After you complete your reading of chapter 24 in Mockingbird, please read the following quote from Leo Tolstoy (famous 19th century Russian author of War and Peace as well as Anna Karenina):
"Hypocrisy in anything whatever may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognizes it, and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it may be disguised."
What message do you believe Tolstoy was trying to convey through this statement? What does the quote mean to you? How does it connect to Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, specifically the events at Aunt Alexandra's tea party?
I think this quote means that a lot of times adults are blind to the hypocrisy of other people. While children are innocent and can see right through it, no matter how much the person tries to hide it. They are disgusted by it because they know how fake someone is. We see this at Aunt Alexandra's tea party, Scout does't seem to know the actual word for it, but she notices that men are different from women in that way. They usually just do what they do and dont try to hide it, while women are constantly saying things just to be part of a crowd. A lot of Aunt Alexandra's friends seem as though they really don't mean anything they say, they just want to gossip.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Azadeh says about childlike innocence, that children can see through a lie or a desperate act of hypocrisy. Atticus even says it himself when having a discussion with Uncle Jack. Atticus said,"...When a child askes you something, answer him...children can spot an evasion quicker than adults..."(116). I think that no matter how much you might try to hide your character, your true nature will show itself one way or another, but children can catch it at just one comment or action. What I find funny is that the ladies at the party talk about not being a hypocrite, and by saying that, they are hypocrites.
ReplyDeleteI think the message Tolstoy was trying to convey was that hypocrisy, or the action of saying something you don't really mean is often seen by children but not adults. children are able to recognize and be revolted by the hypocrisy of a person no matter how hidden it is where as to adults look right through it.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the message means that when someone says something they don't really mean or feel strongly about, adults are so used to it that they find hypocrisy tolerable and normal. But to a child, it is surprising because children always say what they really think.
this connects to Aunt Alexandra's tea party because when women gossip, they often hypocrisize to fit into the group. Scout is new to the idea of hypocrisizing and realizes that women have to be fake to fit into a group wear as to men just do as they believe.
I think this means kids are able to percieve hypocrisy because they are innocent and don't realize why people would do cruel things to others and they see the irony, yet they don't understand it. Adults can be set in their ways and don't want to change. For example at Aunt Alexandra's tea party, Mrs. Merriweather wants everyone to help the people in Africa, even though she was talking condescendingly about her African American helper, Sophy. She was so big on helping all the people in Africa yet did not realize that the African Americans in her town needed help. The women talk about how poorly the Mrunas tribe lives, then complains about their African American servants who live poorly themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote means that a child’s mind does not have as much experience, where as an adults mind may have many years of experience which completely changes the perspective. I think that in the quote it also means that if we see things with a child’s “wide-eye” view of life we can learn much more. This connects TKAM because we can see how people are changing their opinion just so that others will not think badly of them. The ladies at the tea party did not notice this, but scout knew exactly what was going on, she just was not able to say it. That is why in the quote it say that a very wise person will not be able to figure it out by a child that not even awake will be able to. Most of Aunt Alexandra's friend was changing their opinions.
ReplyDeleteI think Tolstoy meant that somestimes adults are hypocrites and they try to hide it, but normaly other adults don't seee it. The children will notice it more than the adults do. In the book at Aunt Alexandria's tea party Scout notices that the women say one thing to people but then they say the opposite behind their back.The other women don't notice the hypocracy, but Scout does.
ReplyDeleteI think it means that children can see through hypocrisy because they are innocent. Adults form opinions and prejudices but children are young and see the world as it is. However adults can be hypocrites and not notice. For example, Mrs. Merriweather. She talks about the injustice and terrible poverty of an african american tribe called the Mrunas and even cries over it. However she is outraged that her african american servant is upset about the injustice of Tom Robinson's case and sees african americans as being below her.
ReplyDeleteI think that what Tolstoy is trying to say is that hypocrisy can be done in many ways, but children are the only ones who can easily detect hypocrisy. Many adults do not realize hypocrisy. To me, this quote means that children are less likely to be hypocrites because they see the rawness of everything and look at everything as black and white. In Aunt Alexandra's Tea Party, the women talk just to be part of the crowd, and Scout picks that up. She sees that because she sees everything in such an easy way. This quote relates to TKAM because Scout sees everything as black and white, and she is very immature about it. She notices when things are wrong, but unlike adults, she acts to it.
ReplyDeleteI believe Tolstoy is trying to tell everyone that even adults who are very smart might be ignorant to hypocrisy committed by other people. But since a child is innocent, pure, still learning he or she does see the hypocrisy being committed. This child becomes angry, upset, or even plain sick by this. So if adults allow themselves, they can learn a lot from an innocent child. To me this quote means that while we might believe adults are smart and know everything, adults are actually perplexed and can not understand hypocrisy. In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the way the adults are ignorant towards racism going on in their community directly relates to how adults react to hypocrisy. Also when the Tim Johnson was coming, everyone just shut their own doors away and only Calpurnia acted to save the town. The ladies at Aunt Alexandra's tea party are just pretending to be people they really aren't. The ladies are saying things to be on the same side as the crowd (followers) and not be judged as different. Just like Azadeh said, "They usually just do what they do and don't try to hide it..." adding on to this, women do something and then turn around and try to hide it.
ReplyDeleteI think this qoute means as adults, they have learned to see shades of gray.When children are very smart thinkers who perceive things as either black or white. While they do not necessarily understand all of the things that alduts know.They are perhaps more willing than adults to recognize what is fair or unfair and right or wrong. As Azadeh said Aunt Alexandra's friends dont know what there talkin about or notice what there saying. They just want a story to share and listen
ReplyDeleteI think the quote is talking about how children are shy and when they meet someone new they examine them very carefully to see if they're trustworthy. When they are an adult they don't feel as shy and they don't need to be protected by others as much so they can trust others easier which makes hypocrisy easier to believe. I actually disagree with this quote because when i was younger i believed everything I heard. I believe this relates to the tea party because Scout is more into conversations with boys because there was something she "instinctively" liked about them. It was that they weren't hypocrites compared to the women who try to fit in with the crowd.
ReplyDeleteI think it means even people who are wise or older will become hypocrites when wanting to fit in with others. They may still realized it's wrong but they do it anyway. On the other hand, the most ignorant children can see what isn't right or fair, and they don't go around agreeing with it or saying that they agree. Aunt Alexandra and her friends know what is wrong, but they still support the wrong thing. They are basically pressured by the rest of the community and Aunt Alexandra to agree.
ReplyDeleteI think that Tolstoy was trying to tell people that Adults can't see through people as easily as children can. This relates to Aunt Alexandra's tea party because Scout immediately realized that the women who were there were fake. For example, when the ladies were talking about Mrunas(the african tribe), the reader could tell that they weren't very serious or sincere about the cause, they just wanted to seem to be, so that the other women would think that they were good people.
