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Hyperbole
Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Part 3, Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—More Than Two Birds:
In Part 3, Chapter 9, Lee plays with a familiar idiom when detailing a bit of Atticus's biography, particularly after he was left a single parent:
Atticus killed several birds with one stone when he read to his children, and would probably have caused a child psychologist considerable dismay: he read to Jem and Jean Louise whatever he happened to be reading, and the children grew up possessed of an obscure erudition.
The idiom "kill two birds with one stone" is more common, but Lee revises it to "several birds with one stone." In order to fulfill multiple parental duties at once (not just two but several), Atticus spends time with his children while also doing an activity for personal pleasure: reading books on military history, codes of law, and even The Bible.
In some ways, the kids speed through childhood, and Atticus therefore has to spend less time teaching them how to behave as adults later on. What they end up with, though, is an awkward balance between precocity and stubbornness. Indeed, Atticus may have hit them over the head with too many books so that they lose sight of practical realities in favor of abstract ideas. This is the wake-up call Jean Louise must receive later in the novel, both by her father and uncle.
Part 4, Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Screamin' Meemies:
In Part 4, Chapter 12, Lee uses an idiom to describe Jean Louise's precarious mental state after being home for over a week:
She looked ruefully at her reflection. You have had what Mr. Burgess would call 'The 'Orrors,' she told it. Golly, I haven't waked up like this for fiteen years. Today is Monday, I've been home since Saturday, I have eleven days of my vacation left, and I wake up with the screemin' meemies. She laughed at herself: well, it was the longest on record—longer than elephants and nothing to show for it.
The term "screemin' meemies" originated in WWI. It originally described the sound a German rocket made in flight. It then expanded to denote general battle fatigue or anxiety or hysteria caused by the war. Eventually, the phrase became even more general to a bout of anxiety or the "jitters." By then, it was a phrase mostly applied to women, particularly housewives. However, Jean Louise attempts to keep her emotions in check so that she can think logically about how to follow up with what she's seen (her father and Hank at the citizens' council meeting):
She touched yesterday cautiously, then withdrew. I don't dare think about it now, until it goes far enough away. It is weird, she thought, this must be like physical pain.
This passage makes clear that Jean Louise tries to rid herself of the screemin' meemies by holding fast to her self-awareness and rationality, "cautiously" regulating how she approaches the matter even in her own thoughts.
Related Themes:
