to analyze the confessions, without
taking into account the defendants skin colour. But, unfortunately, this didnt
happen, and Tom was found guilty and after this, he died.
Atticus children were also bullied by their colleagues and other children. Mr.
Finch is believed to be a bad person, because he decided to do the morally
right thing. Also, Aunt Alexandra thinks that her brother is a disgrace to his
family. Atticuss radical decisions and actions are viewed as a dishonorable
thing for Maycomb. He chose to defend Tom, because the thinks that everyone
deserve a second chance, and also that we are all equal. He believes in the
Golden Rule; the Golden Rule is Treat all others the way you want to be
treated . Maycomb is a town of discrimination and Atticus tries to change
peoples menatality. The citizens in Maycomb treated Atticus Finch unfairly,
because he was defending a guilty person, according to them. They were sure
that Tom Robinson has the fault in this case; also, they didnt believe that he
helped Mayella without asking for money or anything else; they didnt believed
he felt compassion for her. In addition, Tom was found guilty, even though
there were plenty of proofs that shows he didnt rape the white lady, Mayella
Violet Ewell.
By accepting Toms case, Atticus hopes that people in Maycomb wont see
any difference between a black man and a white one. Being a lawyer, he felt
that he has a duty for community and for himself. He also took the case
because he believes in Justice and Equality. His daughter, Scout, had problems
at school for the same reason his father decided to defend and protect an
innocent, but black man. Scout thought that what his father was doing, its a
bad thing.
In Chapter 15, Walter Cunningham and the Old Sarum bunch surround Atticus at
the Maycomb jailhouse outside of Tom Robinson's cell. Walter tells Atticus to move
out of his way because they intend to harm Tom. This scene depicts Atticus' conflict
with Maycomb's racist community members. Atticus displays courage and integrity by
saying:
"You can turn around and go home again, Walter."
Atticus changed the racist society of Maycomb by defending Tom Robinson in his
 Boari Lidia-Monica

trial. By acting as Tom's defense, Atticus, an influential member of his community, is

standing up for an oppressed group in his society. In the quote: If I didn't take this
case (Scout) then I wouldn't be able to hold my head up, I wouldn't be about to tell
anyone what to do, not even you and Jem.", the reader can understand that Tom's
case is significant to Atticus. He knows that it will shape his community, and
everybody will be against him, that a serious change will be a result from the trial,
and if he did not accept the trial no one else in Maycomb would help Tom and the rest
of the African-Americans in the community. He feels like a salvage for his town, and
doesnt intend to quit. Atticus also changed his community by standing up against the
majority and defending a man he knows is innocent, but at the same time, a man
who is thought to be a liar, violent and immoral. In the quote "Link, that boy might go
to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told . . . and you know what the truth is",
Atticus is facing a mob of his peers. The reader can conclude the he is willing to risk
his own safety and reputation to bring justice to the trial, no matter who is in the way.
I think hes a model for all the lawyers, because its not an easy thing to fight against
a whole community. Atticus shows great compassion towards the blacks and makes
sacrifices by defending Tom, which is another way he helps change his community.
His compassion is displayed in the quote I mentioned is the beginning of the essay.
Atticus was going to see his case all the way through, if the result was positive or
negative, under any circumstance. This may mean that he trusts in his knowledges,
but what is more important, he trusts in his power to bring kindness and fairness in a
community where he has a good reputation and a big importance.
Atticus' choices at home, in the way he raised his children also change his society.
He teaches Jem and Scout valuable lessons that help the next generation to break
the cycle of discrimination. He consider its important for his children to know the rule
of a society and tried to raise them different from the world they grow in. For example
with the quote "You never really understand a person until you consider things from
his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" , he teaches
the children not to judge a person weather they are black, white, rich, or poor, until
they understand their situation. It refers perfectly to his situation and he wants his
children to know the truth from his point of view, not from the communitys. Atticus
also teaches his children not to hurt or hate anything or anyone that has done
nothing to provoke them. In the quote "Its a sin to kill a mockingbird . . . they do
nothing but sing their heads off and bring joy to people" , the reader can see Atticus'
view on how unnecessary violence was, even for a bird and that violence should not
be used in any situation . Atticus finally teaches Jem and Scout not to belittle people
of a lower class or social stature. When Calpurnia says "Don't matter who they are,
anybody sets foot in this house's yo' (company), and don't you let me catch you
remarkin' on their ways like you was so high and mighty! Yo' folks might be better'n
the Cunnigham's but it don't count for nothin' the way you're disgracin' `em" , one can
feel that she tries to advise Scout, in a way a mother would do it. The way the
children were raised changes the society in which they were raised.
From my point of view, To Kill a Mocking Bird, by Harper Lee, is a book that all of
 Boari Lidia-Monica

us should read. Its a good example of conflicts of all types and gives the reader the
chance to think twice before he/she initiate a conflict which may have no results. The
conflict chosen by me, Man vs. Society- Atticus vs. Society, is a good example of the
world from that period and maybe, from this period too. Its been a long time since
people judge others, just to feel better or braver than them. But you may know
yourselves from the way you are talking about others.
Atticus Finch is a brave man, thats what I think. Even though he knew that the
whole Maycomb will accused him of not respecting their rules, he agreed to defend
an innocent man, because if he wouldnt do, then nobody would have the opportunity
to see that isnt good to judge a book by its cover.
The theme of society being racist and prejudging represents the end of the
novel. Racism and prejudice turns people against each other out of hate
because of the colour of their skin, which indicates that we live in a racist
society, where most people tend to prejudice others. To resume my essay in a
few lines, I would just say: Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the South during the 1930s,
tries to prove that a black man, Tom Robinson, is innocent from a charge of rape
against a white woman. During that period, it was socially acceptable, and even
encouraged, that black men were automatically guilty of crimes that involved white
women. Robinson didn't rape the woman and Finch knew it for a fact. However, Finch
was stuck in a character versus society conflict. Because he was a white man, the
community pressured and threatened him to let Robinson be convicted of rape. This
book captures the "importance of moral education." Finch was in a moral dilemma
while defending Robinson. Moral education is also important in modern times
because the conflict between character and society is more common due to the
effects of social media and technology

The religious conflict in Doubt: A Parable

by John Patrick Shanley

Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty.(Shanley,14)

The play is very connected to the realities of the 1960s and has many conflicts, one of
the major conflicts being between the old well-established Catholic Church with its set of
rules and with its hierarchy and the new trend that allows church priests and nuns to interact
with people and to have a social life. One can see the conflict between tradition and
modernity.
 Boari Lidia-Monica

In the first fragment of the play, Father Flynn has a sermon in which he discusses the
power of the doubt which can be bigger than certainty. At the same time his opponent, Sister
Aloysius, plants the seeds of doubt into the younger and inexperienced Sister James about
Father Flynns behaviour. The two representatives of the Church- Principal Aloysius Beauvier,
who is reserved, unsentimental and watches the rules of the Church and Priest Flynn, who is
warm, close to people and children, loved by his students are in conflict because they come
from different social backgrounds, have different genres and different positions according to
Church rules. Even if the conflict starts from a supposed quilt of Father Flynn which was
never proved, their position and behaviour are conflictual anyway.
The play is an allegory in which the author makes us think about the major themes of
doubt, certainty, isolation, personal sin and use of power in our society. And for this in the
play we find some quotations about the covering of the truth, the power of gossip and doubt.
It is like some people must be attached by some strong rules in order to have faith because life
is so harsh that they cannot find a real connection with God. That is why they are vigilant,
reserved
and feel a mistrust in anyone who represents anything else but a Church authority or rule.
Doubt is a state of mind and is driven into our brain by some actions or words without much
meaning but it grows stronger and stronger and affects our judgments and actions. Each of the
characters has personal doubts and thoughts about right and wrong and the whole play relies
on the power of influencing peoples perception in a direction not right or wrong but wanted.
On the other hand, besides the major conflict and the inner conflict, we can say that
the play depicts the conflict between the Catholic private schools represented by St.
Nicholas in Bronx, New York and public schools. Sister Aloysius was a member of Sister of
Charity who taught in schools and helped poor or orphan children. Father Flynn was the
representative of the Catholic priests who had a bunch of problems with child molestation in
that period. So, here is the doubt. Which of the two Institutions is right? Who of the two
people has the power? The play does not give us a hint, it only makes us think. And the way,
the main characters at does not help us at all. Principal Aloysius is like on investigator who
goes beyond the authority and drives the intrigue of the entire plot, even if she does not have
proof and support from the rest of the characters. Father Flynn is angry but does not take
action, only his sermons speak about destructive danger of making accusations based on
gossip. The other characters of the play are like tools in the hand of Sister Aloysius. Sister
James is the one who started the idea of wrong doing for Father Flynn and his misconduct
 Boari Lidia-Monica