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote means basically that even the smartest people cant detect hypocrisy, but while not so smart children can recognize it and are disgusted no matter how good the hypocrisy is covered up
ReplyDeleteMy opinion is that Tolstoy was making a statement about how a child's innocent "lens" that they view the world through can provide a point of view that an adult would normally overlook. I think that it connects to the idea of "blind justice" and how a truly just person (in this case, a child) can see through facades and lies. We can see a child's judgement through Scout's encounter with Aunt Alexandra's missionary circle. Mrs. Merriweather says about gender inequality, "At least we don't have that sin on our shoulders down here," when many of Maycomb's people are grounded in a different inequality - racism. Scout can see this injustice going on around her and does, indeed, frown upon it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Azadeh that kids know hypocrisy when they see it,while adults are oblivious to it. This probably is the message Tolstoy was trying ro get across. I bet that in the tea party, the ladies are probably being hypocrites when they say they aren't! Just a guess.
ReplyDeleteI think the quote means that the need to fit in and be publicly approved is much higher when you are older, and many other adults don't realize it. Children don't care about following the standards so they can see through the "fakeness" of someone. So I think Azadeh is. In To Kill A Mockingbird Scout realizes that she soon would need to enter the world of womanhood. She says she is much more comfortable in the Mens world where they don't " trap you with innocent questions to make fun of you or be critical unless you say something very stupid."
ReplyDeleteTo me this quote means that even when you don't think children are listening or understand, they could be. They could understand every word you are saying and forming opinions in their heads, and one day they might speak up express their opinions. Hypocrisy could be a good thing, but in this case it is not, because the women strive to approved in their town, and they get prejudice out of it. Especially in a town like Maycomb when racism is such an important part of society. And people like Ms. Stephanie are always gossiping.
In my opinion this quote means that sometimes children are much smarter than adults, because of the fact they have not loss there innocence, and do not have any strong opinions on anyting that is right or wrong. While adults because they know there opinion, and feel they know if something is right of wrong. This is displayed in the tea party when Scout does not understand the context of the conversation, but understands the way the women are acting, and the faults and bad things they are doing. While others do not recognize this. This shows that although Scout does not understand she is wiser than the other women
ReplyDeleteI think this quote means that some adults can not reconize the hypocrisy of people. Yet children can understand the hypocrisy of others and are shocked by it. I also think that Tolstoy is trying to show how how some people are not aware of what they are doing yet a child can see what they are doing is wrong. This quote connects to Aunt Alexandras tea party because all the woman were doing were complaining about the trial when Mrs. Farrow brings up the fact where Shophy was complaing and she told her not to when she was doing the same thing that day.
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote means that even the most intelligent people in the world could be blinded especially in the easy situations, whereas the ones who do not understand can see right through a lie. In the book, even after Atticus proved Mr. Ewell wrong, and made him look like a fool, the people of the jury were blinded by thinking that Tom Robinson is a Negro and therefore automatically say that he is guilty. This quote could also mean that the eye of an adult can have a narrower view than a child, with a wide view. At Aunt Alexandra's tea party, I noticed that the women were hiding things from each other to act ladies. They gossip a lot, but seem to not be going anywhere with the gossip.
ReplyDeleteI think the quote means that children can understand hypocrisy of othere better than adults because they are young, still observing and learing things that are going on around them. While in the other hand, adults are not as attentive to it, while children are. In To Kill a Mockingbird, we see that at Aunt Alexandra's tea party, Scout understand that the women are just saying things to be a part of a crowd. The whole gathering was almost like a gossip group. Scout clearly sees this while she carefully notices their conversations as the women are talking.
ReplyDeleteI think this quote means that hypocrisy may fool many adults, but children can see right through it. They are disturbed by it where as most adults don't find it nearly as revolting. This quote connects to "To Kill a Mockingbird" because at Aunt Alexandra's tea party, Scout realizes that men don't care what others think. They do what they want. On the other hand, Scout thinks that women do things to feel like they are apart of something and to feel included. For example, when the women gossip, it is not necessarily what they think, but it is what the group thinks. Scout would much rather be like the men which I feel is proving that she, a child, recognizes that hypocrisy is revolting.
ReplyDeleteI think the message that Tolstoy is trying to convey is that children are innocent and are able to realize and observe many things that adults cannot, such as hypocrisy. To me, this means that Children have a different perspective. This is clearly shown in To Kill a Mockingbird during Aunt Alexandra's tea party. Throughout the book Scout is characterizing and analyzing different people. In Chapter 24, she sees a major differences between men and women. She realizes that the ladies her Aunt associates herself with seem to only gossip.
ReplyDeleteI think that Tolstoy is trying to get across that often we see that adults don't think one way or another but they think in the gray area and because adults think this way,they can be hypocritical of others. This quote is also trying to say that children often think in the black or white area rather than the gray area and when an adult is speaking to a child they think that the child is clueless and do not understand that, them being manipulative to the child is not clear, but, in reality, a child is much smarter than an adult would think.
ReplyDeleteAt Aunt Alexandra's tea party Scout does not seem to realize but the women all have the same opinions on the subject of Tom Robinson and like Azadeh said, i think it is because they just want to fit in with everyone else and not be excluded from the group, and because of this, people become hypocritical and this is "common" , although, as Tolstoy says,hypocrisy is very easily disguised.
I think that this quote is saying that children are very innocent, and not yet exposed to some of life's difficulties and problems yet, so they dont understand why its ok to say something but do something else. This is also saying that adults dont look at the full picture sometimes, or just dont even care about some issues. A good example of this is something like global warming. You always see kids planting trees and trying to save the earth, and old people dont.
ReplyDeleteThis relates very strongly to TKAM in many ways, especially the tea party.
A general example of this is how Scout always seems very perspective of many issues adults dont raise. She and Jem are always asking Atticus many questions, and while some are just because theyre uneducated kids, some questions are well thought out ones that people like Bob would never even think of. This shows a strong thinking track for a future generation. On the topic of the tea party, most of the women there were very oblivious to the hypocrisy of the present society. However, somewhat more progressive thinkers like Miss maudie did understand this. And while miss maudie is not a child, she shows some of the progressive thinking of future generations.
-Ben Shrager
I think what the quote means is that usually not even the smartest or wisest of adults don't realize when they are being hypocritical they just go on with there lives thinking nothing happened that they are not hypocrites when they talk and gossip but really they probably do the same thing, but children while they're still young realize when its been done and they usually dislike it and don't agree with it. In Aunt Alexandra's tea party scout sees how much the women gossip and compares them to men which she realizes that men aren't the same as women she was trying to say that they weren't hypocrites but didn't know how to.
