Something We Missed

          One major thing that I noticed in the book that we haven't discussed in class, is the maturity of both Jem and Scout. Jem is 10 and Scout is 6, but throughout the book, their decision making and speech is much more advanced than it should be for their age. You would think, when talking to a 6 year old they wouldn't have much to contribute rather than their imagination, and that they wouldn't understand much, but when talking to Scout, you don't see a 6 year old, but more like a 9 or 10 year old. For eample, when she was talking to Miss Maudie she understands slmost everything that Miss Maudie says, and knows that based upon that information, Jem's decision to sneak into the Radley house wasn't the right one.
          In the same way, Jem doesn't act like a regular 10 year old. He has a lot of guts for a 10 year old. Sneaking into a scary house and trying to get a note to a scary guy are not things normal 10 year olds would do, even if they did have a lot of guts. He acts more like a 13-14 year old, and you can see this in both his actions and his words. 

My Big Idea

          The big idea that I chose to track throughout the book was "Out of Control". I chose this big idea because this idea is represented in many ways throughout this book and other books I have read. For example, in The Fault in Our Stars  Hazel had some moments when she felt like she was out of control and felt like blowing up. In Romeo and Juliet pretty much the whole book is filled with sections where some characters are out of control. This lead to bad decisions, which in the end, caused many people to die. In Romeo and Juliet, both Romeo and Juliet try to kill themselves multiple times when they don't get what they want immediately. For example, when Romeo finds out that he is banished from Verona, he goes to Friar Lawerence, and instead of thinking of somekind of solution so that he can see Juliet, he almost commits suicide. This idea of "Out of Control" is represented throught this book.
          This idea adds to many aspects of the play including suspence, grief, and many more. The "out of control" behavior represented by mostly Romeo keeps you on the edge of your seat because you never know what he's going to do next. He might kill someone, he might try to kill himself, you never know. Even though this idea is mainly represented by Romeo, it is also represented by Capulet when he is mad at Juliet, and Juliet when she is forced to marry Paris. I think that Shakespeare added this aspect into the story because it made it much more interesting and unexpected. Modern stories always end in a 'happy ever after' tone because that's what is appealing to the audience, but Shakespeare added in this "Out of Control" quality which lead to bad decisions and a different ending to a story where lives are sacrificed to unite peace between two families.