with twelve year old student Donald Muller. Donald was a student with problems in that
school he was the only black student at St. Nicholas and Father Flynn helped him and
understood his fears. This seemed strange to Sister Aloysius because teachers should be
reserved and severe to their students and the priest was too close to Donald. Mrs. Muller, his
mother, was a working class woman who wanted her child to attend a good school and have
changes to a good life, and she does not question any behaviour.
So, the conflict is between two hard characters who want to prove something. But, as
Father Flynn says, truth is not so attractive for the people: What actually happens in life is
beyond interpretation. The truth makes for a bad sermon. (Shanley, 39) What is more, his
previous work in three churches in the last five years leads Sister Aloysius to the idea that he
has something to hide. Father Flynn does nothing to protect himself but strongly denies all the
gossip. Wanting to control everything pupils do in her school, Sister Aloysius influences
Sister Jamess mind and tries to have an answer from Mrs. Muller too. Seeing that it is not
possible to find out the truth or evidence, she uses a lie telling that she informed her superiors
and she discovered some bad things about Father Flynn. She did this in order to force the
priest to resign, but her actions had an unexpected result: Father Flynn was promoted to
another Church and had no consequences to face. However the play ends with no clear
statement or judgment, letting us to think about. We know for sure that Sister Aloysius, lied in
order to fulfill her quest for truth but we are in doubt if Father Flynn said the truth.
The whole play relies on parables about acting in life and the consequences of our
actions. Life is full of such examples and we have to take decisions based on little information
so we do not know if we are always right or wrong. Sometimes we act based on ideas,
feelings, anger, revenge, the need for power. These are fuel for our actions and many times we
can hurt or destroy souls but we do not care or we do not feel guilty. The fact is that all life is
a conflict but, as Mrs. Muller said: it is not all white or black. The play makes us think that
sometimes there is a middle way of seeing things or solving situations. There is a strong moral
conflict in the end of the drama play.
The big changes in the society of the 1964s brought major changes in peoples way of
thinking and the Church should adapt its hierarchy and rules to these changes.
The mixing of culture lead to mixing of beliefs and to a new way of dealing with
religion, personal relation with God or Church and a rebellion against authority and rules.
People had an open mind once television, newspapers and books developed and they
started to question the information they received not accepting everything as simple truth. The
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play is itself a parable of the society at that time and it gives some ideas about how people can
be manipulated by the help of gossip and how hard the truth is accepted. Once the damage is
done, people tend to accept a lie rather than truth. And in the past decades religion has lost its
power to persuade and attract people. The ideas of wrong and right, of good or evil have
shifted a lot from the original rules the Church. And the connection with the Divinity has
become more abstract than ever. No matter the time when the play was written, its plot and
conflicts are actually all the time because society has the same pillars: power, doubt, poverty,
war. These pillars support the manipulation of the masses. John Patrick Shanley only gave us
food for thoughts to seek the truth behind the gossip. And to find our faith no matter what
doubts we have or no matter what religion we have. Any person has the power to choose.
In conclusion, the play Doubt: A Parable shows us what happens when we are
unwilling to accept something even if is a change of tradition, of rules or of a power. The
manipulation of words is powerful and can be destructive. Finding the truth is not always
attractive.

Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffanys

One night, it was long past twelve, I woke up at the sound of Mr. Yunioshi calling
down the stairs. Since he lived on the top floor, his voice fell through the whole house,
exasperated and stern. "Miss Golightly! I must protest!" The voice that came back, welling up
from the bottom of the stairs, was silly-young and self-amused. "Oh, darling, I am sorry. I lost
the goddamn key." "You cannot go on ringing my bell. You must please, please have yourself
a key made." "But I lose them all." "I work, I have to sleep," Mr. Yunioshi shouted. "But
always you are ringing my bell" "Oh, don't be angry, you dear little man: I won't do it
again. And if you promise not to be angry" -- her voice was coming nearer, she was climbing
the stairs -- "I might let you take those pictures we mentioned." By now I'd left my bed and
opened the door an inch. I could hear Mr. Yunioshi's silence: hear, because it was
accompanied by an audible change of breath. "When?" he said. The girl laughed. "Sometime,"
she answered, slurring the word. "Any time," he said, and closed his door.
 Boari Lidia-Monica

This quote is from the very beginning of the book, describing the night when the
narrator sees Holly for the first time. This is that conflict from which he learns that Miss
Holiday Golightly, the traveller, has a quite adventurous life, consequently, nobody who lives
in the brownstone is bored at all.

Our narrator wakes up hearing that the photographer living upstairs is disputing in the
middle of the night with Holly. Based on the discussion and the forms of adress we would
think that they are in close relationship with each other (oh darling; you dear) but later we
learn that the girl calls in this way almost everyone. The dear little man changes his voice
tone when Holly brings up the pictures he wants to take since a long time. After this scene,
comes an other, even stranger, when Sid Arbuck (first called by mistake Harry) gets the
raspberry from the traveller even though he picked up the check for her and her five friends:
"The next time a girl wants a little powder-room change," she called, not teasing at all, "take
my advice, darling: don't give her twenty-cents!" 1 Does this girl have her income from
powder-room change? Yes, this kind of money is an essential part of her earnings, she gets it
from different wealth men.

This is the conflict which will have a key role in the narrators and Hollys
relationship: the following nights the narrator will be that person whose bell the girl rings
inthe middle of the night. This is how the two housemate start to get know each other in a
rather special way, this is how Fred starts to have stronger feelings than simple friendship.

Maybe every reader has a lot of questions after reading this short passage, like: Holly
really looses her keys every night? Why Mr. Yunioshy is whom she chooses to wake up? And
finally, does she blackmail somehow the old photographer with the mentioned pictures? These
are the questions which are originating from the fact that Holly is so difficult.

The conflict with Mr. Yunioshi is not the only one which Holly has in the brownstone:
she also feels antipathy for Sophia Spanella, another tenant in the house. This woman calls
Holly a debauched several times (At one point, Madame Sapphia Spanella, the coloratura
and roller-skating enthusiast who lived on the first floor, circulated a petition among the
brownstone's other tenants asking them to join her in having Miss Golightly evicted: she was,
said Madame Spanella, "morally objectionable" and the"perpetrator of all -night gatherings
that endangered the safety and sanity of her neighbors.")2, whats more, she is the one who
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directs the authorities to Holly when they are seeking to arrest her.She has conflicts with
almost everyone, even with herself. We can affirm that she is a rebel of every-inch: she
doesnt belong to a person or to a community, she does not have an ordinary flat with
furniture, nor even ordinary friends (Mag Wildwood, Salvatore Sally Tomatoe, O.J. Berman-
with these people Holly only has superficial friendship which are often based on what one
person can get from another.).

As we learn later in the book, Holiday Golightly had already been quite strange as a child too:
at the age of fourteen she was married to Doc, a horse doctor from Tulip. But Holly didnt
really liked being a housewife and stepmother of four children, so she escaped shortly
thereafter. These unusual event can be the real source of Hollys inner crisis too: she can not
identify her real self, she cant relate the gap between her past and present self. 3The biggest
concern in her life is that she doesnt want to have responsabilities, to be a part ofa system-
this can be the reason why she doesnt find or doesnt want to find her keys: key represent a
threat for her freedom.

If we speak about her desire of freedom, we cant forget about her clothing style: there is a
pair of dark sunglasses which she wears always, not to protect her eyes from sun, rather than
to hide her feelings even in the middle of the night, when she annoys her neighbours.
Furthermore, there is her long black dress which makes her even more mystic. (she wore
a slim cool black dress, black sandals, a pearl choker. For all her chic thinness, she had an
almost breakfastcereal air of health, a soap and lemon cleanness, a rough pink darkening in
the cheeks. Her mouth was large, her nose upturned. A pair of dark glasses blotted out her
eyes). 4

And what could be the perfect refuge for a woman like she? Tiffanys, of course, a perfect
place maybe for every women. But out of all, probably Holly is the only one whose best wish
is to have a breakfast at this shiny place.

The need for freedom compels the protagonist to act in strange ways in order to protect her
independence: she doesnt give a name for his pet, just calls him cat because they just
found each other at the brownstone when she moved in, consequently, they do not belong to
each other, just share a flat. I think we all agree on the fact that the process of founding an
adequate home will be very long and difficult for Holliday Golightly.
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After leaving New York to escape from jail she sends a postcard to the narrator, informing
him that life isnt much better in Buenos Aires, she still hadnt found her dream home with a
quite wealthy man.

As the narrator starts to know her better, he tells us that miss Golightly is not really hurt in
these different kind of conflicts, she just takes part in quite strange parties, sings country
melodies on her balcony, goes every Thursday to Sing-Sing and has a conversation with
Tomatoe Sally for one dollar each time- in a nutshell, she just lives for the moment, without
taking care of anything.