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote means that hypocrisy is a disease of which innocence is the only defense. Like at the tea party the gossiping ladies talk as if they're perfect, and yet they have the hypocrisy which only Scout seems to see. Its like the other adults are just ignoring the hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteI think this means that people who are hypocrites don't realize that they themselves are being hypocritical, and also sometimes dont see the hypocrisy of others. Children can recognize when people are being hypocritical no matter how much people try to ignore their own faults. Children can see people for who they really are. This relates to Aunt Alexandra's tea party because Scout realized that the ladies were never completely pleased with the men, but she still liked them better because they weren't hypocrites. The ladies were always criticizing others, and didnt think they were doing anything wrong.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this quote is saying, no matter how well and cleverly hidden it may be children are always able to see a hypocrite. Children are innocent and listen openly to anything and notice when people do act hypocritical. Adults have the ways they do things ingrained within them and even if whatever hypocrisy is right in front of them, they won't see it. As Azadeh said, they are blind. This idea is seen in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD when Scout comments how men are not like that, "...no matter how much they cussed and drank and gambled and chewed" (313). She says this because she hears the ladies say the following about the mistreatment of others: "...they had no sense of family...they subjected children to terrible ordeals when they were thirteen; they were crawling with yaws and earworms...the poverty...the darkness...the immortality" (305-309). Scout realizes that these women are treating Tom and other African-Americans horribly, while they criticize those who did the exact same thing in what I am guessing is the Holocaust by the descriptions. Scout can understand that it is not fair because she is young. The ladies are old and have their ideals that will remain with them forever, and as a result, they will never notice their own hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteI think this quote means that children,or those who are able to see things in a different perspective, will be able to catch things and interprit things differently than adults would. Thinking differently has allowed Scout to see beyond the hypocrisy that was spread around the tea party by some of Alexandria's guests.
ReplyDeleteMaude had also distinguished herself early on in TKAM, and at the tea party that she isn't just another common Mayfolk lady, but someone who is also able to see things from a different perspective, and to be able to catch the hypocrisy going around the table.
I believe that Leo Tolstoy was trying to convey the idea that the minds of children are clear and not contaminated with the prejudices and biases that come with growing up. Adults have been exposed to many outside influences, and so often overlook hypocrisy because of their mindsets, while children, still with a pure mind, can sense hypocrisy easily. Children can sense the insincerity in hypocrisy, which may shock and sicken them because of how wrong it is. To me, this quote expressed the purity and innocence of children, which is slowly lost as people mature. When we are young, the world is simple and we have an intuitive knowledge of what is right and wrong, but as we age, we lose our innate sense of right and wrong. During Aunt Alexandra’s tea party, the women just talk for the sake of talking. Unlike men, who are a great deal more authentic, the women say and do things they don’t truly mean.
ReplyDeleteI think the message that Tolstoy was trying to convey through this statement was that many adults are hypocrites and other adult usually tolerate and promote this behavior. On the other hand, children are taught to behave and act truthfully, and are more in tune and capable of seeing ones fakeness in behavior and actions. Aunt Alexandra’s tea party brings together the most social and wealthy women in Maycomb. The ladies are in a constant state of gossip, and striving to be perceived by the town as the upper class, and the ‘best of the best’. Scout on the other hand; saw the hypocrisy in all these women as they tried so hard to fit in with one another. She saw the women talking amongst themselves about one thing… and the next thing you knew, they were going against what they had just said. Scout picked up on this right away. To me, this quote really shows that people should be truthful, and be confident with who they are, and not be hypocrites just to fit in with others.
ReplyDeleteI think Tolstoy was trying to convey through this statement that sometimes children could detect hypocrisy much easier and faster than even a very intelligent adult because children are innocent and do not have as much experience in life. This means they haven’t lived through many events that may change their way of thinking about certain things in life. To me this quote means that even the smartest adults in the world can’t detect hypocrisy because of their prior knowledge and experiences but since children have less background knowledge, they see things how they are and their minds don’t change anything. This connects to Aunt Alexandra’s tea party because Mrs. Merriweather talks on and on about the African Tribe and gets really emotional about it even though Scout can tell she doesn’t care too much about the cause more about herself. All these ladies do is gossip, which gets them nowhere. This is why Scout likes her “fathers world” better.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Tolstoy is trying to say was that children see through people better than adults who are blinded from hypocrisy because children are still young and innocent. Unlike the adults, children are too immature to understand gossip.The fact that adults are pressured into gossip and hypocrisy, they do not realize that they are degrading others.
ReplyDeleteSo in TKMA where Scout was in Aunt Alexandra's tea party, she experiences how people become hypocrites except for Miss Maudie. Although she doesn't fully understand the conversation, she still knows that what they're saying is wrong. Unlike the Miss Maudie and Scout, the other ladies cannot say anything else, but gossip because they were so fed up with scandal.
I think the message Tolstoy was conveying was that hypocrisy deceives all adults but kids see right through it and realize the idea is not the most popular idea and turn away from the notion. To me this means that the innocent child knows not of deception, but of truth and can only see this while an adult knows much of deception and sees less of truth so being deceived. One place I see this connect to the book was where in the trial Mayella is being dumb and Scout sees it right off the bat, but even Judge Taylor becomes slightly sympathetic to Mayella. In Aunt Alexandria's tea party the idea that Mrunas need religion to bring order is believed by most of the adults. Such with most other subjects like when Aunt Alexandria thinks Scout should wear more skirts and Miss Maudie, who is like Atticus in that Scout is fine the was she is, agrees.
ReplyDelete-Divesh Otwani
I think that this quote means that many times adults do not grasp details as much as children do. A child's perspective of issues are clear and pure, unclouded by experience or cynicism. If we allow ourselves, we can learn a lot from a child's wide-eyed view of life. For example, as adults we have learned to recognize shades of gray, whereas children are very concrete thinkers who perceive things as black or white. Even though children don't recognize the nuances of adult relationships, they recognize what is 'right' or 'wrong' more than adults. An example in To Kill A Mockingbird would be in Aunt Alexandra's tea party when Mrs.Merriweather refers to the northerners as "hypocrites" for setting their blacks free but refusing to congregate with them or treat them as equals. She says that down south they have a reasonable way of life-the whites are free to go about their way of life. But what Mrs.Merriweather isn't able to see is that the blacks down south cannot go about their own way of life because of all the Jim Crow Laws and discrimination practiced there. Scout realizes then and there that the women are just saying that so they can fit in with the crowd. Many people may think that children don’t have experience so they cannot understand anything. This is not true because children have their own perspective of the world and they are very sharp and can grasp thinks very quickly. Scout really shows this throughout the book as she clearly states every detail that is going on in town. She also realizes that the women are just acting to fit in, very quickly. As Scout is still a child, even though she doesn’t like what the women are saying, she doesn’t have enough courage to speak up. She realizes that the women don’t even know what they are talking about while Aunt Alexandra acts like she knows everything but Aunt Alexandra (being an adult) can’t even detect that her friends are fakes. The fact that Scout detects this faster than Aunt Alexandra (or anyone) shows that Harper Lee is trying to point out that children can see right through fake people like you can see through glass.
