My Finals Book Report

I.  Introduction

Title: To Kill a Mockingbird   

Author:  Harper Lee

Genre: · Coming-of-age story; social drama; courtroom drama; Southern drama

II. Characters

Main Character:

Jean Louis “Scout” Finch – This intelligent little girl is the both the narrator and protagonist of the story. Scout resides at Maycomb, Alabama with her father Atticus, her brother Jem and their black cook, Calpurnia. Though smart, she is still an innocent child. She idealistically believes in her basic faith of Human goodness the people in her town. Through the novel’s progress, her faith is tested in Tom robinson’s trial as hatred and judgement emerges. As the novel progresses, the main character eventually develops a mature perspective of life. It enabled her to see Human goodness without disregarding the presence of Human evil

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Supporting Characters:

Atticus Finch – is Scout’s widowed father. He is a lawyer in their community. He has a dry sense of humor. Atticus strongly implicates justice and racial equality. He defended Tom Robinson, a black man who was accused of raping a Ms Mayella, a white woman.

Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch – is scout’s 4 year older brother. He is scouts protector and playmate throughout the novel. Jem is entering puberty stage at that time, which a stage of confusion and complication. Tom robinson’s trial has greatly affected the boy’s ideals due to the injustice he had experienced.

Arthur Radley – a mysterious person who rarely leaves his house. His personality is source of Jem and Scout’s curiosity. He is a responsible for saving Scout and Jem when Bob ewell tried to assault the young individuals. He also represents a symbol of innocence that was injured by the evil of people.

III. Setting

            “To kill a Mockingbird” is set about 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama. It took place in a insular small town.  The time setting of the novel also took place in the time of “depression”. A time of discrimination among black people was very strong.

IV. Plot

a.) When Scout, Jem and Dill, their summer playmate were fascinated about Boo Radley and his house. They tried leaving notes to Boo Radley but never succeeded because they were always caught by their father. They also had a series of encounters of Boo Radley though he does not really appear until the time he saved the two children.

b.) The night when Miss Maudie’s house was accidentally burnt down.

c.) Atticus Finch gets the town men to leave when they were going to hurt Tom Robinson. He also agreed that time to defend the black man’s accused rape case.

d.) Tom robinson’s trial is the climax of the story. Despite atticus’s capable defense, the jury decides that Tom Robinson guilty. After watching the trial, Scout and Jem cannot comphrehend Tom Robinson’s conviction despite Ewell’s clearly “made-up” story.

e.) When word spreads out that Tom Robinson was show 17 times while trying to escape from prison. It is also another complication and confusion for the children.

f.) The assault on Scout and Jem by Ewell where Radley shows up and saves them. However, when scout walks Radley home, he never shows up again. Heck Tate also tells Atticus that he will say Ewell slipped on his own knife that stabbed him to protect Radley because he knows Radley will also be misunderstood by the jury like Tom Robinson.

V. Theme

            The most important theme I saw in the novel is the coexistence of Good and Evil; the importance of moral education by our parents. The author’s purpose was to see the Good and Evil that exists in the world not only the discrimination that happened but also to everyone. The book showed me to see the realistic world. Good Innocent people are always corrupted by the evil. We must survive the struggles that we may encounter. Evaluate and learn from them. I will have to be open-minded.

            The major conflict of the story is the childhood innocence of Scout and Jem being threathened by numerous incidents that expose the evil of mankind, notably the conviction of Mr. Robinson and Ewell’s assault. However, in the end, the two developed their perspective of the coexistence of good and evil through their struggles they faced.

VI. Evaluation

            I really liked the book. The early introduction captured my attention. I also appreciate the author, the narrative part of the story is very hard because Harper lee has to be both an innocent child on the street as well as a person who knows the mad world very will and has the vision of how justice works. I learned many things of the Book. Also, in the end of the story I learned why the title of the book is “To kill a Mockingbird”.

-Credits to enotes.com for my guide. (DID NOT COPY PASTE)

My Book Report

I. Introduction

Title: The Old Man and the Sea

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Genre: Science fiction/Tragedy

II. Characters

Main Character: Santiago

            Santiago is a poor aging fisherman who is often criticized by other people. However, he is humble and shows a justified pride in his abilities regarding the sea. In the story, Santiago had an extensive run of bad luck. He has been unable to catch a fish for over eighty-four hours and finally decides to sail off and struggles for over 3 days with a Marlin which is represented as the greatest challenge of his life.