Returning to the relationship between Mr. Yunioshi and Holly, we can affirm that there is an
interesting circularity: the narrator sees the traveller for the first time when she has a quite
harangue discussion with the photographer and Mr. Yunioshi is who brings the latest news
about Holiday Golightly

Truman Capote
Breakfast at Tiffanys

- emotional conflict (external vs. inner) -

She was still hugging the cat. Poor slob, she said, tickling his head, poor slob without a
name. Its a little inconvenient, his not having a name. But I havent any right to give him one:
hell have to wait until he belongs to somebody. We just sort of took up by the river one day,
we dont belong to each other: hes an independent, and so am I. I dont want to own anything
until I know Ive found the place where me and things belong together. Im not quite sure
where that is just yet. But I know what its like. She smiled, and let the cat drop to the floor.
Its like Tiffanys, she said. [] It calms down right away, the quietness and the proud look
of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in nice suits, and
that lovely smell of silver and alligator wallets. If I could find a real-life place that made me
feel like Tiffanys, then Id buy some furniture and give the cat a name. (pg.17-18)
Holly lives with a red cat but she refuses to give him a name. she claims that they do not
really belong to each other. They just happened to run into each other one day at the river.
Since she does not believe she owns the cat she feels she has no right to name it. The cat
therefore represents the kind of independence that she wants for herself- they are two of a
kind. But later, the cat will reveal something to Holly about herself that she does not realize.
To demonstrate her lack of attachment to the cat, she turns him loose in Spanish Harlem on
the way to the airport. She believes he will be able to look after himself. The cat is unwilling
 Boari Lidia-Monica

to go, however, and she has to shoo him away. The cat is less independent that she thought,
and so is she. Holly regrets what she has done. She is discovering that she is more attached to
the cat than she realized, and the realization shocks her, the idea that she could possess
something as her own without even knowing it. The narrator promises to search for cat after
she has left, and later finds him behind the window of a cozy Spanish Harlem home.
Hollys cat is a constant reminder of the lack of connection she feels to those around her.
For much of the story the cat represents her inability to feel tied down to anyone or anything.
She wont claim the cat as her own because that would signify that shes putting down roots,
and this is something shes clearly adverse to do.
Holly, who is slim, well-dressed and fun-loving, is a paradox, because she is at once
innocent and worldly-wise. She does not work for a living but lives off the money given to
her by men. She lives off the generosity of men, but she does not believe herself to be a
prostitute and claims that she has not had sex with all that many men, and she always feel
some emotions for them.
Holly Golightly introduced a completely new kind of female protagonist, the type that was
unusual at that time. She is a 19 years old girl making her living in New York, is characterized
as a mysterious person, as she manage to keep the very details of her personal life hidden. She
is wild and free and appears to be enjoying her life. She is free in all the ways the majority of
women at the time were not. The card on Hollys mailbox reading Holly Golightly, Travelling
suggest from the very beginning that this is a character that aims to escape the conventional
existence. The name she chose for herself is symbolic: Golightly is a mix of word go and
lightly, which capture her attraction to changing locations, identities and lifestyles without
hesitation.
Another aspect that set Holly apart from the usual female characters of the previous decade
was her way of living. For instance she slept all day and partied all night, she watered her
plants with alcohol, kept her slippers in the fridge, refused to decorate her apartment and kept
her phone in the suitcase. She wasnt a virgin, but still appeared to be a very lovely character.
Her view on marriage was cynical and all she aimed to get from it was the money. So she
might first seem like a party girl with no substance, who cares only about money and about
finding the next fun thing, but if we spend a little time with her we see that theres a lot more
there.
When Holly realizes that her carefree nature has brought her more trouble than good, she
not only has to face her present circumstances, but is also confronted with an internal conflict
that threatens to disprove everything shes ever believed in.
Holly is always wearing her dark glasses, and these prevent people from seeing whats
going on behind them. Her eyes are almost always covered up, making it difficult to know
what shes feeling at any given moment. Other masks in the story: when Holly and the
narrator steal Halloween masks. They wear the stolen masks all the way home, again hide
away their true identities from each other and from the world around them. Holly every time
is hiding behind something. The Tiffanys store is Hollys escape, is a refuge for Holly, and it
represents order, security and stability to her.
The psychological struggle between the need for stability and the desire for freedom is
perhaps the central idea of the quote. The conflict structures the relationship between the
narrator and Holly, who are opposing forces. While the narrator is happy to have his first
 Boari Lidia-Monica

home, Holly is consumed by her need to constantly escape from places, people and things.
Capote suggests that each has to learn from each other. It is demonstrated by their Christmas
gift exchange, in which Holly gives the narrator a bird cage and the narrator gives her a medal
of St. Christopher. Each gift illustrates a median between stability and freedom: Hollys gift is
a cage, but it will never imprison a bird, and the narrators gift is a medal of the patron saint
of travel, but is comes from Tiffanys, Hollys personal symbol of home. Holly is convinced
that she is a wild thing, unsuited to a proper place in society.
Three of the novellas main motifs: Tiffanys, the mean reds, and Hollys nameless cat.
All three symbolize Hollys sense of homelessness and her conviction that she does not
belong in the world. The mean reds is a profound fear of the unknown. Tiffanys, in
contrast, is a place where nothing very bad could happen to you, Holly feels at home in the
store. A sense of belonging, as symbolized by Tiffanys, is required for Holly to escape the
mean reds and take a stable identity and lifestyle.
It is interesting that Hollys real name Lulamae is quite similar to Capotes own mothers
name, Lillie Mae. Like Holly, Capotes mother changed her name to a more sophisticated
sounding one Nina when she moved from south to New York City. Lulamae, a compound of
the names Lula and Mae, refers to springtime, it is interesting that Holly replaced it with
a name that refers to a winter plant. The opposing meanings of the two names mean that Holly
rejects her roots. She gives for himself a new identity that is the complete opposite of the one
she was born with. However, Hollys conversation with the narrator in Jos bar the morning
following Docs visit indicates she has not been affected by the return of her secret past.
Upon hearing of her brothers death, Hollys behavior is violent and self-destructive. She
smashed glass and upturns all her furniture in a fit of despair, not caring who hears and
without regard for the consequences. Her rage at Freds death indicates that her attachment to
her brother was quite real and strong. Hollys despair suggests why she avoids permanent
relationships, as her experience of pain is apparently intense and self-destructive. Avoiding
real attachments is perhaps Hollys way to protect herself against the kind of pain she feels at
her brothers death.
Holly has an affair with Jose, gets pregnant, and plans to move to Brazil with him. There
are quite a few climactic moments in the novel, but this one is pretty big since it represents the
big break between Holly and the narrator and Holly and New York. She has decided to leave,
the narrator is forced to think about what his life will be like without her, and he also admits
that hes a little in love with Holly. Everything changes from this point on.
Holly knows shes not going to live happily ever after with Jose and their baby, she started
to make some definite decisions about her future. She prepares to skip town, to leave behind
the narrator and Joe Bell and the mess with Sally Tomato, and she starts to wind down her
time in New York City.
The conclusion is pretty open-ended. On the one hand, Holly seems like shes found
happiness in Buenos Aires. She is fallen in love with a duhvine $enior as she tells us in her
postcard to the narrator, and she seems to be living the same kind of exciting life she had in
New York. She had recognized and acknowledged her need to love and be loved. This is one
of the many ways we can interpret the ending. It is also possible that the ending is not as
happy as it seems. Holly also tells us that the man shes fallen in love with is married and has
kids, and that she has no place to live because she cant live with him.
 Boari Lidia-Monica

When the narrator tells us that he never hears from Holly after this postcard, we are left to
wonder what actually happens to her. Maybe she is happy for the rest of her life, but maybe
she is still scared of never finding a place to call her own, and never feeling settled. We dont
know what happens to Holly Golightly, if she ever finds a place where she belongs.
That the novella concludes by exploring the narrators warmth for Holly suggest that the
novella was less about Holly than about how loving her transformed the narrators own life.
The 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffanys is far more popular than the novella it was adopted
from. While the film closely follows mush of the original dialogue, it does depart from the
novella is several crucial ways.
Holly was a symbol of all these girls who come to New York and spin in the sun for a
moment like May flies and then disappear. I wanted to rescue one girl from that anonymity
and preserve her for posterity.
- Truman Capote, Playboy interview, 1968

The internal conflict of Atticus Finch

But do you think I could face my children otherwise? You know whats going to happen as
well as I do, Jack, and I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness,
and most of all, without catching Maycombs usual disease. Why reasonable people go stark
raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I dont pretend to
understandI just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening
to the town. I hope they trust me enough (Lee, 94)

The quote reflects the inner struggle of Atticus. In Harper Lees novel the internal
conflict of Atticus is caused by the fact that he has to take the case of Tom Robinson, a black
man accused of raping a white woman, MayellaEwell. He fears to defend the innocent Tom in
an already lost case due to racism but he knows that defending him is the morally right thing
to do. This leads to an inner struggle. He lives in Maycomb, a Southern town, where
everything revolves around racism. A black man never has the same rights as the white man,
there is not equality between the black and the white. Atticus is a wise, moral, fair-minded,
unprejudiced, honest lawyerwho tries to remain strong when the town criticizes him for
defending a black man and calls him a nigger-lover. Another thing which causes the inner
struggle is his trial to protect his children from peoples wickedness. He wants his children to
trust him and believe in him instead of believing in what others say. He tries to educate them,
to show them the real values, to help them how to live in a prejudiced town and to teach them
to be respectful, to consider a black man equal to themselves. His internal conflict is not
presented directly in the book, but we can deduce it from his words, from the narrators words
and from other characters words.
 Boari Lidia-Monica

