Literarv Analvsis: Mockinbird (Draft One-2 FULL PAGES)
Dratt ONE of the Emal Literarv Response is to be a tentative however focused literarv analvsis on the novel
Mockingbird by Walter Tevis. This first draft is also to show an understanding of the critical insights Hassler
_Dresenis on the novel In his mcalessav
What are some of Hassler S points! What 1S Hassler S focus? While vour analvsis is surelv to uncover vour own
critical insights into the novel, you are also to give a briet understanding of Hassler’s analysis. (In the final draft of
this essay you are also to present an understanding of Martha Barter’s critical insights into Mockingbird).
In this first draft begin to develop a critical “lens” that identities and interprets specific themes, symbols, and/or
meanings
” of the novel. We’ve discussed the Judeo-Christian themes (i.e., the scene where Mary Lou shatters the
ovthon’s cage and reveals the snake to be a robot. Ihis Judeo-Christian theme/concept comes to be especiall
prominent in the later parts of the novel).
There are also elements of the story that align with Greek myth; for instance, the Greek myth of Odysseus 1s clear
when Snofforth casts Paul out to prison and he
(Paul) then must try to get back to New York to find Mary Lou; and
when Spofforth brings Mary Lou a “hand-painted ancient picture
(100) depicting the fall of Icarus, this suggests
that the scientists that created Spofforth lacked the foresight to manage their creation responsibly (bartter s essay
discusses this point). There is also, of course, the power and influence that reading has upon Paul and Mary Lou
In this first draft, begin to develop a critical “lens
of interpretation” which allows for an examination of a particular
theme (or themes) that are embedded in the novel. Your “critical” inquiry into the novel need not only proffer one
critical perspective. As we discussed in class (and as noted above), the novel allows for numerous critical
perspectives to be entertained.
Perhaps the most salient theme in the novel are characters’ (Spofforth. Paul, and Marv Lou) attempts to recover the
“buried lite.” The tirst indication
of a “buried lte comes earlv in the novel while Spottorth onlv has limited
experience with humans. During this time he becomes fond of “the girl in the red coat (S). Spottorth
admires ne
from afar until, eventually, she declaratively shuts off any potential connectivity with him
The narrative indicates that once this occurs he did not really want to live. He had been cheated … of a real humar
lite (9). But mn
a gesture to reclaim these emotions
and in an
ettort to
1 acces
somC
sense of his own humanness.
Snofforth casts Paul out (and places him in prison)
in order to live with Mary Lou. He says as much when.
, LIVing
with Marv Lou. he tells her that he wants to try and create a human and caring relationship with her to recover my
[Spofforth’s] buried life. This erased part of my memory. I would like to know before I die, what it was like to be
the human being I have tried to be all my life” (161). Explore this theme and its corollary evident in the relationshin
between Paul and Marv Lou.
While Paul at first is Mary Lou’s teacher,
her purpose and drive to learn comes. in a way. to influence Paul’s
learning. For instance, just after Mary Lou finds a book and gives it to Paul, she insists that she follow him to where
She found the booK. Paul, during this scene, narrates that he “
followed along with her like a child, holding her hand”
(49). And. In evidence of her pioneering disposition. Paul indicates that “She took me down the hall farther than I
had ever been betore(49).
Herein are indications of the “power of reading and literacy. Such incidents/scenes reveal that Paul and Mary L
feel there is critical importance in reading and literacy. Hassler, exemplifies this “feature” of the novel indicating
that the illiterate and dwindling populace of the novel “has lost its humanness” as a result of scientific (robotic)
rationality that outlaws reading because of its potential to dampen human happiness. Again, a critical part of the first
draft is to presen
an understanding
of the Hassler piece
and the critical insights he proposes
Indeed, Paul’s journal presents an instance wherein Spotforth visits him and tells him that “The teaching of reading
is a crime. You Paul] can be sent to prison for it.” Spofforth goes on to claim that “Reading is too intimate ..
will put vou too close to the feelings and the ideas of others. It will disturb and contuse vou(/2).
But Paul is not impelled to stop nurturing his developing literacv. In fact. he continues to teach Mary Lou how to
read and. in doing so. “the sense of what has been lost from the past becomes more and more intense” (Hassler 78).
What are some examples in Mockindhird that exemnlifv and “show” Hassler
contention that felngs, sensibilies,
and other “lost” human insights are re-discovered by Paul and Mary Lou through reading!
In this first draft. delve into the novel and show through textual examples how these characters each seek to access
“buried life.” Spofforth seems to trv to reach into the deen.
-seated regions of his brain to access his “lost” human
sensibilities while Paul and Mary Lou venture deeper and deeper
into reading and literacy. And it is primarily this
action that both brings them closer and, ironically, is the cause for them being torn apart
This 2-page literary analysis is to be in MLA format. It is to have a Work Cited page, and the Work Cited page
DOES NOT count toward the 2 full pages of content required. Of course. spelling, syntactical, and/or lexical errors
are all cause for a loss of points. Proofread vour work. While vou are to refer to Hassler S critical essav. vou are not
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