ReplyDeleteI feel that quote means that adults will see hypocracy but will be fooled by it. However a child in their innocence and honesty will be able to reconize it because they see the honest truth, unlike adults whose minds are polluted by lies and foolish ways of man. To me, this quote means that the youngest of all can reconize the truth while the oldest and most naive will be mislead. From the tea party scout notices women and men are being compared. Being young she doesnt know the word for it but she doesn pick it up. She notices that the women are mainly just gossiping.
ReplyDeleteI think what Tolstoy was trying to say with that quote is that adults don't notice hypocrisy easily because they are constantly surrounded by it. A child has not been exposed to hypocrisy and so, still maintain a child-like innocence. They can recognize hypocrisy real fast becuase they aren't used to it and they would think it is wrong to say one thing and do another in their innocence.
ReplyDeleteThis connects to what happened at Aunt Alexandra's tea party because the women don't notice that by trying to 'fit in', they are being hypocrites as some don't really believe in what is being said but will go along because they don't want to be singled out. Scout is also starting to realize that women in that time period are much more hypocritical than the men. Scout views the men as easy going and straight-forward while she views the women as being very complicated beings. Scout also says that she would never understand the world of women when Aunt Alexandra gave a look of gratitude to Miss Maudie when before, they couldn't stand each other.
I think Tolstoy was trying to say that hypocrisy can deceive the cleverest man/adult but the simplest child can see right through it; they see the hypocrisy for what it is, no obstacles in their way of vision. They don't have a blind spot. To me, this quote means that adults see some things with all of the fancy stuff on it while children see things for what they actually are, without all of the bells and whistles. For example, adults saw Bernie Madoff as man with a nice suit, fancy shoes, smiling, hugging people, etc.: he was a good man. Kids, on the other hand, don't see those fancy things (usually), they just look at the person for who they are, not for what they have or what they do.
ReplyDeleteDuring Aunt Alexandra's tea party, Scout realizes that the women are somewhat like hypocrites. For example, they say they are acting very ladylike while in the meantime, they are gossiping about people behind their backs, which is the opposite of being ladylike (or unladylike). In relation to the quote, the women may not see that they are being hypocrites but Scout sure does. This proves that hypocrisy can be disguised very well and many people won't realize that they're a part of it.
I think that through this statement Tolstoy was trying to convey the message that adults and children do not see the world the same way. Children see many problems in society that adults either cannot see or choose not to see. According to Tolstoy, hypocrisy is one of these problems. To me this quote shows that hypocrisy is linked with the theme of loss of innocence. Adults are accustomed to and thus unaware of hypocrisy while children, due to their innocence, do not see the "importance" of hypocrisy, which for adults is to create conformity. However what children do see, is that hypocrisy is in general more problematic than beneficial. Hypocrisy in itself is not that great of a problem, but the problem with hypocrisy is that it amplifies other social problems. This connects to To Kill a Mockingbird because Harper Lee shows us how hypocrisy amplifies the more obvious problem of racism. At Aunt Alexandra's tea party we see how the ladies' hypocrisy resulted in a discussion about the Mrunas, when there was a much greater problem at home: racism.
ReplyDeleteI think Tolstoy is trying to tell us that, because children are innocent (even if they are unaware of hypocrisy), they would still recognize it. Although people try to hide it, people would still see it. Because adults are grown up, they know more knowledge of the world, both good and bad, bad as racism and hypocrisy. But children are different, they are younger and don't know a lot about the world. However they can still differ a real person and a fake person (hypocrite); "...the least wide-awake of children recognizes it."
ReplyDeleteIn Aunt Alexandra's tea party, all the ladies are racist people gossiping. They say things, but before in the book, (or later on in the book) they do the things that they said they won't do (and visa versa). And most of those women, they hypocrise to just fit into the group.
I think Tolstoy was trying to convey that adults might not see the real person and children might see past the make-up and looks to the real person which can contradict with who they really are. Children are innocent and adults are not. To me this quote means adults loss of innocence can cause them to see an image differently or corrupted because of past knowledge. During Aunt Alexandra's tea party Scout's innocence caused her to ask questions about what Ms.Merriweather was saying Scout was connecting her comments with what happened in the court but Ms.Merriweather would not say that's what she was talking about. Scout also notices that women are "fake" they portray themselves as very ladylike meaning they are not rude and understanding and beautiful. Scout realizes that they are all perfect with the beautiful part but when it comes to rudeness even though they make it subtle they still are alike men. Ms.Maudie is a great role model for Scout. I believe Lee is trying to highlight Scouts innocence during Ms. Alexandra's tea.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the message Leo Tolstoy is trying to convey to us is that even the wisest and the most clever adult will not be able to recognize their hypocrisy. Children, being as innocent and pure as they are, will be able to notice hypocrisy in an instant. This connects to the theme of children being pure and innocent. In Aunt Alexandra's tea party, all the women gossip and, other than Miss Maudie, make fun of other people. While they gossip, the women do not realize that they are being hypocrites while Scout realizes the hypocrisy in their words as soon as she hears them. Scout compares the women to men and she say that men are not hypocrites while the ladies are. I believe that since she is still a child, she likes the men more than the women because the men are not hypocrites.
ReplyDelete-Harsh Yallapantula
I think the quote means that children are able to see what some men overlook. Children’s innocence is what helps them see the hypocrisy. The cleverest adults can try to hide it, but in most cases it is very obvious and adults choose to simply ignore it. This connects to the tea party because the ladies are hypocrites and gossipers, but Miss Maudie is the only one to say something about it. Scout also notices this, but does not point it out.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the quote says adults may not be able to recognize hypocrisy while it quickly comes to childrens innocent minds. Children are innocent because they are still in their learning stage and they are still learning good things from their parents and teachers. Because they are learning these good habits, they are able to see the difference in between good things and not so good things, so they express their displeasure.
ReplyDeleteIn Aunt Alexandra's party, the missionary women were saying that people in the north free the negros but they don't talk to them or sit with them.(Page 313) Aren't the missionary circle women Hypocrites??!?? They probably do the same thing to negros in Maycomb County! Just to cover it up from Scout, Mrs.Merriweather says, "Down here we just say you live your way and we'll live ours".