We find out in the book that Toms case affects Atticus personally, it is a very
important case in his life. Atticus says to his brother, Jack: You know, Id hoped to get
through life without a case of this kind, but John Taylor pointed at me and said, Youre It.
(Lee, 94). He had to take this case whether he wanted or not. He could also say no but being a
person of integrity who believed in justice and in Toms innocence, he could not refuse it. He
has an inner struggle because he knows that he cannot win, he is going to lose this case, a
black mans word is against a white mans word and the white man always has to be
right.When he takes the case, he subsequently has to bear the gossip, the evil thoughts of the
society. Atticus knows that in the town everyone disapproves his choice of defending Tom. He
realizes that he cannot change the white mens mentality, although he would like to make
them see that the black people are no less important than they are and that between the black
people there are honest men too. He has an impossible mission because the white people have
preconceived opinions about the black ones and they cannot think rationally. Atticus and his
family are exposed to the viciousness, prejudice, injustice of the white community. He says no
to racism, he believes in equality, therefore there should not be inequality between a white and
a black man. It is hard for him to stay strong when the whole town is against him and when
they all think he is making a mistake. Defending a black man it is seen by the white people as
a betrayal so they say he should not have to deal with it.He is convinced that Tom says the
truth, he is not guilty of rape. Consequently, he has to prove that Tom is innocent and he did
not harm MayellaEwell, but it is hard to convince the white people who already decided that
Tom is guilty. They are sure that a black man cannot do anything good, they do not let Atticus
to prove that a black person can be innocent. Atticus tries to make people see what really
happened, to show them the truth behind the case, but it is like fall on deaf ears. The men will
not change their mind, they are blinded by hate, ignorance, prejudice, they cannot let a black
man to be right. The white men consider themselves being better than the blackones. Atticus
tries with all his heart to prove that Tom is innocent, he wants to help him, he believes in him.
He believes in justice, ha wants the jury to do justice to Tom, but the racism is more powerful
than his words, the majority will not believe him even if he is right. That is why he has an
inner struggle, he wants to help Tom but he cannot, he knows that he is innocent but the
people do not believe him, the racism blinded them.His internal conflict is caused by his
decision to take this important case in this town full of discriminatory people.
Atticus is a single parent. Scout, his daughter says at the beginning that their mother
died when she was two years old. Atticus has to raise them and it is hard for him because they
are exposed to the viciousness of the community. He is worried about his children because he
does not want them to believe what people in town say about him and about the whole
case.The starting quote reflects his fears, he knows what is going to happen, that not a single
person in town is going to support him, what is more they will mock at him. He is aware of
the difficult times he has to face and he wants to protect his children from being mocked
because of him. But being part of the society and going to school, Scout and Jem are
confronted with the mockery of their father. They suffer because they hear evil things about
their father which they do not even understand. Atticus wants to keep them away from Toms
case but at one point he has to explain them what happened with Tom, why is he defending
him and why everyone in town disapproves his choice. It is difficult for him to explain the
 Boari Lidia-Monica

children what is really happening around them because they are too small to understand that
kind of hate anddisdain that the white people have for the black ones.He loves his children
very much and does not want them to suffer. He is concerned that his choice to defend Tom
will negatively affect his children. The society is malevolent, the racism has ossified their
hearts. Atticus hopes that Jem and Scout will come to him and ask him why are all against
him, he hopes that they will not believe what the town says and they will trust him. He does
not want his children to be like the people in town, like the ones who judge the black men. He
wants to teach them to respect a black man, to consider him equal to themselves. He says that:
Sometimes I think Im a total failure as a parent, but Im all theyve got. Before Jem looks at
anyone else he looks at me, and Ive tried to live so I can look squarely back at him (Lee,
277). This shows that it is hard for him to be a role model for his kids in his situation.
In his conversation with Scout he says that he knows that is not fair for them what is
happening and he hopes that when they will grow up they will better understand everything.
He hopes that no matter what he does he will never disappoint his children through his
actions. Atticus says: I couldnt go to church and worship God if I didnt try to help that
man (Lee, 110). This quote shows he had an inner conflict, he had to decide whether he
should take the case or not. If he took the case, he would be critisised by the society. If he did
not take case, he would feel he did a morally wrong thing. He believes in God and knows
what is right to do but at the same time it ishard to choose to do the right thing knowing that
this will not keep him safe from being criticized. Atticus has a very hard decision to make
because he is aware of the fact that if he takes the case, his children will suffer. Nobody wants
to hurt his children directly, on purpose. Nobody wants his children to suffer because of him.
Atticus realizes that with his decision he will make his kids to suffer indirectly because the
society will not spare them from harsh criticism. He will have problems with his children, he
will have to confront the society yet he chooses to do what he considers is the right, moral
thing to do: before I can live with other folks Ive got to live with myself(Lee, 110). If
he did not do the right thing, if he did not defend Tom, he could not live with himself, he
could not believe that he is a good person. He needs to be sure he makes a good decision for
himself and for his children too because if he does not defend Tom, he will not be able to
teach his kids the importance of equality between races. Then he will not have the right to
show them that a black person has the same rights as a white one and to teach them that they
have to respect everyone.
Because their father defends Tom, Jem and Scout are mocked by other children at
school, people say to them that their father is a nigger-lover, they insult their father:My folks
said your daddy was a disgrace (Lee, 82),Your fathers no better than the niggers and
trash he works for!(Lee, 107). These are harsh words for some kids and they suffer.
Although Atticus said to keep their heads up and to not to pay attention to what people say,
Jem and Scout are offended and sometimes they cannot control themselves.Jemcuts the tops
off of every camellia bush Mrs Dubose owns just because she said their father defends niggers
and trash. This shows how much small children are affected by what other people say towards
their father. Although he knows that peoples judging Tom and him for defending Tom is not
fair, Atticus teaches his children to respect peoples opinion. He thinks everyone deserves
respect whether they are right or wrong. Atticus respects and loves everyone as a real christian
 Boari Lidia-Monica

man. A fight must be going inside him because it is hard to respect and love someone who
judges you and treats you unfairly. He says: I do my best to love everybody(Lee, 114).
The internal conflict of Atticus is not presented in details, he tries to hide it, he does
not want his children to see him suffer, he has to remain strong no matter how bad things are
going. Although he does not show it, his family knows he suffers. His children are aware of
his suffering: hes got a lot on his mind now, without us worrying himIts this Tom
Robinson case thats worryin him to death.(Lee, 141). His sister Alexandra also knows that
his brother suffers: It tears him to pieces. He doesnt show it much, but it tears him to
pieces.(Lee, 240).Alexandra says to Atticus that he has to teach Jem to become a gentleman
and Scout to be a little lady, that the children must be well-behaved, they cannot disgrace the
Finch family. Atticus tries to speak with his children, to tell them all this but at one point he
says to his kids to forget everything. This also shows his inner struggle.
This situation arose around the case of Tom becomes dangerous. Mr Link Deas says:
Youve got everything to lose from this, Atticus. I mean everything.(Lee, 149). Even Atticus
admits that he has little chance to save Tom: It couldnt be worse, Jack. The only thing weve
got is a black mans word against the Ewells.(Lee, 94). The danger is shown when Tom is
moved to the Maycomb jail and a group of men come to see him, they may want to harm him.
Atticus does not let them see Tom, he does not move away from the door.Jem feels that his
father might be in danger and goes with Scout and Dill to verify if he is alright. When they
see the group of men, they run to Atticus. The situation becomes dangerous because the men
want them to go home and Atticus also tells them to leave, but Jem refuses to go, he does not
want to let his father alone, he fears that he might get hurt. Atticus realizes that this is a
dangerous situation for his children. A man grabs Jem by the collar and yanks him off his feet,
then Scout kicks that man. The group of men later decides to leave. Another dangerous
situation is when Bob Ewell attacks Atticus and says that he would get him even if it took the
rest of his life. He must have been scared and must have been hard for him to not react
aggressively.
Atticus proves to everyone that Tom is innocent, there is no medical evidence to the
effect that the crime Tom is charged with ever took place. He proves that Mayella is guilty,
she did something that in their society was unspeakable. He tries to convince the jury that
there is not a person who has never done an immoral thing, that all men are created equal and
in the court everyone should be considered equal, at least in the court they should not make
difference between a black and a white person. He asks them to do their duty and make the
right decision. The jury decided that Tom is guilty and Atticus was disappointed, he did not
succeed in making justice. An innocent man was condemned because of his skin color.Jem
asks how could the jury condemn an innocent man just because he is black and Atticus
answers: I dont know, but they did it. Theyve done it before and they did it tonight and
theyll do it again(Lee, 217). Atticus is convinced that in their town nothing will change
until the racism exists. When Toms family brings food to thank Atticus what he has done for
Tom, Atticuss eyes fill with tears. He knows how good people they are. He teaches his kids
that: As you grow older, youll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let
me tell you something and dont you forget it whenever a white man does that to a black
man, no matter who he isthat white man is trash.(Lee, 224). He has to teach his kids that
 Boari Lidia-Monica

