Paperless

PAPERLESS THE MAGAZINE FOR READERS   SUMMER 2020 BURNING BOOKS THE REAL LADY OF THE MOCKINGBIRD FLIES New insight into Goldings famous novel

PAPERLESS CONTENTS 18     3 The Real Mockingbird 5 Lady of the Flies 7 History's Most Influencial Texts 9 Burning Books

THE REAL MOCKINGBIRD To Kill A Mockingbird was written in 1960 by Harper Lee. She wrote the book during the 1950’s and grew up in Alabama, during some of the most important steps in racism and sexism within the United States. For example, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a product of Rosa Parks’ arrest after not giving up her seat on the bus for a white woman. As a result, the people protested and eventually Congress passed a new law against segregation on public buses. Alabama admitted its first two african american students to the University of Alabama. In a case known as Brown versus Board of Education the supreme court deemed “separate but equal” schools as clearly unequal due to segregation and passed a law to support the integration of children of different race in the US. However, at the same, Emmet Till, a 14 year old African American boy was killed after supposedly whistling at a white woman in a store. and Thus, against a backdrop of political reformation, engrained social attitudes rendered structural and societal change far more difficult.To Kill A Mockingbird is an american classic and one of the most famous novels ever written. Lee utilizes the ever malleable perspective of a child to explore how people of color and women were treated and viewed in the US during her lifetime. The various characters in the novel represent carriers of both of these messages such as the abused and misunderstood Mayella Ewell the “victim” in the court case that occurs within the novel who represents how women were oppressed and controlled as seen when her father controls what she says throughout her testimony, and from how quick the jury are to believe what she says versus the accused ( a man, who is also african american, but I will get to that later ) despite the factual evidence provided by Atticus Finch ( the protagonist's father and hero of the story). Then there is Calpurnia, the african american cook and housekeeper who works for the Finches. Calpurnia's higher status within the Finch household and Atticus’s respect for her, combined with her sharp wit and good education considering the time as well as her insightful social understanding as seen when she says “ folks don’t like to feel like they are not as smart as other folks” when Scout asks about why her form of speech changes when speaking to her fellow african americans, versus how she speaks to the Finches.

The story outlines the racial and gender equality issues in Alabama during the 1950’s from the perspective of a young girl whos father Atticus molds her understanding and open mind from her daily life experiences and his experience working on a case defending an african american man accused of sexual assault ( spoiler alert: he is innocent ). In this way Atticus represents the hero and Tom Robinson ( the accused ) the kind, crippled, african american man who only wanted to help Mayella Ewell chop some wood is the mockingbird, a kind soul who asks for nothing despite societies inflictions on them, they are not perfect but they, as miss Maudie says “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy..”, essentially meaning that they do nothing but try and please others, and never ask for anything in return. Tom is factually proven innocent by Atticus, but the biased jury take Mayell’s side and Tom tries to run from the authorities after the trial when he is shot by Sheriff Tate and killed. The book essentially outlines the injustice of racial bias in the US justice system and how the cycle of racism and in many cases, sexism, run on a constant loop of judgement, oppression, stereotyping, and tragedy.  Fast forward 68 years and George Floyed, a 46 years old african american man is killed by police officers when he is accused of using a counterfeit 20 dollar bill at a store. The policemen pulled him to the ground and kneeled on his neck, obstructing blood flow to his brain and killing him. Mr. Floyed was said to have cried out in pain and screamed for help, security camera footage provided by a nearby store's outside camera confirms this story and shows Mr. Floyed’s peaceful, though irritated, compliance with the officers. Now the US is burning, in every sense of the word. Literally many police stations, and stores have been set on fire and looted by angry protesters, and figuratively the nation is full of frustrated individuals calling for their rights with about as much success as though they were screaming underwater. The horrific and positively inhumane treatment of Mr. Floyed shows how the cycle of racial bias continues. The stereotypes that have been carved into the minds of global society, be it deep within or outright, have frozen the progression of society so that Scout Finch would notice few differences from our time and her own. Consider this, a modern day cell phone and a phone from 1950, big difference. A car from 1950 and a car from today, big difference. The racial mindset of 1950 and the perspectives of today, shockingly similar. Yes the conditions are different, african american people have more rights now than they did then and more opportunity, but more is not equal. To Kill A Mockingbird is one of the best examples of literature, that despite 68 years of age, is still relevant and retains meaning. It is unfortunate that the messages of To Kill A Mockingbird are still present in our society today, but the insightful breakdown of societal norms explored within the book show the untarnishable truths of racial bias.

Lady of The Flies One of the most famous novels of our world is William Golding's Lord of the Flies. A dark investigation of the human mind disguised as a Crusoe-like adventure story. A group of 30 or so school boys from five to twelve are stranded on an island when their plane crashes. They were trying to escape a war and any adults present in the plane during the crash are dead.  Golding has been criticized for his assumption on the behaviors of humanity in the absence of law and order and social structure. Though circumstances were different the events of the Tongan castaway boys experience was far from Golding's prediction. A group of six boys from Tonga were shipwrecked and stranded on an island off the coast of Australia for 15 months. A sailor saw smoke rising from the island and went closer to shore to see what was happening and saw the boys on the beach. The boys had survived on local birds, fruits, roots, and chickens cultivated 100 years prior to their shipwreck. The boys said their solution to being stuck together was simple: they made a pact never to fight with one another. I personally wondered what Golding’s book would have looked like had the 30 boys been girls or today? In my personal opinion there would likely be a group calm enough to tackle the younger ones, a group of girls resourceful enough to go and search amongst the wreckage for loot, a group of girls smart enough to gather food, build fires, and shelters, and a group brave enough to explore and rove about the jungle. There would likely also be a considerably large group of individuals resentful of the entire experience and likely to not indulge in almost any activity that may mean interacting with nature. Of course there would be a leader and one girl who managed to salvage her phone or a phone and will feel very good about herself because of this and guard it like a rare diamond wether or not it works. I feel that it is the stereotypical though on average correct belief that girls are more reticular about having everything a certain way that would unite them and keep them sane and coordinated. The Lord of the Flies is a classic book, and is written in a way that the depth of the story can be altered depending on the desire of the reader, though Golding’s intense views of societies inability to survive without structure is sometimes felt extreme, his novel will likely stand the test of time.