I think the women in the missionary circle are hypocrites in another way too. They disscuss these topics about the north as if they are gossiping but they don't take any action for it. Scout was able to recognize this gossip as pure hypocrisy.
In my opinion, this quote is saying kids can identify hypocrisy and see through it when adults don't even notice it. Hypocrisy is easier to identify in other people. Kids usually notice hypocrisy quickly because their parents chastise their children against doing certain things, but may do them themselves. Kids will also pick it up more quickly because most kids are greedy when they're younger; they want things to go their way, for everything to be "fair", so when people are contradicting their words with their actions, kids will see it faster and complain about it.
ReplyDeleteIn To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout thinks to herself that she prefers the company of men rather than women because they weren't hypocrites. Women tend to admonish people and tell them how they should behave (i.e. "Don't gossip") but in reality they might do it themselves without noticing. Men don't scold kids as much, so therefore they're usually not as hypocritical.
I think that this quote means that even the most smartest and cleverest of adults will be decieved/blinded by hypocrisy. Children are another story though. They are very open minded so they can identify the hypocrisy and become disgusted by it. I believe that this quote is related to the book because the town is blinded by a different kind of hypocrisy, racism. The entire town of Maycomb County (excluding people like Atticus) is blinded by the concept that all black people are bad, lie, and are horrible. This quote connects specifically to Aunt Alexandra'a tea party because they claim that men are hypocrites, when the truth is that they are also hypocrites. The ladies don't see this because they are blinded by their own hypocrisy. Although they don't see this, Scout (a child) notices this and she doesn't like it. She thinks that men are good people. This shows how the adults were decieved by hypocrisy but a child didn't.
ReplyDeleteI think this quote means that children being so young see matters like this and other matters like prejudice for what they are, immoral and wrong. They see these things are wrong for everyone no matter what their race or gender is. But adults bring in all the things they have learned over the years and apply that to the matter thus complicating things and accepting wrong ideas. Like in chapter 24 Scout clearly sees that men do what they want and don’t care what anyone thinks of them like Dolphus Raymond. and scout also sees that women do whatever is needed to be accepted in a group of people and they do what the others think is right not what they think is correct. And scout can clearly differentiate between these two groups of people despite her age.
ReplyDeleteI think what Tolstoy is trying to convey is that you shouldn't be acting just to go with the group and be more what everyone else is. This quote means to me as like you are supposed to be changed as everyone else has been and create a new you. I believe it is the tea party because she got how to be more lady like and to act more mature and be able to talk to eople even better than before.
ReplyDeleteI think the quote means that some adults can not recognize the hypocrisy of other people when it shows. It may not be noticeable to one, when it shows from all sides. However a child can notice it every time and they may be in disgust of how phony or fake that person is. However much the one who tries to hide hypocrisy, he/she can’t hide it no matter how cleverly they try to disguise it. This quote relates to Aunt Alexandra’s tea party by a great deal, especially with Miss. Merriweather. She and the other ladies are consistently gossiping and full of attitude, and nobody notices it but Scout. The Men are very different from ladies because ladies try to hide as much as they can, while the men don’t care.
ReplyDeleteI think that the quote is implying that unlike adults, children are still nieve and innocent, and they aren't affected by prejudice and bias much. Instead, they can see the world without any of the worldly pressures that most adults are faced with. Adults, on the other hand, see the world through a highly developed 'lens', composed of past experiences and opinions, resulting in them not being able to see the world without any earthly prejudices.
ReplyDeleteAs Scout notices in the tea party, there is also a difference between the genders, as men tend to do their own thing, one strong example being how Atticus does so much unorthodox actions to stand up for what he believes in, whereas women tend to try hard to assimilate into society, commonly trying to mold their views to what the others think, even if it's totally contradictory to what they really think. Though, there are some exceptions, including Miss Maudie, who is a progreesive thinker. Generally, though, men tend to be more adamant in their ideas and views.
I think that Leo Tolstoy was trying to say that most adults do not notice they are being hypocritical even if they are very smart, and kids do notice, and adults might not think they will notice.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it means that even adults think hypocrisy is just a normal thing, but children find it revolting and even annoying in a way.
This connects to To Kill a Mockingbird, because in Aunt Alexandra's tea party, the ladies gossip and Scout's perspective on the gossiping is different then the perspective of the women who were at the tea party.
Yo, um, what I really understand about this quote, is when I was a lot younger, I remember when people would be hypocrytes, I didn't know that's what they were being like then, I just saw it as sumthing that was unfair, so the definition of hypocrisy is pretty much unfairness, at aunt alexandras tea party, you see the Hypocrisy through the women disscussing the "poor tribe in Africa" when they mistreat black people that live in there community, it takes miss maudie to shut them up, scout isn't mature enough to realise what this really is, she just sees it as unfairness
ReplyDeleteI think this quote means that men can’t detect the Hypocrisy in others while children can spot it out fairly quickly. I think this happens this way because as you get older you are more open to more ideas and moral values to a point that it is very hard to see if a person is pretending to have desirable or publicly approved attitude. A child who is still very new to the way life, and society works can easily spot out a person who is doing something hypocritical. In chapter 24 in the tea party we see that Scout quickly saw that the people in the circle were blabbing things just to be part of a crowd. Through this Quote by Leo Tolstoy we can understand the importance of a Childs uniqueness, individuality and innocence and it is for these reasons Scout should never change.
ReplyDeleteI think this quote means that children are pure and innocent, and they can see hypocrisy, and adults can't see when they or even other people are being hypocrites. This means that children are more innocent than adults and can see when people are being hypocrites, this is kind of like the trial where the adults were beings racists and voted Tom Robinson guilty regardless of the fact that he was obviously innocent, and only the children could see this injustice. At Aunt Alexandria's tea party Scout sees the differences between men and women, and how the women were gossiping and being hypocrites
ReplyDeleteI believe that Leo Tolstoy was trying to convey that, while adults, with their prejudice, are often blinded by hypocrisy, children, with their open, young minds, can see right through it. The ladies, while they seem to be very conscious about what they are saying, they are just gossiping. Scout realizes this, due to her open mind. A good example of this is with Mrs. Merriwether's speech, against Tom Robinson. She claims to be an avid Christian, yet she is prejudiced against a race of people. Scout can see this, but she does not say much about it, because she realizes this is simply the "ladylike" pattern of behavior. This, in fact, is hypocrisy in itself, because while a lady is supposed to be mature, and better than little girls, they don't think twice about being hypocritical and allow themselves t be blind to all the hypocrisy around them. I believe, also, that this principle applies to the events at the end of the chapter. The town regards Atticus as being very smart and very responsible, and so trusts him with things no one else would bother to do. Yet in doing this, it is being hypocritical, because they are actually tearing him to pieces, not respecting him. What this quote means to me is that children can see through hypocrisy more than adults due to their open minds. Thus, we must all strive to remain open minded, even when we become older. In doing so, we must constantly "walk a mile in others' shoes."