            At the beginning of the story, you can easily identify Santiago as the main character due to his introductory setting and personality of the old man with his consistent conversations with the boy. Also, Santiago was isolated in the story’s rising action to focus his epic adventure through the story.

Supporting Characters:

Manolin

Manolin is an unfailingly mentioned supporting character. He is Santiago’s apprentice and devoted attendant. Due to Santiago’s recent bad luck, Manolin’s parents have forced the boy to go out on a different fishing boat. However, Manolin still cares deeply for the old whom he looks at as his mentor. His love for Santiago is unmistakable as the two discuss baseball and the old man’s dreams. In addition, the young boy recruits help from villagers to improve the old man’s poor conditions.

The Marlin

Santiago hooks the marlin, which we learn at the near end of the novella measures eighteen feet, on the first afternoon of his three-day fishing expedition. Becasue of the marlin's gigantic size, he is unable to pull the fish in and the two become engaged in tug-of-war battle. However, in often times this struggle becomes a more alliance like fraternal connection. The fishing line serves as a symbol of the connection Santiago feels with the fish. When the captured marlin is later destroyed by sharks, Santiago feels destroyed as well.

Joe DiMaggio

            Maggio plays a significant role though he never appears in the story. He is quietly spoken by Santiago. Apparently, Santiago worships him as a model of strength and commitment, and his thoughts turn down DiMaggio whenever he needs to reassure himself of his own strength.

III. Setting

            .On land, the action takes place in a small village on the northern coast of Cuba, below the Tropic of Cancer and not far from the capital city of Havana. At sea, the action takes place in the boat of an old man, Santiago, who is fishing for marlin north of Cuba in the Gulf Stream of the Gulf of Mexico. The time is September in the late 1940's.

            The setting has a huge impact on the story. The village coast’s environment was specifically described in each detail from time to time to exaggerate and heighten the emotion. Although the beginning and the end of the story took place in the same place, it gave the memoirs of flashbacks from the beginning of Santiago’s problem until it was solved paradoxically.

IV. Plot

 For eighty-four days, Santiago, an aged Cuban fisherman, has set out to sea and returned empty-handed. So conspicuously unlucky is he that the parents of his young, devoted apprentice and friend, Manolin, have forced the boy to leave the old man in order to fish in a more prosperous boat. Nevertheless, the boy continues to care for the old man upon his return each night. He helps the old man tote his gear to his ramshackle hut, secures food for him, and discusses the latest developments in American baseball, especially the trials of the old man’s hero, Joe DiMaggio. Santiago is confident that his unproductive streak will soon come to an end, and he resolves to sail out farther than usual the following day.

On the eighty-fifth day of his unlucky streak, Santiago does as promised, sailing his skiff far beyond the island’s shallow coastal waters and venturing into the Gulf Stream. He prepares his lines and drops them. At noon, a big fish, which he knows is a marlin, takes the bait that Santiago has placed one hundred fathoms deep in the waters. The old man expertly hooks the fish, but he cannot pull it in. Instead, the fish begins to pull the boat.

Unable to tie the line fast to the boat for fear the fish would snap a taut line, the old man bears the strain of the line with his shoulders, back, and hands, ready to give slack should the marlin make a run. The fish pulls the boat all through the day, through the night, through another day, and through another night. It swims steadily northwest until at last it tires and swims east with the current. The entire time, Santiago endures constant pain from the fishing line. Whenever the fish lunges, leaps, or makes a dash for freedom, the cord cuts Santiago badly. Although wounded and weary, the old man feels a deep empathy and admiration for the marlin, his brother in suffering, strength, and resolve.

On the third day the fish tires, and Santiago, sleep-deprived, aching, and nearly delirious, manages to pull the marlin in close enough to kill it with a harpoon thrust. Dead beside the skiff, the marlin is the largest Santiago has ever seen. He lashes it to his boat, raises the small mast, and sets sail for home. While Santiago is excited by the price that the marlin will bring at market, he is more concerned that the people who will eat the fish are unworthy of its greatness.

