Aesthetics

Although this novel is entangled with death, un-just trial, and common values held in the south during the great depression, it really isn't about any of these things.  Rather it is about growing up, learning life lessons, growing the understand the world around oneself.

It is good sometimes that children are so innocent to the ways of the world.  They have pre-concieved ideas about how things work, what is right and wrong, etc.  Scout Finch, in the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" is a typical six year old in this way.  Her fascination with the mysterious Boo Radley is evident and although she has never really met him, she feels that she already has a pretty good idea of who she thinks he is.

Scout and Jem's father Atticus works hard to protect his children while simultanteously teaching them what is right and what is wrong.  The town dynamics created by the varying values of the characters are a major push in the plot.  I feel that this image represents the novel more than most of the version of the novel's cover.  In reality I don't feel that this book it taught, or that students like it because it's a "fun" story.  Rather it is the identification of growing and learning to understand the way of the world that draws students to this paticular book in the classroom.

I truly feel that this particular piece of print literature aligns with the concepts outlined for us in Calvino's six memos. When it comes to lightness, the chosen aesthetic above is definately a removal from the heaviness of the world. If this picture was totally part of reality, it would be very dangerou and very serious, however, it is removed just enough that it is lightened. The novel is also somewhat removed from the world. The topics/themes are somewhat heavy, and would be very hard to experience in a "real" situation. When students read this particular book, they are moved from the reality of the book because it is a piece of print literature. They are experiencing the story, but not really experiencing the situations that Scout is going through. It is a removal just enough, that the lightness of the work is effective in gaining student interest.

I feel that it also aligns with multiplicity. The idea that every author's idea come from somehwere, and that ideas are similar, but not the same are represented in this particular aesthetic. Many children go to zoo's every year, and I am sure that this little girl is not the first to climb into the mouth of this monster, however, it was the "author" who chose to capture this moment in the form of the picture that harnessed the story this picture has to tell. The same goes for Harper Lee's story. Racism and strong town dynamics are not something unique to this story. Even the concept of growing up and learning life lessons along the way are not a new and radical thing to write about, however, it was Harper Lee who took these elements and created a story with them.