just being a white man does not give you the right to judge a black man. When Tom tries to
escape, he is shot and Atticus is disappointed because he believed they would have had a good
chance if they had made an appeal. When Bob Ewell attacks his kids, we can see Atticuss
despair, he suffers because his children also have to bear the consequences of all this case.
In conclusion, Atticus has a very hard decision to take in this stage of his life and this leads to
an internal conflict. He can choose to defend Tom and not to hide the truth and consequently
to risk everything or he can choose not to accept the case, to be just like the other people in
the town, not to do anything concerning the injustice that Tom has to face. He knows that if he
takes the case, not only him, but his children also might be in danger. In Maycomb the
majority believes that all negroes are immoral beings, they all lie. Atticus wants to prove them
that between black people there are honest men too. He wants to make them realize that even
between white people there are immoral men, they do not have the right to consider
themselves as being better than the black men. Atticus tries to believe that justice can be
obtained and that people will see the truth but he has no chance in the prejudiced town of
Maycomb. His inner conflict is caused also by the fact that he knows that Tom is innocent but
he cannot help him although he does his duty. The jury and the people do not believe in his
innocence. He risks his safety and his chidrens safety to stand up for true justice. He is a
lawyer and his duty is to defend Tom, but he is also a parent and as a parent it is his duty to
protect his children. This leads to an inner struggle. Being a moral man, Atticus feels that he
has to defend Tom, even if he will have to face the wickedness of men.But only by doing the
morally right thing he can teach his children to grow up as responsible, respectful people who
always do what is right and good.

Albert Judit

R-E III

Dead Poet`s Society,

N. H. Keinbaum
Intergenerational conflict

His father stood again and moved toward Todd. I`ve had enough, he shouted. Sign the
paper, Todd.
Please, darling, his mother said from her seat. For our sakes.
Butteaching is his life! It means everything to him! Todd cried. What do you care? Mr.
Anderson shouted.
What do you care about me? Todd shouted back. He cares about me! You don`t!
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Todd`s father stood over him, white with rage, and picked up the pen. Sign the paper,
Todd, he ordered.
Todd shook his head. No, I won`t sign it.
Todd`s father grabbed the pen and tried to put it back in Todd`s hand.

Dead Poet`s Society is a novel written by a movie, which relies on

several types of conflicts and controversies. These aspects give the novel
an alert rhythm, and an intriguing storyline. The plot is concentrated
around a great variety of conflicts. These conflicts make the whole novel
captivating and compelling for the reader. Amongst conflicts, we can find
generational, economical, behavioral, love conflict and many others.

According to the excerpt quoted above, in this essay we will focus on an

intergenerational conflict, which can be observed between Todd Anderson,
a student at Welton Academy, and his own parents. From the beginning of
the book or the film, we can see that Todd Anderson is a quiet, modest and
introverted boy, of whom we get a gloomy first-sight image His face was
drawn and unhappy, his eyes dark with anger. He is left at the academy
by his parents, who were so busy talking about his brother`s
accomplishments and praising him, that they did not even say a proper
goodbye from Todd, like the other student`s parents, who were
encouraging their children.

Todd`s shyness could be intercepted not only from his behavior and
relationship with his parents, but also with teachers and colleagues as
well. During this novel, we can observe that he is not a completely lost
cause, he is constantly being shaped by his colleagues and the most
influential character, Mr. Keating, the English teacher. The reason behind
his shyness and self-consciousness is the lack of parental love, attention,
acceptance and affection. The absence of these basic needs has made
Todd the boy whom we met at the beginning, but fortunately, he goes
through several intriguing situations that involve persons who are helping
him to overcome his insecurities and transform him into a brave individual,
 Boari Lidia-Monica

who is willing to speak his mind. He is not reluctant anymore to share his
beliefs and opinions with the others.

Todd Anderson`s drama, first of all, derives from the lack of parental love,
which is absolutely required for any individual to develop correctly and to
be a fully functional adult. He sees that he is not being treated as the
other boys of his age by their parents. He notices that they love his
brother much more and they praise him all the time, while he is
considered shallow and worthless: Five ninety-eight. That`s what all the
chemicals in the human body would be worth if you bottled them raw and
sold them. He told me that was all I`d ever be worth unlessI worked every
day to improve myself. Even his friends, even his roommate, Neil,
notices that he is being rejected by his parents: Neil sighed and shook his
head in disbelief. No wonder Todd is so screwed upNevertheless, these
arguments are supported by Todd`s own words, when he states very
clearly his situation: Well, my parents might have loved my brother, but
they did not love me. His parents neglected him so much, that they even
bought him the same birthday present as for his last birthday, while for his
brother they made a special event. He thinks that being rejected by his
parents, it means that he cannot be accepted by his fellow colleagues
either, but fortunately he is being surrounded by friends and teachers who
do not give up on him, who think that he is worth saving, that he is a great
individual, who just needs a little help to emerge and find his true self.

The most important person who shapes his character and motivates him,
is his English teacher, Mr. Keating. Todd could refuse to unveil himself in
front of his colleagues, they accepted his behavior and understood his
situation, but Keating, using his superiority and authority as a teacher,
managed to shake him, to make him an active participant. He taught him
how to let go of his insecurities, his fears of expressing himself. He used
poetry as a tool. He asked all the students to write down what they feel in
a poem, to express themselves. This is what Todd has been the most afraid
of. He hated revealing himself and his feelings, but this time Keating got
him, he obliged and forced him to let go of all the negativity and express
 Boari Lidia-Monica

himself through the art of poetry. His way is successful and Todd will be
free of his impediments.

Regarding our major quote, Todd feels very grateful that Mr. Keating had
transformed him, had helped him to defeat his fears. He considers him a
true and very good teacher, who has got out the best of him. His parents
do not have control over his thoughts and deeds anymore, because he has
learned to express himself and to control his own life, to make his own
decisions. He does not sign the paper, according to the book excerpt, even
if he has to suffer the consequences. He opposes his father and mother`s
will and acts independently. He accuses them that they do not love him, do
not care of him, but Keating does. He feels truly grateful for what this man
has done to him, to what he had transformed him. Now, he loves Keating
more than his own parents, who did not stand by his side He cares about
me! You don`t!His mother asks him nicely, but his father tries to pressure
him aggressively to sign the paper. This kind of behavior just deepens the
gap between the father and son, therefore, strengthens their
intergenerational conflict. Instead of this, they should try love, caring and
mutual understanding. The parents feel infuriated by his newly adopted
behavior. However, in the film this situation is different, we do not see
clearly if he signs the paper, but at the end he says to Keating that They
made us all sign. The disobeying son gets more emphasis in the book.
Todd loved Keating as if he were his real father. He knows that he could get
expelled from the academy, but still protects him and does not sign. He
shows respect and for once in his life becomes a leader. He leads the other
classmates and encourages them by his example to show off their respect
for Keating, even the rector threatens them with expulsion.

In conclusion, the excerpt above illustrates an intergenerational conflict

between son and parents. I believe that this kind of conflicts can be
solved, we can make bridges to annihilate the differences with much love,
caring, acceptance and with understanding each other`s perspective.
Aggressiveness, pressure, threats never help with solving the problem,
these just aggravate it.
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Gender Conflict Holly Golightly vs. Mag Wildwood

Are you starkers? she demanded. My husband and I will positively sue anyone who
attempts to connect our names with that ro-ro-rovolting and de-de-degenerate girl. I always
knew she was a hop-hop-head with no more morals than a hound-bitch in heat. Prison is
where she belongs. And my husband agrees one thousand per cent. We will positively sue
anyone who Hanging up, I.(Capote 2000 43)