As Santiago sails on with the fish, the marlin’s blood leaves a trail in the water and attracts sharks. The first to attack is a great mako shark, which Santiago manages to slay with the harpoon. In the struggle, the old man loses the harpoon and lengths of valuable rope, which leaves him vulnerable to other shark attacks. The old man fights off the successive vicious predators as best he can, stabbing at them with a crude spear he makes by lashing a knife to an oar, and even clubbing them with the boat’s tiller. Although he kills several sharks, more and more appear, and by the time night falls, Santiago’s continued fight against the scavengers is useless. They devour the marlin’s precious meat, leaving only skeleton, head, and tail. Santiago chastises himself for going “out too far,” and for sacrificing his great and worthy opponent. He arrives home before daybreak, stumbles back to his shack, and sleeps very deeply.

The next morning, a crowd of amazed fishermen gathers around the skeletal carcass of the fish, which is still lashed to the boat. Knowing nothing of the old man’s struggle, tourists at a nearby café observe the remains of the giant marlin and mistake it for a shark. Manolin, who has been worried sick over the old man’s absence, is moved to tears when he finds Santiago safe in his bed. The boy fetches the old man some coffee and the daily papers with the baseball scores, and watches him sleep. When the old man wakes, the two agree to fish as partners once more. The old man returns to sleep and dreams his usual dream of lions at play on the beaches of Africa.

V. Theme

            I identified up to 5 themes. Perseverance, Loyalty, Unseen heroism, the Honor in defeat and “Man against Nature”

Perseverance

What ennobles a man and makes him a success is his perseverance against overwhelming odds.

Man vs. Nature

Santiago's struggle against the marlin and the sea represents the struggle of every human being against nature, or the inscrutable universe.

Honor in Defeat

.           In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago goes on a quest to catch a great fish and win the respect of others. Although the sharks dine on his catch, he has its skeleton as proof that, though old, he remains an accomplished fisherman.  He has last but also won.

Loyalty

Manolin remains fiercely loyal to Santiago even though his father look down upon weary old man and forbids his son to fish with him. After Santiago returns from his long struggle at sea, Manolin decides to become Santiago's fishing partner once again in opposition to his father's wishes.

Unseen Heroism

Joe DiMaggio, the centerfielder for the New York Yankees is admired by Santiago due to  DiMaggio's ability to carry on against adversity. People see DiMaggio as he performs in front of thousands of people. Santiago also carries adversity. However, he is alone in a boat, far out at sea, when he battles the marlin. No one witnessed his heroic act in line with his extraordinary performance in trying to catch the marlin. Life is very ironic because, everyday, normal people do normal tasks outstandingly and magnificently to promote order without anyone witnessing their good deeds nor someone to cheer them.

Moral

I learned many things from the story, it is not what you are but who you that comprises you as a person. The traits and characteristics we carry build up to the person that is you. In addition, I also Santiago as an image of Christ Santiago, he weighted down with the “sin” of 84 days of failure at sea, undergoes a three-day ordeal–suffering piercing injury to the palms of his hands and back, experiencing raging thirst, enduring the attack of a mob which are the sharks, and staggering and falling as he bears his mast across the beach. Nevertheless, he has achieved his goal and, after a sleep, awakens to a new day. 

Problem and Resolution

The major complication in the story was Santiago’s eighty-four hour streak of bad luck without catching a fish. The day he sailed to sea when he saw the Huge Marlin, he was unable to reel the fish which resulted to a 3 day struggle. However, on the final day, he pierced the Marlin’s heart and was able to catch it. On his return way home, sharks attacked him. Although he was able to kill few, she sharks slowly but surely ate the marlin. Finally arriving home, the Marlin’s skeleton is all that remains. The people of the village saw it and measured it to be 18ft. Although he was not able to catch the fish alive but he gains the respect of the people as to showing them he is still a great fisherman able to catch fish.

VI. Evaluation

            The book was very interesting. The author gave a descriptive heightened emotion each moment in the story. Also, the well hidden symbols in story challenged me as the reader to try to interpret it. Although it was tragic, there was also feel of contentment in the novella's ending. It also exemplified great moral traits like of loyalty and perseverance. Overall, The Old man and the Sea is a book quite to consider reading.