ReplyDeleteWhat I think Tolstoy is saying is that adults can be hypocritical to make themselves look better while kids are honest and don’t fall for that. What the quote means to me is that children can see when an adult’s action is the opposite of what he or she said. It connects to To Kill A Mocking Bird because all of the ladies at the tea party were talking about how they were sympathetic for the Mrunas who were poor when they were also discussing how their black servants were not being worthy of their pay and how they might fire them.
ReplyDeleteI think this quote is trying to say that children notice more because they are still young and innocent. They don’t try to judge people as adults tend to do to be “part-of-the-crowd.” Although, children can see it they wouldn’t fully understand it while adults who understand it don’t completely see it.
ReplyDeleteThis quote, to me, means adults try to hard to fit in and make sure they are accepted that they don’t see the type of people they are being accepted.
This connects to the tea party because Alexandra and her friends are so traditional they just keep with what the family tradition is and how they are “supposed” to act and don’t notice the true fault behind the truth. They are continuously racist and really only care about gossip because that is what “accepts” them into society.
I think this quote means that a lot of times adults are blind to the hypocrisy of other people. While children are innocent and can see right through it, no matter how much the person tries to hide it. They are disgusted by it because they know how fake someone is. We see this at Aunt Alexandra's tea party, Scout does't seem to know the actual word for it, but she notices that men are different from women in that way. They usually just do what they do and dont try to hide it, while women are constantly saying things just to be part of a crowd. A lot of Aunt Alexandra's friends seem as though they really don't mean anything they say, they just want to gossip.
ReplyDeletei think this quote means that innocence uncovers hypocrisy that goes by undetected in adults. there is hypocrisy at the tea party because the woman were trying to help remote cultures out but they do not do the same for the black community . This quote really shows how even the most educated person can still be ignorant to some extant like how the woman did not know about other cultures and make assumptions just like the do of African Americans.
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote is saying children are very innocent and adults sometimes dont relize what they are saying or doing for example at aunt alex's tea party they are all gossiping about the Tom Robinson case but truely scout thinks that they are being hypocrititcal. Also scout seems to analyze people during the bokk and in chap 24 she sees the pople at the tea partay to be gossipy
ReplyDeleteI believe that what Tolstoy is telling us through the poem is that children are able to identify hypocrisy much easier than adults can. I believe that this is because children are innocent and can see who the person really is, while adults are mature and believe that they must say or do the things that their community does. Adults are followers and not thinkers. Jem and Scout are always asking questions and trying to understand why thing occur and what things mean. Adults pretend to be people who they really aren't while children are pure and innocent. Also adults are afraid of the truth. We see this very clearly during Aunt Alexandra's tea party. The women in the town seem only to gossip and create conflict. Scout notices the differences between men and women in Maycomb. the women try to act smarter than they really are and some even lie just so that they accept each other. this is the main difference between children and adults. Children are not afraid of what others think while adults have to say what is right so they don't ruin their "image". Adults dont seem to adapt to a changing society and even though they say what others believe is right, they personally dont believe it themselves. Also Tolstoy is saying that even the slightest amount of hypocrisy a child will still notice it.
ReplyDelete=Stefano Lucchetti
Leo is trying to say that adults can be hypocrits and usually all of the time kids(children)would notice it because they have such a unique imagination that sometimes adults can forget the fact that the are children.
ReplyDeleteI think the message Tolstoy was conveying was that hypocrisy deceives all adults but kids see right through it and realize the idea is not the most popular idea and turn away from the notion. To me this means that the innocent child knows not of deception, but of truth and can only see this (thus easily spotting a lie) while an adult knows much of deception and sees less of truth (so being deceived). One place I see this connect to the book was where in the trial Mayella is being dumb and Scout sees it right off the bat, but even Judge Taylor becomes slightly sympathetic to Mayella. In Aunt Alexandria's tea party the idea that Mrunas need religion to bring order since they live terribly, is believed by most of the adults but the nonsense about the sobbing blacks' lives and the thought that they are inferior is totally contradictory yet everyone believes it as if the truth. Such with most other subjects like when they mock scout or not being ladylike and such, they all do so to fit in with the crowd, except for Miss Maudie who clutches Scout's hand so telling her to just go with it, that she supports her.
ReplyDeleteConsidering this is a point about the tea party that Mrs. Lenihan mentioned I think it has some value in the novel. My theory is that it reflects the town's actions and the Jury of Tom Robinson's trial, the townsfolk act to fit in because as we know outsiders create conflict, thus explaining their actions. The deep thought that I think this novel emits is that as individuals people are great but when groups form people lose themselves in it whether it is good or bad. this makes me pose the question is difference good or bad and how does it guide the character's actions in the novel? ( I honestly doubt Lee was thinking about morality but think she was trying to portray things as they were).
This quote means the majority of people will be fooled by hypocrisy and only a few people will be able to identify it. For example, when the ladies discuss the Mrunas (a tribe in Africa), they all feel sorry for them (Mrs. Merriweather says, "Oh child, those poor Mrunas"). They however, don't take into account that they treat their own black community like trash. This is hyprocrisy and only Miss Maudie is not fooled by it as she speaks out against Mrs. Merriweather when she is talking rudely about her servant.
ReplyDeleteThis quote means that kids because of their innocence, can see when people are being hypocrites. Like at the tea party, Scout sees that Miss.Merriweather is very hypocritical and the rest of the ladies follow Miss.Merriweather except for Miss.Maudie. Miss.Merriweather talks about how she feels so sorry for the tribes in Africa, but then she thinks that what was done to Tom is not wrong and she also gets mad at her help for feeling sorry for Tom and his family. Kids cant really do anything when they see adults being hypocritical because they would be looked at as being disrespectful just like scout does not do anything when she sees the ladies being hypocritical during tea.
ReplyDeleteI think this quote is saying that sometimes the brightest people are wrapped around hypocrisy. Instead, children are able to see it because they are still innocent. Pretending to be someone you’re not or saying something just to make yourself look better is hypocrisy. As time passes, I think a person may become more hypocritical because they learn more from experience and want to present themselves to others as a better person than what they truly are. Children are still young and don’t understand much about society, so they are able to see and feel angered at hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteIn TKAM, the ladies at the tea party were expressing their sympathy towards the tribe in Africa, but what about Tom Robinson? Helen Robinson? The whole black community? I think they were just trying to put on a good image for others to see and not actually realizing what they said afterwards was hypocritical. However, Scout recognized it right away because she’s still a child.