- Mag Wildwood

The false friendship between Holly Golightly and Mag Wildwood is in fact a gender
conflict mostly based on Mags jealousy on Hollys natural talent to attract men. This kind of
conflict is common between women like Holly and Mag because of their lifestyles and
common goals. So when Mag sees how easy it is for Holly to charm wealthy men, Mags
jealousy makes her commit foolish actions just to get the attention Holly is getting. She even
pretends to be Hollys friend just so she can accomplish her goal and marry a wealthy man,
abandoning Holly when she needs her help in the end.
Mag Wildwood, a tall model-looking girl, makes her first appearance at Hollys party,
which she attends uninvited. Her entrance scene is quite a show, like a wind-rush, a squall of
scarves and jangling gold(Capote 2000 43), which tells us that she came for the party only to
make herself the center of everyones attention . The way she is calling for Holly and how she
names her a miserable hoarder(Capote 2000 43) like Holly would allow her to do so, clearly
irritates Holly because they are not best friends and moreover Mag attended her party
uninvited, which is rude. But Holly tries to ignore her as much as she can. Mag was clearly
using Holly and pretended to be friends with her only to get herself a rich man. After Mag
gets drunk, she shows her true face, insulting Holly, calling her a Hollywood degenerate
(Capote 2000 45)and trying to fight with an elder man only for attention. When Mag passes
out and the narrator lets her in Hollys apartment, Holly does not kick her out and she even
starts developing a friendly relationship with Mag.
Later on, Holly, Mag, Jose and Rusty Trawler go on a vacation together and this is the
moment when Mag and Hollys relationship starts to deteriorate. When Rusty and Mag end up
in a hospital because of sunburns, Holly and Jose continue their vacation and they go together
in Havana. Mag is sure that Holly and Jose slept together but Holly tries to convince her that
she did not sleep with him by lying that she is a dyke. It is clear here that there is no trust in
 Boari Lidia-Monica

their relationship and they use each other for their own well-being. Their relationship is
complete thrown away when Holly and Jose get engaged and Mag marries Rusty Trawler.
In the end, when Holly gets into trouble, we finally see Mags true face. When the narrator
tries to reach out to Rusty for help he has the surprise of hearing Mag Wildwood on the phone
and the words that come out of her mouth are absolutely insulting. She shows us that she was
not really Hollys friend and she only used her for her own purposes. Now that she has
achieved her goals she just throws away their relationship like it was nothing.
She does not even try to listen to Fred, she even calls him mad but she never offers him a
chance to explain what happened. She even threatens that she and her husband will sue
everyone who attempts to associate their names with Holly. The way she talks about her
husband like she owns him and like he has no words to say about this matter shows us how
dominant she became, how Mister Trawler became just a puppet for her. Now that she has
what she wants, she became over-confident and let greed take over her.
She insults Holly again, calling her a revolting and degenerate girl(Capote 2000 87),
forgetting that in the past, she was almost like her if not even worse. Maybe her jealousy did
not disappear, maybe she is still jealous on all the attention Holly gets from this scandal. She
says that she always knew she was a hop-head(Capote 2000 87), which demonstrates that
she really does not know her at all. She only believed what the tabloids said, not even trying
to find out the truth even after she spent so much time with Holly and even after Holly let her
stay in her apartment. She says that Holly has no more morals than a hound-bitch in
heat(Capote 2000 87) but her mistake is that she does not take a look in the mirror before she
insults Holly like that. Mag most probably married Rusty Trawler only for his money and
fame and she probably thought that if she marries Rusty she will get revenge for what Holly
did to her, stealing her fianc.
Jealousy is what drives Mag to do such deeds and insult Holly for things she did not do.Mag
also has a tendency to exaggerate things, threatening that she will sue everyone and saying
things like Holly belongs in prison, when she knows she cannot do that and that Holly does
not really belong in prison because she is most likely innocent.
Hollys fault in this relationship is that she is not really a person that cares about what
others think about her and that she speaks frankly, most of the time not filtering her words.
What Holly makes others think about her is not how she really is inside. Maybe this is why
Mag could not reach to her and she gave up to their friendship, because it is really difficult to
maintain a relationship with someone who is not letting you see their true self. Holly also used
Mag for her relationship with wealthy men.
This gender conflict between women is typical and almost all the time they revolve around
men, money, fame and attention. Even from the start Mag liked being the center of the
attention and pretended to be Hollys friend just so she can get what she wants. Once Mag
obtained what she wanted she just dumped Holly. Refusing to help her and insulting her is our
last image of her and this is how the author shows us how cruel the world is and how hard it is
to have real friends in this world where people use you as pray and then they let you die when
they get what they want.
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Too bad the movie did not show this relationship between Holly and Mag. It would have
helped in Hollys character development and also add more tension to the moment when Paul
was looking for help.
In conclusion, Mag and Hollys relationship was toxic, they both used each other to get
what they wanted and they did not care truly for each other. Starting off slowly, their
friendship slowly deteriorated because of all the deception, lies and hidden goals and it finally
exploded in insults and mischievous thoughts. I chosethis particular conflict and quote,
because I know how hard it is to have real friends and how most people like to take advantage
of you to get what they want. Not caring for what others think about you and opening up only
for who deserves it, is the right thing to do so you will not get hurt because of somebody who
does not deserve you.

External conflict: Individual (Ellen Olenska) vs. Society

After a pause Madame Olenska broke out with unexpected vehemence: "I want to be free; I
want to wipe out all the past." []"Well, then: is it worth while to risk what may be infinitely
disagreeable and painful? Think of the newspapers their vileness! It's all stupid and narrow
and unjust butone can't make over society." "No," she acquiesced; and her tone was so faint
and desolate that he felt a sudden remorse for his own hard thoughts. "The individual, in such
cases, is nearly always sacrificed to what is supposed to be the collective interest: people cling
to any convention that keeps the family together protects the children, if there are any"
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, Book one, Chapter XII, pg. 93-96

I have decided to analyse this excerpt because I think it shows how an individuals desires of
freedom can be ruined by social conditions. In this excerpt we see that New Yorks unspoken
communication is a power of judgement that kills dreams, because people indifferently what
they are wanting, they have to respect New Yorks strict norms. Edith Warthons character,
Ellen Olenska who is presented in this excerpt in a conflict with society, fails in her attempt to
overcome social barriers to happiness.

Old New Yorkers studiously avoids the truth, fears privacyand adhere to their old-fashioned
manners and their rigid rules so as to protect themselves from the outside influence and
changes coming from Europe. Ellen Olenska who spent all her adult life in Europe represents
the outward worldand is initially seen not as a constructed model of societys requirements.
New York reacts so violently against Ellen because she says subversive things that challenge
its hegemony.1

According to societys mentality, once Ellen married she was supposed to remain married no
matter how terrible the Count Olenski turned out to be. However, fearing her destruction if
she remained with her husband, Ellen riscks her reputation by leaving him and asking for a
divorce.We see that in the above quote Archer made her to preserve the dignity of marriage
and showed her how selfish and wicked was her intention to divorce. I think that the most
selfish person wasnt Ellen Olenska, but Archer surrounded by conservative and old fashioned
ideas caused by society. Ellen, as a sophisticated, independent thinking woman with nerve
enough to leave an abusive husband and sue him for divorce, represents change. Ellen only
wanted to do something positive with her life.

Silence has been designated "a category of intelligence of the twentieth century," and has
also been called a feminist issue.2 Ellen is frank, determined and unconventional. She
expresses free manners and says what she thinks with unexpected vehemenceand by that it
means that she opposes to the traditional view of the "appropriate condition for womenin
American society. She declares her desires and opinions openly as we see in the first line of
the quote. This behaviour is viewed as something unusual by Archer and Old New York
society.
1Silencing Women in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence by Clare Virginia Eby, Volume 28 Issue
2 June Article 5 June 1992

2Silencing Women in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence by Clare Virginia Eby, Volume 28 Issue
2 June Article 5 June 1992
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Her desire for freedom from her marriage is berated and condemned by multiple voices:
Wellands,Mingotts, Janey, Mrs. Archer and Mr. Letterblair. Both Newland and Ellen are
members of the families who dominated old New York society in the 1870s, but Ellen has
lived the better part of her life abroad, distant from the cultural dictates which govern Archers
world.3 It is Archer who includes himself in society through this words Our ideas about
marriage and divorce are particularly old-fashioned. Our legislation favours divorce our
social customs don't (page 95).This topic is forbidden among them because the urban
society to which her family belonged was a timid and conservative one, with a prevailing
spirit well expressed by the sober brownstone in which its members enshrouded
themselves.4For instance Ellen cannot share her wish to get divorced with any relatives of
hers.

Ellen was giving up to her happiness and freedom only because the man who she loved the
most, asked for. Making sacrifices is one sign of devotion to another person even if that
person is constrained by social norms. Ellen sacrificed her ideas, decisions whichprovides an
exaggerated illustration of the fact that women must sacrifice themselves to maintain the
social order.5The stifling expectations have drowned out creativity and freedom, and in doing
so have crushed the best pleasures of life.

Before Ellen decided to come home after a long time, she had carried with her a painful desire
to see her body and mind uncaged not onlythrough words but also on the papers too. She was
ready to listen and to talk with everybody only to fulfil her purpose, advancing the divorce
papers even if in New Yorks society it was forbidden to act in a such a way, also it was
considered a sin. The newspapers judged these kind of intentions as disagreeable and
villainous.

In the chosen excerpt we see that Newland is sent to advise Ellen, and he explains that her
happiness must be secondary to the consequences that will be felt by her family if she
disgraces them by divorcing. Even if Archer Newland considered that this mentality is stupid,
narrow and unjust, he didnt trust his thoughts and also tried to convince Ellen that nobody is
born yet to do such a realization, to change the habits and thoughts of an entire society. Archer
initially realizes his lack of observational skills and attempts to correct the situation which
emphasis the conflict between Ellen and society.He told her that is not worth it to fulfil a
dream if that dream is not frame in the norms of society and by that it means he himself
becomes a victim of the societal pressure which force him to lie.

