To Kill A Mocking Bird 2 Essay — страница 6

  • Просмотров 615
  • Скачиваний 5
  • Размер файла 25
    Кб

of the house while her father and brothers just sat around. This would be fatal for Tom. As far as the people of Maycomb are concerned, no black man has a right to feel sorry for a white woman. Inferiors are not supposed to pity their betters. There are many reasons pointing to the innocence of Tom Robinson. The jury would never let him go because he is black. While Scout and Dill are sitting outside the courthouse talking about the trial, they discover that Dolphus Raymond is resting under the same oak tree. Raymond sees that Dill is in tears and offers him a drink from the bottle he is carrying in a paper bag. To the children’s surprise, the bottle contains Coca-Cola. Raymond confesses that he is not really a drunk. He only pretends to be one so that other people will leave

him alone and let him live the way he wants to. Dill and Scout go back into the courthouse just in time to hear Atticus’ closing speech to the jury. This speech is one of the most famous speeches in a novel of all time.Atticus emphasizes that he does not believe in complete equality: Some people may be born richer, or smarter, or with more talent than their fellow human beings. But there is one kind of equality that he does believe in very much–equality under the law. For this reason, he asks the jurors to do the right thing and find Tom Robinson innocent. Atticus has just finished his speech when Calpurnia appears in the courtroom with a note from Aunt Alexandra. Alexandra has noticed that the children are missing and has been searching for them all over town. At this point,

Atticus realizes that Scout, Jem, and Dill have been sitting in the balcony watching the whole trial. Atticus gives the children permission to return to the courthouse after dinner to hear the jury’s verdict.When the jury returns it is almost midnight. They have found Tom guilty. It took a long time to convict Tom because Atticus put some doubt in the minds of the jury. Jem is the most upset of anyone because he had convinced himself that Tom had a chance to win. There is no doubt in Jem’s mind who is responsible for Tom’s fate. He blames the jurors.Aunt Alexandra s shocked when Atticus comments that he is glad the children saw the trial because what happened to Tom Robinson is as much a part of Maycomb. Dill has already started to look for ways to put the the verdict out

of his mind. He tells Jem and Scout that he wants to be a clown when he grows up, because “There ain’t one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh…..” Miss Maudie’s reaction may be the most interesting of all. She tells Jem and Scout that their father is one of those people who “do our unpleasant jobs for us.” Bob Ewell has promised that he will get revenge on Atticus if it takes “the rest of his life.” Atticus is not upset by Bob Ewell’s threat. He knows that Bob is angry because even though he won the case, he was shown up as a liar in front of the whole town.Jem is starting to become more aware of the class differences that separate the people of Maycomb. He considers young Walter Cunningham to be basically a good person. The Ewells are even

lower on the social scale than the Cunninghams and the blacks are in a different category altogether. Scout joins the women in there little get-together. They drink a lot of tea. In the middle of the tea, Atticus arrives home unexpectedly. Out in the kitchen, where the guests cannot hear him, he tells Alexandra and Scout some bad news: Tom Robinson has been killed trying to escape from prison. The ending of the chapter is a bit surprising. Alexandra is genuinely upset by the news, yet insists that she and Scout go back to entertain the guests, and carry on as if nothing had happened. Chapters 25-31 Jem is the most deeply affected by Tom’s conviction and Tom’s death. He can not even stand to see Scout kill a little bug. Jem and Dill were on their way back from swimming when

they saw Atticus on the road. He was on his way with Cal to bring the news to Helen Robinson about the death of Tom. Jem and Dill decided to go with them and when they tell Helen about the news, she faints. Mr. Underwood decides to make an editorial in his newspaper, writing about that killing a crippled man like Tom Robinson is like killing a mockingbird. In school, Scouts class is studying current events. Cecil Jacobs brings in an article about Hitler’s persecution of the Jews in Germany. Miss Gates, their teacher tells the class how bad Hitler is and how lucky they are to live in a democracy. Scout overhears Miss Gates tell Stephanie Crawford that the decision against Tom Robinson was a good thing because it would teach the blacks in town their proper place. Scout wonders