History's Most Influencial Texts The Rosetta Stone was discovered by one of Napoleon Bonaparte's soldiers in 1799 in Egypt in the City of Rosetta. The stone contains a first layer ( top ) in hieroglyphic script, a second layer ( middle) in Demotic (the language of the common people of Egypt) and the final line in Ancient Greek script.  The stone has the same message written in three languages because its ancient purpose was to act as a decree to be placed in common areas ( therefore it is one of many copies ) for the people of Egypt to view in the temples. The stone is inscribed with the extremely exciting and page turning message from the pharaoh himself about….taxes. However monotonous its ancient purpose was, the Rosetta stone became the key to unlocking the language of hieroglyphics. Ancient Greek could be read, however Demotic and hieroglyphs were not so easy. Since each section held the same message in a different language, historians and linguists used the ancient greek section to translate the Demotic, and the Demotic to translate the Hieroglyphs. Through over 15 years of careful study and work the Rosetta Stone was decoded and had become the key to understanding the ancient language of Egypt. The Bible is the most influential book in the world. The holy bible or new testament was written in the first century AD, however the old testament which was the original hebrew bible was written between 1200 and 165 BC. The book that has had so much influence across the globe would in this case be the new testament. The bible has been used as a printed link between followers and god, a guidebook for kings and queens in olden times, a book of law and order, and a textbook for young students. Copies of the bible have been brought across the globe. During the 17th and 18th century global trade and conquests were at an apex, and Europeans, Europe being the home of many conquering nations, brought their faith with them as they travelled, spreading copies of the bible and its teachings worldwide. In the last 50 years the bible has been printed 3.9 billion times, therefore being the most printed book on the planet, and christianity has over 2.3 billion followers amounting to 29% of the global population compared to other common faiths. The bible will likely continue to grow and strive ahead as the most popular and most purchased book in history.

Charles Darwin is one of the most famous scientists in the world. In 1835 Darwin sailed to the Galapagos islands where he studied local species and developed the theory of evolution. He studied giant tortoises, finches, lizards, and many other incredible species. He made drawings, diagrams, and realized an important truth about how species differ depending on the conditions of their lives. On November 24th 1859 Darwin published his book. It changed the way that scientists looked at our world, he wrote about natural selection, where when nature's conditions change within the habitat of a certain species either the organisms evolve to fit new requirements or die out. Essentially, only the strong survive. Humans are the only species that do not have to live by these rules, we create our habitat and make the land work for us, instead of working to natures changes. It is disputed whether or not this fact led to global warming so you can make up your own mind. Darwin saw how finches in the Galapagos had different sized beaks based on what food they had to eat. Certain finches had larger stronger beaks for cracking nuts, others had longer, thinner beaks for catching worms in the soil, etc. Think of it this way, a person from Finland and a person from Hong Kong are accustomed to different climates. The person from Finland would find our pathetic winter months far from freezing, and maybe not even worth a jacket, whereas we would likely not feel the heat and humidity the way they would. Of course they would just wear less layers and we would put on coats but the principle is similar. A better example of evolution in human species is skin color. People who lived in areas with higher UV rays adapted long ago to have darker skin pigmentation to protect themselves from UV rays, and people with lighter skin generally come from areas where UV rays are lower and so on and so forth. We are all humans, but we simply adapted to fit the requirements of where we lived back when we could not put on sunscreen or a coat. Though Darwin's theories are disputed by current scientists, his work made an incredible impact on the way we see our world and how we got to where we are today.

Burning Books As Ray Bradbury states in his award winning dystopia: 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which book paper burns. Whilst 2020 may be far from Bradbury’s university basement typewritten masterpiece, costing approximately nine US dollars, our world does not exist without similarities to his. The book explores a world where the people themselves, not the government, have through progress and habit eliminated the printed book from society, even making them illegal. The book states: “The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.”. This translates into our modern day world where the dazzling attractions of technology allow us to flip through life so easily we don’t even need to think. Each year our attention spans have grown shorter and shorter and every decade fewer and fewer people will read a book over 350 pages and finish it. Ask yourself, when was the last time I read? If I did read was it for long, and if I go on my computer doing everything and nothing, if I look up am I bothered to do anything else? The printed book is a part of history that so far has not changed much. Humans from the 18th century would see a book on your table and know what it was, but our behavior towards knowledge has changed. That is the message of Fahrenheit 451, that no-one is telling us to move away from these sheets of paper sandwiched between leather or cardboard, our own innovations have led us away from the page and towards social media, Netflix, and Amazon. With our computers we could watch a movie, whilst voice typing a message, whilst walking your dog. With books, you have no choice but to think, think about the the information as your eyes scan the text. When the novel states: “I don't talk things, sir. I talk the meaning of things.”, it gives an insight into how we have begun to approach life as something that happens, not something you think about. Today amazon has kindle books stores where a hundred kindles sit on the shelves each loaded up with different books to flip through and then have put on your own device, audiobooks, radio stories, though these changes come with progress, not of which is all bad, there may come a time when we will have to make a choice between the printer and the printed.

\"Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures\"