3Custom, Change, and Character in Edith Whartons The Age of Innocence by Christine Dunn
Henderson, page 400

4Louis Auchincloss, Introduction The Age of Innocence (New American Library/Signet 1962) v-ix

5Silencing Women in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence by Clare Virginia Eby, Volume 28 Issue
2 June Article 5 June 1992
 Boari Lidia-Monica

In the last lines of the paragraph we see that Ellen was agree to sacrifice her acts in order to
please her family and society.Though she realizes this, she is still ultimately trapped by
obligation to accept societys political values. Ellens interest remained in vain. Disoriented
by the words of the man who she trusted and loved the most, she accepted to remainrelated to
a brutal man who caused her only misery and despair.

Conclusion: It is compulsory that Ellen must be sacrificed for the collective interest of the
old New York, or specifically, its illusion of happy marriages. In the less extreme, Ellen sees
that the importance of family and decorum has smothered the ability to be an individual. Ellen
is a victim of the innocence of her generation and of a formalism which persisted after her.

Edith Wharton consistently held that the notion of perfect happiness like that of perfect
freedom isnothing but an alluring phantom that leads us to inevitable destruction; and
virtually all of her prewar fictions center upon the individual dilemma of discovering and
accepting some form of partial (and necessarily imperfect) happiness.6Wharton questions
the possibility of being in complete harmony with societys demands but also exposes the
impossibility of escaping theconstrictions it places upon the individual7.But it also reveals
the impossibility of simply extracting the individual from society, as embodied by the
character of Ellen Olenska.

To Kill a Mockingbird

6Cynthia Griffin Wolff Introduction The Age of Innocence (Penguin 1996) vii-viii, xxii-xxvii

7Carol J. Singley; Bourdieu, Wharton and Changing Culture in the Age of Innocence
 Boari Lidia-Monica

About the Author

Name: Harper Lee
DoB: 28.04.1926 in Monroeville, Alabama, U.S.
DoD: 19.02.2016 in Monroeville, Alabama. U.S.
- was a female writer
- went to lawyer-school, never finished

Autobiographical Elements in the Novel

- her father was a lawyer
- Dill in real life was a good friend of H.L. from New York (Truman Capote)

Type of conflicts
- Ratial Conflict: black vs. white
- Social Conflict: rich vs. poor
- Generational Conflict: kids vs. parent
- Educational Conflict: teachers vs. students
- Moral Conflict: conservation vs. liberal
- Gender Conflict: true woman vs. real woman

True woman:
- Domestic
- Submissive
- Pious (religious)
- Pure

New woman:
- Career
- Rebellious
- Non-religious
- Immoral

The Great Depression 20

- Too many poor people
- Massive production in the factories
- People were unable to buy the products
- Prostitution, alcoholism

POSTWAR AMERICAN LITERATURE AND FILM

 Boari Lidia-Monica

Events:

The Hiroshima Bomb (1945)

The NATO (1949)
The Cold War (1947)
The Vietnam War (1945-1975)
Immigration (1945-1948)
Moon landing (1969)
Abortion legalized (1973)

Historical/social/literary context
o Unlike other countries, after WW2: USA = economic
prosperity (growth of population, industry in the South)
o Important technological & scientific research (architecture)
o Gap between the rich & the poor (consumer society,
shopping malls)
o Cultural exchanges
o Geographical dislocation & the effects of racism
o Ethnic minorities
o Sense of exile & the return to native settings
o Feminist & homosexual groups
o Individualism
o Pulp fiction
o Publishing houses

Main trends:

1950s: alienation, stress & reactionary spirit, but also optimism,

faith in democracy
1960s:
o Civil Rights Movements
o Feminism
o Antiwar protests
o Minority activism
o Counterculture (the Beats, the Hippies)
 Boari Lidia-Monica

o Underground cultures (Dadaism, surrealism, abstract art

forms)
o Pop art (painting & sculpture minimalism)
o Oriental religions (Hindu, Muslim)
o Extravagance
=> feelings of disorientation and displacement via existentialist
thoughts and philosophies

Notable political & social works:

o Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1960) his speeches about race
equality
o Betty Friedans The Feminine Mystique (1963)
o Norman Mailers The Armies of the Night (1968) about a
1967 antiwar march

Features:
o A blurring of the line between fiction & fact, novels &
reportage/journalism
Ironic, comic versions

TRUMAN CAPOTE (1924 1984)

South American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor

LIFE

Born in New Orleans

His mother (17, beauty queen) & his father (a salesman) =>
divorced when four
Raised by his mothers relatives in Alabama
Lonely child
At 11 started writing fiction
His stepfather, Joseph Capote, a Cuban-born textile broker
Friendship with H. Lee (in Alabama, Dill)
Homosexual, drug abuse, alcoholism => died at 59 of liver cancer
 Boari Lidia-Monica

LITERARY CAREER:

Short fiction: Miriam (1945)

Long fiction: Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948)

Best known for:

Novella: Breakfast at Tiffanys (1958)

Non-fiction: In Cold Blood (1965) -> an experiment in journalistic
writing

Themes:

Sense of belonging (freedom/confinement/stability/rebirth)

Mid-life crisis
Alcohol/drug abuse
Homosexuality
Isolation
Friendship
Memory & the past
Love
Art as commodity
Nature vs. culture

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANYS: book and film

BOOK (1958, 179pp)

Setting:

New York
1940s

Characters:

"Fred": the narrator.

 Boari Lidia-Monica

Holly Golightly: The protagonist.

Joe Bell: A bartender acquainted with both "Fred" and Holly.
Mag Wildwood: Holly's friend and sometime roommate, a fellow
socialite and model.
Rusty Trawler: A presumably wealthy man, thrice divorced, well
known in society circles.
Jos Ybarra-Jaegar: A Brazilian diplomat, who is the companion
of Mag Wildwood and, later, of Holly.
Doc Golightly: A veterinarian from Texas, whom Holly married as
a teenager.
O. J. Berman: A Hollywood agent, who has discovered Holly and
groomed her to become a professional actress.
Salvatore "Sally" Tomato: A convicted racketeer, whom Holly
visits weekly in Sing Sing prison.
Madame Sapphia Spanella: Another tenant in the brownstone.
Mr. I. Y. Yunioshi: A photographer, who lives in the top floor
studio in the brownstone.

Plot

In autumn 1940, the unnamed narrator becomes friends with Holly Golightly, who
calls him "Fred," after her older brother. The two are both tenants in a brownstone
apartment in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Holly (age 1819) is a country girl turned
New York caf society girl. As such, she has no job and lives by socializing with
wealthy men, who take her to clubs and restaurants, and give her money and expensive
presents; she hopes to marry one of them. According to Capote, Golightly is not a
prostitute but an "American geisha."[1]

Holly likes to shock people with carefully selected tidbits from her personal life or her
outspoken viewpoints on various topics. Over the course of a year, she slowly reveals
herself to the narrator, who finds himself fascinated by her curious lifestyle.

Film

The novella was loosely adapted into the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany's starring
Audrey Hepburn and directed by Blake Edwards. The movie was transposed to circa
1960 rather than the 1940s, the period of the novella. In addition to this, at the end of
the film the protagonist and Holly fall in love and stay together, whereas in the novella
there is no love affair whatsoever Holly just leaves the United States and the
 Boari Lidia-Monica

narrator has no idea what happened to her since then, except for a photograph of a
wood carving found years later in Africa which bears a striking resemblance to Holly.
Capote originally envisioned Marilyn Monroe as Holly, and lobbied the studio for her,
but the film was done at Paramount, and though Monroe did independent films,
including for her own production company, she was still under contract with Twentieth
Century Fox, and had just completed Let's Make Love with Yves Montand

EDITH WHARTON. SOCIAL AND

PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISM IN THE AGE OF
INNOCENCE

Psychological novel (psychological realism) = a work of prose fiction, which

places more than the usual emphasis on interior characterization, and on the
motives, circumstances, and internal action, which springs from, and develops,
external action.

