Asperger’s syndrome is characterized by an inability to pick up social cues, heightened sensitivity, and an apparent lack of empathy. Despite these barriers, those who Work At It* are often successful.
Caitlin Smith, Kathryn Erskine’s lovable character in Mockingbird, struggles to find closure when her brother is killed in a school shooting. This novel is written in the first person and takes the perspective of Caitlin, who is living with Asperger’s syndrome. Erskine does not flesh out Caitlin by simply describing her, but by literally going inside of her head. Although difficult to follow at first, the reader explores how Caitlin sees and interprets the world around her; watching as she grows from the tragedy that struck her community:
“I put my head under the sofa cushion and stare at the chest so I can think of an answer but instead I think of Devon and I wish he were here so he could tell me the answer and I think about how he could never tell me anything or do anything again--not ride his bike or play baseball or watch To Kill a Mockingbird* or be an Eagle Scout.
I hear the crying and then I see Dad’s hand reaching under the sofa cushion and pushing the wet hair out of my eyes. But I can’t stop crying. For Devon. Because of what happened to Devon. Because he got his life taken away and he can’t do anything and he can’t be happy or proud or live or love” (Erskine, 218).
CLOsure*, as she put it, “is the state of experiencing an emotional conclusion to a difficult life event” (Erskine, 67). It was a word she’d heard on the news soon after her brother passed and that because his killer was now locked up, the community should feel more at ease. But the image of the shooter on her television screen did not put her at ease. It would take something more powerful. Devon was an Eagle Scout, and still had an unfinished project underneath a sheet a in the Smith’s living room. It was a mission chest, one that was big enough for Caitlin to fit inside. Caitlin’s father had put a sheet over the chest when Devon died, and kept his eyes averted from the corner it was in. An air vent beneath the sheet gave an illusion of a bird “floating and falling and floating and falling” Erskine, 3). The repetition literally quickens my breaths, they go up and down and up and down, like the way someone would feel if they floated then fell then floated again. I think that it is important for a sentence to be dynamic and take the reader with it. Although Caitlin was only referring to the sheet as looking like a bird, I think that it was also alluding to how unstable she felt. Her mind does not work the same way ours does. Not only does Caitlin grow throughout the story, but we do, too.
*Caitlin would always capitalize words that were important to her, regardless of its placement in the sentence. She would not just capitalize the first letter of that word, but the letters within that word in which she found meaning. When Caitlin was asked to do a project on the Heart, she capitalized it each time she used it in her paper. When her teacher commented on this, Caitlin didn't understand why something so important should not be given its proper recognition.
*To Kill a Mockingbird is a recurring theme in this book. This was Devon's favorite movie; his nickname for Caitlin was Scout. 
This sounds interesting, Gabby. Sometimes I am wary when authors get inside the head of characters who are special in some way -- I am always worried about stereotypes or gimmicks, but it sounds like this is elegant. I also always admired Scout's relationship with Jem -- it sounds like the author also did.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mrs. Romano's comment above. I feel that stories about special characters tend to not show true sympathy toward whatever abnormalities the character may have. This blog seems to show me that the author writes more like the character sees things in a completely different ways (maybe even better in some aspects) .
ReplyDeleteI also think it's really cool how you were talking about the influence that "To Kill a Mockingbird" has on the story. You say the characters are influenced by it, which just means it must've heavily influenced the author as a writer.
I also want to just comment on the fact that the writer capitalizes certain letters randomly throughout Caitlin's thoughts. This is so creative and interesting! I would think it just takes the reader even more into this mentality thats totally foreign to us. Very interesting post overall, I'd like to know more about this book.
I think it's very interesting how the author goes into the head of the character as the character is themselves, it's a very interesting dynamic witness from what you've told us. " Asperger’s syndrome is characterized by an inability to pick up social cues, heightened sensitivity, and an apparent lack of empathy." With Asperger and the death of her brother must be tough to deal with, and not being able to display empathy just make me feel bad for her. Like how is she supposed to let others know about her feelings, like any other person would. This book seems like it would be an interesting read, I'll think about it reading it myself once i'm done with my book.
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