I think the message that tolstoy is trying to send is that some adults don't see how hypocritical they can be, while a child who is still figuring out how the world and life works, can see this. A important rule for any child, is to always tell the truth, and when they see people saying one thing, and doing another, so they question it. This quote means how some people can be so ignorant to how they act, because they have always lived this way, while children, can see it. At Aunt Alexandra's tea party, the main topic of the conversation is how bad the people in africa have it, while in contrast, they treat the people in their own community terribly. This is very hypocritical because they talk about helping people, while they actually don't help the people who live in their county. The basic idea is that somebody who knows that they don't know everything, such as a child, can see past the norm, and realize hypocrisy when they see it.
ReplyDeleteLeo Tolstoy is trying to say that adults are easily blinded by hypocrisy whereas innocent children can easily see right through lies. As Atticus tells Uncle Jack,"When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness' sake! Children are children, but they can spot evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles 'em."
ReplyDeleteAt Aunt Alexandra's tea party, Scout easily picks up the hypocrisy of the other ladies. She says that she likes the company of boys more because they don't just say things to fit into the crowd.
Also, Mrs. Merriweather shows great sympathy towards the Mrunas, a tribe in Africa struggling due to poverty, but they treat the African Americans in their community like trash.
This quote connects to the exchange between a few characters in which they are disgusted by the way they believe African tribes to act. The hypocritical part is where they overlook the injustice in their own “civilized” society. What I understand from this quote is that before people learn the cleverness of the world, we can see the truth clearly. When we are children, we believe right is right, no matter what, but as we grow up, we are taught that whatever is right is what we are doing. That is why Americans once saw segregation as right, and Scout was able to see it as wrong because she had yet to be influenced by life’s tricks.
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote means that adults are blind to the fact that they are being Hypocrites and don't really know if they are doing this or not. But a child faces Hyprocracy everyday and always notices it even if they don't want to. At the Tea Party in chapter 24 Mrs.Merriwether is feeling sorry for the people in Africa even though she has no idea what they do or how they live. But Scout can see that she is doing this and realises this but does not want to say anything.
ReplyDeleteThis quote explains how that in life the most simple or " easy to see things " are overlooked by the wisest adults. That children are able to understand and point out what seems to "pass" by adults. To me the quote shows how as people age there mind blinds out what might be obvious because of past contradicting ideas. When a child sees this they are able not judge or blind out anything making there take on almost anything non bias and fair. In the Tea Party we see how Scouts ideas of life are all from this almost small world of hers, this shows how her ideas are from what she believes in not what the world has forced her to believe. What Aunt Alexandra and her friends are is blinded,what they say and think are because of the time period they have lived in, there ideas are bias in a way .They warp the obvious to go with what they want it to be.
ReplyDeleteZabih K
I believe that Leo Tolstoy was trying to convey that, while adults, with their prejudice, are often blinded by hypocrisy, children, with their open, young minds, can see right through it. The ladies, while they seem to be very conscious about what they are saying, they are just gossiping. Scout realizes this, due to her open mind. A good example of this is with Mrs. Merriwether's speech, against Tom Robinson. She claims to be an avid Christian, yet she is prejudiced against a race of people. Scout can see this, but she does not say much about it, because she realizes this is simply the "ladylike" pattern of behavior. This, in fact, is hypocrisy in itself, because while a lady is supposed to be mature, and better than little girls, they don't think twice about being hypocritical and allow themselves t be blind to all the hypocrisy around them. I believe, also, that this principle applies to the events at the end of the chapter. The town regards Atticus as being very smart and very responsible, and so trusts him with things no one else would bother to do. Yet in doing this, it is being hypocritical, because they are actually tearing him to pieces, not respecting him. What this quote means to me is that children can see through hypocrisy more than adults due to their open minds. Thus, we must all strive to remain open minded, even when we become older. In doing so, we must constantly "walk a mile in others' shoes."
ReplyDeleteNow that I really understand what hipocrisy means. I now understand the quote and tea party better. I think Tolstoy was trying to convey through this statement that sometimes children could detect hypocrisy much easier and faster than even a very intelligent adult because children are innocent and do not have as much experience in life. This means they haven’t lived through many events that may change their way of thinking about certain things in life. To me this quote means that even the smartest adults in the world can’t detect hypocrisy because of their prior knowledge and experiences but since children have less background knowledge, they see things how they are and their minds don’t change anything. This connects to Aunt Alexandra’s tea party because Mrs. Merriweather talks on and on about the African Tribe and how horrible it is that this Tribe lives like this and she gets very emotional about it but really she's really just being hipocritical because in her OWN community the black people are treated exactly the same. Scout can see right through Mrs. Merriweather but knows its better to keep it to herself.
ReplyDeletePlease Ignore my Previous Post!!!!
ReplyDeleteI think Tolstoy is trying to convey that Children can see people being hypocritical very easily. No matter how much Adult will try to hide it, children will always be able to see it. I think this relates to To Kill A Mockingbird, because at the Tea Party the adults are talking about how sad the Mrunas are, and how poorly they are being treated. Mrs. Merriweather then goes on to talking about how the black community is mourning Tom Robinson's case, and how he got a fair trial and they should just get over it. Which is almost in complete contrast to her sympathy to the Mrunas. She is being hypocritical!!! This annoys me, because in reality the only reason she feels bad for the Mrunas is because she doesn't really have to deal with them. This almost parallels with my IRB, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, the Junior Jackson Society donates all of their money raised that year to the Poor Starving Children of Africa, but the are completely racism and rude to the African American people that work for them, and live in their town. And the children notice it but don't say anything— Just like Scout.
Leo Tolstoy is trying to say that adults cant see hypocrisy because they are already grown and are not as open to learn new things. that being said, children are open to new things and when something that they have learned is contradicted they notice it. Scout noticed how the women at the tea party were being hypocrites when they talked about how people lived in Africa because she has not yet had the chance to fully grow in her own society, therefore she is able to see that the way people live in Maycomb isn't necessarily the correct way to live either.
ReplyDeleteI believe Tolstoy was saying that a person who sees can only see on the the surface all their lives while a blind person can see beyond the surface. A blind person can use their senses of taste,touch,smell,and hearing to know what is in front of them. With context with "To Kill A Mockingbird", Scout is the blind person because she as a little girl only knows so mush in her world compared with Aunt Alexandra and her friends and neighbors, she is blind. Scout altough her "sight" is not so good, she uses all her other "senses" (she listens to the women talk and act)to know that these women are hypocrites.
ReplyDeleteTolstoy must have meant that children, even though they are innocent can understand when someone is lying. They can understand when something is wrong even though it might take an adult a very long time. Adults are blind when it comes to seeing right over wrong in some cases. Children are more acceptable than adults. A child's way of understanding the world is much more different than an adults because, they haven't been exposed to the real world. What I understand from this quote is, that adults are very different from children when it comes to understanding the facts/ reality. The ladies at Aunt Alexandria's tea party were all agreeing with one another so they wouldn't feel different. Adults are afraid of being different and having their own opinions.