What is real? = what we see, feel, hear, or otherwise

experience in some way.
But what about our interior experiences? we cant
detect with our five senses? Psychological realism
scoops on the characters internal lives, their inward
human thoughts, feelings, and personality traits.
H. James = late 19th c writer, started this portrayal of
real-life human emotions in his prose. Plot development
is less important than inward characterization and
analysis.
Psychological realism belongs to modernism by the specific way it depicts
inward human experiences today

As a modern movement, psychological realism

coincided with the emergence of psychology as a formal
study (W. James). A relationship between Wharton and
James regarding the analysis of conscious and
unconscious motivations is evident.
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Social Realism = the realistic depiction in art of

contemporary life, as a means of social or political
comment
Social realism (1930s of style of painting in the US).
Scenes depicted convey a message of social or political
protest edged with satire
It is a Marxist aesthetic theory* calling for the didactic
use of literature, art and music to develop social
consciousness; it seeks to promote the development of
socialism
* she provides both acute social satire and very modern
insights into the human psychology of the members of
that society

EDITH WHARTON (1862-1937

American female author

She is famous for her psychological
examination of characters faces with
changes in the moral and social values of
middle-class and upper-class society
Age of Innocence (1920/Pulitzer Prize)
o A questioning view of aristocratic New
Yorkers during the 1870s.
Other novels:
o The House of Mirth (1905)
o Ethan Frome (1911)
o The Reef (1912)
o The Custom of the Country (1913)
o Summer (1917)
o Old New York (1924)
o The Mothers Recompense (1925)

Background
 Boari Lidia-Monica

1862:
o born in New York
o Socially prominent and wealthy family
Fashionable life, mostly in Europe
France:
o As a child: 6 years
o 1912: permanently moved
Friend with H. James
Writer: debut at 17
Died at 75

E. Wharton and Psychological/Social

Realism in The Age of Innocence
Written between the two World Wars
Theme: modernism => psychology of ageing,
the experience of outliving the age that
formed us
Characters:
o Newland Archer
o May Welland
o Ellen Olenska
Exploring ideas, feelings and behaviors
o People in a social setting
o How individuals function in a group
o Ethical dilemmas
o Individuals relationships with place
(interactions self & place)
Film (1993):
o Daniel Day-Lewis
o Michelle Pfeiffer
 Boari Lidia-Monica

o Winona Ryder
Character & Setting. Self & Place:
o Ellen returns to New York after a failed
marriage to a Polish nobleman, Count
Oleska.
o Neither Ellen, nor Newland are capable of
breaking out the conventions and taboos
of their society and its times.
o The old order is part of them
o Psychologies are shaped by their social
context
o => a love story but also a brilliant
examination of the snobbery and
hypocrisy of a wealthy
o The novel is more than a social satire: it is
not just about a society, it is about
particular individuals who are bound up in
that society => overwhelming sense of
waste, of love wasted, of entrapment
o => all three characters are inseparably
bound up with place
Characters are inseparable from one another.
Individual identity is an outcome of multiple
relationships and things (E.W. The Writing of
Fiction/1925, p 7). Each character in Pamela
Knights opinion, is a social subject, a
reflection of the collective experience of that
group (Forms of Disembodiment, p 21)

Character, Narrative Technique and

Figurative Language
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Whartons concern for the artistic form

(narrative technique and figurative language)
supports this notion of character as
entanglement in the people and things that
surround each character.
We have Newlands point of view, but
Wharton uses the 3rd person narrative from
his point of view => self-division
The ways in which architecture and interior
design are configured are intrinsically related
to character and narrative technique.
The social space ->e.g. drawing rooms (tidy,
etc.). Whartons interest in interior design and
architecture (in The Decoration of Houses, co-
written with Ogden Codman, Jr, noted
American architect and interior designer in
the Beaux-Arts styles, argued for house-
decoration as a branch of architecture).
They argued that the interior and exterior
of houses should be treated similarly, as a
single aesthetic project, in which
simplicity, rather than ornament should
prevail. They criticized the heavy,
overstuffed Victorian style, meant for the
visitors eyes but uncomfortable and,
therefore, little used. They advocated,
instead, for a simple, classical, balanced
interior and exterior

Just as Whartons personality and her own

house were fused in real life, so were
characters and settings fused in her fiction.
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Whartons use of architecture and interior

design, architecture and society, are reflected
in the novel. In fact, Wharton describes the
fashionable New York society in the 1870s as
a pyramid with three tiers: 1) those with an
aristocratic origin; 2) those who descended
from respectable English and Dutch
merchants; 3) those who were raised above
their social level by marriage with one of the
ruling class.
=> Rather than explicitly categorizing the
characters of the novel in terms of class,
characters are associated with architecture
and interior design. E.g. 1) the Van der
Luydens the drawing-room, and image of
its owners; e.g. Newland Archers house =
heavy, thick curtains that symbolized
introspection and suffocation.
American vs. European architecture
o American = Old, no freedom, homemade

Conclusion
=> social satires but highly charged
psychological novels
=> characters are inseparable from the
people and objects (mostly buildings) that
surround them
 Boari Lidia-Monica

HARPER LEE (b.1926

BACKGROUND:
The South
The Great Depression
The Civil Rights Movements
o Integration and not segregation

LIFE:
B. in Monroeville, Alabama (the
SOUTH)
Youngest of 4 children
Her father: lawyer & senator; her
mother: mental disease
All-female Huntington College
(English Literature)
University of Alabama (law)
1950 (moved to NY)
Friend with Truman Capote

TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD

 Boari Lidia-Monica

One of the most influential novels in

American history (1961: Pulitzer Prize;
autobiographical; 1962: made into a film
with Gregory Peck)
Rated, after the Bible, as one book
most often cited as making a
difference in peoples lives
Considered the one book every
adult should read before they die by
British librarians
Voted the Best Novel of the 20th
century by readers of the Library
Journal
Ranked fifth on the Modern Librarys
Readers List of the 100 Best Novels
in the English language since 1900

The Setting

Maycomb, Alabama, a tiny (fictional) town, much like the

real town of Monroeville (1930s), during the Great
Depression (1929-1939) and the Civil Rights Movements
(Martin Luther King & Jim Crow Laws); school integration
not segregation

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." (Dr. Martin Luther King)
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Jim Crow Laws

From the 1880s to the 1960s most states enforced

segregation through the Jim Crow laws named after a
black-faced character in minstrel shows.
Through these laws legal punishments could be imposed
on people for having contact with members of another
race.

Jim Crow Guide

1. Black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands)
with a White male because it implied being socially equal.
Obviously, a Black male could not offer his hand or any
other part of his body to a White woman, because he
risked being accused of rape.

2. Blacks and Whites were not supposed to eat together. If

they did eat together, Whites were to be served first, and
some sort of partition was to be placed between them.

3. Under no circumstance was a Black male to offer to

light the cigarette of a White female -- that gesture implied
intimacy.

4. Blacks were not allowed to show public affection toward

one another in public, especially kissing, because it
offended Whites.
 Boari Lidia-Monica

5. Blacks were introduced to Whites, never Whites to

Blacks.

6. Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when

referring to Blacks, for example, Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or
Ma'am. Instead, Blacks were called by their first names or
by boy or girl (regardless of age). Blacks had to use
courtesy titles when referring to Whites, and were not
allowed to call them by their first names.

7. If a Black person rode in a car driven by a White person,

the Black person sat in the back seat, or the back of a
truck.

8. White motorists had the right-of-way at all

intersections.

STORY:

Spans three years

Narrated by Scout
3 children learn about life by witnessing the complicated
problems facing adults in their small Alabama town.

Jean Louise Scout Finch - The narrator and

protagonist of the story. She is intelligent and, by the
standards of her time and place, a tomboy.
Atticus Finch - Scout and Jems father, a lawyer in
Maycomb descended from an old local family. He is one of
the few residents of Maycomb committed to racial equality.
Jeremy Atticus Jem Finch - Scouts brother and
constant playmate at the beginning of the story. Jem is
something of a typical American boy, refusing to back down
from dares and fantasizing about playing football
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Arthur Boo Radley - A recluse who never sets foot

outside his house, Boo dominates the imaginations of Jem,
Scout, and Dill. He is one of the novels mockingbirds, a
good person injured by the evil of mankind.

TITLE
A mocking bird:
o a type of Finch (small bird, e.g. sparrow, goldfish,
canary; din familia cintezoiului);
o A small discrete bird with a beautiful song, which mocks
or imitates the other birds song.
o Shoot all the bluejays (gai) you want, if you can
hitem but remember its a sin to kill a mocking bird
(chapter 10)
o Mockingbirds dont do one thing but make music for us
to enjoy. They dont eat up peoples gardens, dont nest
in corncribs, they dont do one thing but sing their
hearts out for us. Thats why its a sin to kill a
mockingbird. (94)

If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, youll get along a lot
better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a
person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until
you climb into his skin and walk around in it. (34)

POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR STUDY:

Significance of the title

Southern values:
o Tradition vs. modern (Scout vs. Aunt Alexandra)*
o Prejudices
o Deceptive appearances (appearance vs. essences)*
o Traditional gender roles & class distinctions
 Boari Lidia-Monica

The condition of the Southern Woman at the

beginning of the 20th c*
Womans education
The true woman: submissive, domestic, pious,
pure
o Impact of social class on characters attitudes and
reactions
o Racism
o Ancestry
o Motherhood (Calpurnia)*

Southern Gothic
Scout and Jim: flat or round characters?
Relationship of Atticus with his children; adults vs. children
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Other characters:

Calpurnia
Dill strange, pint-
sized summer
neighbor

Miss Maudie
Tom Robinson African
American
man accused
of rape

Miss Caroline
Bob Ewell poor red-neck
racist

Mayella Ewell
Mr. Cunningham
Heck Tate
Mrs. Dubose
Answer:
 Boari Lidia-Monica

Narrator: Scout Finch, six-year-old girl

Atticus Finch, Scouts father, widower, & small-town lawyer
Jem Finch, Scouts older brother
Dill Harris, strange, pint-sized summer neighbor
Boo Radley, mysterious & reclusive neighbor
Tom Robinson, African American man accused of rape
Bob Ewell, poor red-neck racist