ReplyDeleteTolstoy is saying that being hypocritical is able to fool the brightest, yet the innocent, like children, can spot this without hesitation and hate the site of it, no matter how trivial it seems. This quote reminds me of when I was younger, and how I always hated and didn’t understand why people would lie about something or be dishonest. This relates to the novel because of how the women Aunt Alexandra’s party just talk and gossip, and don’t actually do anything to help the people they talk about.
ReplyDeleteThis quote means that many people, even the most intelligent,can be hypocritacal. Children are very innocent and inexperienced, they know nothing but to be themselves. They know enough to realize when something does not seem right, when peoples' personalities do not match up to what is known before but they also do not have the fear, or the worry of what other people will think of their comments. They have strong beliefs and are not afriad to state them, they also wonder why others do not have the same beliefs, this relates a lot to Scout in the begining of the book. This relates to Aunt Alexandra's tea party because Mrs. Merriweather was talking about the horrible, tragic ways the African tribes are being treated. This is very hipocritacal because in Maycomb the African community is treated so poorly yet she seems to do nothing about it. I think this is because she does not have the ability to help how they are treated in Africa, so saying one thing makes her sound like an amazing, caring person when really you can see if she was given the ability, as she is in Maycomb, she would not act on it. Scout sees right through her act but does not call her out on it, this shows how she has changed and her maturity.
ReplyDelete- Caitlyn Kemnitzer
I tink the qoute shows how a childs innocence can show them injustice when it is bieng done while an adult is oblivios to it. I think this is because adults are so used to seeing hypocrites that they are used to them while a child has simply not expierienced enough of this to become accustomed to it
ReplyDeleteWhat I think the quote means is, is that children can see Hypocrisy and adults can not at all because children are inocent or "gold". Adults are unfair and try to hide it. This connects to TKAM because at the tea party Scout relizes this and that the woman in town have to talk about eachother.
ReplyDeleteTolstoy was probablly trying to convey the fact that since children havent really got any expierence in life, they still see things as balck and white. Therefore, they're able to see when people are being hypocrites or not. Adults on the other hand have had a lot of life-changing events and they see the in-between as well so its harder for them to see the hypocrisy in their actions. In Aunt Alexandra's tea party, Ms. Farrow talks about how they can try to make the African Americans good Christians but "...there's still no lady safe in her bed theses night." She talks about how the African Americans are in need of preachings but she doesnt realize that, so do the whites in her own community. Since being a good person invloves treating everyone equally, the whites, including Ms. Farrow, need to be taught that as well. Scout says she likes the men better because they do what they can to get their thoughts/actions out, although they can be hypocrites too from time to time, the women mostly just sit gossiping. Therefore, adults dont alwasy see things black and white and so can be hypocrites sometimes.
ReplyDeleteIn Leo Tolstoy's qoutoe I think that he was trying to convey that hipocricy is somthing people see everyday but the children see it differntly than the adults. I think that relates to the Tea Party in To Kill a Mocking Bird becase of the way people are being treated and how the Tom Robinson case was a fair trial and yet due to the race of the man he was convicted to a crime which we know he hasn't done. Its in peoples mind that the color of the persons skin changes what people think of a man. And its the kids in the book and Atticus that realize, that all men are created equal and people are people no matter the race or color of their skin
ReplyDeleteI see it as the author of this quote is trying to give out the message that others, such as children as an example, may see other adults hypocritical and find out such things. Adults intend to not show the children this side and makes them stay away as much as possible. This will pretty much give the children some type of message that something is going on here. This clearly connects to the adults, Aunt Alexandra and Mrs. Merriweather, in the tea party. The adults were talking about how bad African tribes are and LOOK at them and see how they treat the people in Maycomb, Alabama. Scout picks up a trail of this hypocrisy later......
ReplyDeleteI think it means that adults can get carried away with sweet talks, and nice behavior but on the other hand, even the smallest children can figure out the genuine feelings from the put on ones. This quote is similar to what happened at Aunt Alexandra’s tea party because the ladies were being two faced. At the party they were saying things just to gossip and behind their backs they say different stuff. Nobody noticed this except Scout.
ReplyDeleteThrough this quote, I belive that Tolstoy is trying to tell us that often times, adults are behave like hypocrites (unfairly) without realizing it. For instance, most of Maycomb (w/ the exception of the Finches and Miss Maudie) are so used to being racist towards African Americans that they don't even think twice about it. Children on the other hand, are still young enough to see the situation as is. Scout is an excellent example of this because not only is she young, but she is also raised in a non-judgamental environment.
ReplyDeleteI think that this quote relates to TKAM because during Aunt Alexandra's tea party, the ladies expressed the belief that the men of the town were hypocrites, when they were acting just as hypocrital.
The lack of worldly experience shown most often in the mind of a child makes things simpler in their eyes. Children are able to tell what’s bad and what’s good without looking at the details. So when a man is being hypocritical it confuses children, on one hand the man is saying something and on the other hand he is doing something completely contradictory to what he was saying. However, adults’ more complex minds are so used to such situations that they glance over it and are not able to recognize the hypocrisy. To me this quote means that as we grow older we start to lose the power to think in a simple way. Mrs. Merriweather talks about being a good Christian lady but later contradicts herself with all the mean things she says about African-Americans. She then calls men hypocrites when obviously she herself is one.
ReplyDeleteI think what Tolstoy was saying was that it is not the clever and educated that realize or see hypocrisy but it is the young uneducated children that see it and are disgusted by it. The reason why this is, is that they probably don’t know very much and everything is taken very literally and at a very basic level (‘the least wide-awaken children). Thus, they see things as very simple.
ReplyDeleteThis connects to TKAM through the tea party. When the ladies (or ‘ladies’ I should say) were talking, they came up upon the topic of a suffering African tribe (living in Africa). On the other hand they said nothing about how the trial was unfair. In fact, Mrs. Merriweather said that it was a perfectly fair trial and there was nothing wrong with it. The hypocrisy here is that they pity some African tribe in Africa while having no pity what so ever about an African-American accused of something he has not done. On the other hand, young and innocent Scout immediately sees through this farce. We see that she looks down upon this greatly.
This quote means that people are often hypocrites, without realizing it themselves. Lots of people will avoid recognizing the truth if it makes them uncomfortable, like at the tea party when the group spoke about those "poor Mrunas" and mentioned how awful the conditions were in the jungle, but fail to recognize the hardships the local African- American people face from day to day. This really shows how oblivious the people of Maycomb were to the obvious unfair treatment of the African- American citizens.
ReplyDelete