Fettucine Alfredo

In this section, the classes of society are judged as well as their effectiveness. One of the Cunningham’s wanted to acquit Tom of his charges of rape. Because of this Scout wanted to invite Walter again for dinner. But Aunt Alexandra explained that Finch’s don’t associate with the Cunningham’s due to their wealth and class in society let alone invite them for dinner. Then Scout and Aunt Alexandra start arguing over the topic  and it swirls into a vicious altercation once again which was stopped by Jem from continuing any further and they talked about the classes in Maycomb and that they really don’t matter. I think classes in society are very  ineffective but still exist today like there is the High-class/wealthy, Middle class, and Low class/poor. There are classes based on behavior like misfits of society due to their unwillingness to fit in with the norm’s of their culture or simply don’t have character. I don’t support the possible segregation that can occur due to one’s so called class in society and its very ineffective as it uses a bad filter on people mostly based on their wealth. There could be many reasons why people are the way they are and shouldn’t be put up or down in the eye’s of others just because of what is deemed improper by that society.

I feel that I’ll go ahead and address the massive elephant in the middle of the room that seems to be a bit untalked about despite its immense importance: Tom Robinson was shot. He was shot in cold-blood by an angry citizen; why? It was unnecessary. This hard-working, impoverished man was already falsely accused and found guilty of something he was setup to do, so why on earth would he be killed? Why would anyone feel the need to convict innocent man if the intent was to kill him immediately following? It’s completely ridiculous that anyone would do this, and it’s almost disgusting to hear about things like this happening back in the early days of America. I understand that it’s a work of fiction (albeit being loosely based off of Harper Lee’s life as a child), but these sort of things happened, and once you get involved with the people who actually had tragedies like this happen to them, you never really get the same feeling about what exactly it’s like to have such a blatantly immoral and unjust thing happen to a man who was doomed from Day 1 simply due to his skin color. People say that we  are still a racist society, but quite frankly, we’ve improved vastly with racial tolerance.

During this section we learn of Tom Robinsons conviction. He is sent to a jail about 70 miles away where he would be held, but he tried to escape and was shot 27 times, until he died. Since the beginning To Kill a Mockingbird has been a story of Prejudice, and now to prove it an innocent black man lay dead.

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”. ~ Atticus

This is the most famous quote from which the book gets its name. In it the Mockingbird symbolizes prejudice, and more specifically Tom Robinson.  If we shouldn’t kill a mockingbird why should we harm someone just because of their ethnicity. White, black, jewish etc. Were all the same on the inside and that’s the where it counts, and if this were how the world was to see it, countless people would not be killed.

Tom Robinson has been charged guilty.  After the heated of trial of Atticus defending a black man (no pun intended), he was still charged with rape and abuse.  All because he was colored.  Colored people has to sit in the sides of the courtroom.  Atticus suggests that Bob Ewell raped and beat Mayella.  Scout cried her eyes out and realized that the whites were unfair with the blacks.  Funny, Mr.Dolphus went with the blakc people because he believed that they were not unfair like the white people. 

Scout goes with Calpurnia to a tea meeting that Aunt Alexandra has arranged.  They were talking about a tribe that being turned into Christianity, the Mruna tribe.  Then they talk about how their black servants have behaved badly since Tom Robinson’s trial.  later, it was notified to Scout that Tom Robinson attempted to escape and he was shot seventeen times.   Atticus will try to act against it. 

“Clowns are sad, it’s folks that laugh at them.”  “Well, I’m gonna be a new kind of clown.  I’m gonna stand in the middle of the ring and laugh at the folks.”

Previously in To Kill a Mockingbird Dill ran away from his home because he thought he wasn’t being payed any attention. When talking to Jem, he feels like there is nothing for him to do in life, except laugh at people, so he says when he gets older he will join the circus. Only then does Jem remind Dill that Clowns don’t laugh. Instead clowns offer themselves up to the people, a life of misery just. It is the people who instead do the laughing. This quote is important to the story because it shows another instance of people who are in need of non-prejudice.

At first, this picture seems to make light of a tragic situation: Tom’s horrific and stunning death handed after his unjust guilty verdict. However, when you think about it, it’s pretty accurate: people with more power than something they consider to be inferior kill the (what they think to be) lesser being with no remorse. Just as the ant suffers what is sure to be an unpleasant death, an undeserving person, such as Tom Robinson, must suffer an undeserved death for something that is not their fault or their doing. They are singled out for something that they cannot control and punished for it.

I understand everyone has a right to their own privacy/space/property but does bringing out a shotgun to protect one’s property form intruders a bit over the limit? As it’s the last day of dill’s visit to the Finch household, Jem and Dill plan to see Boo at last by entering the outside bounds of his house. Scout, reluctant to enter there and cause trouble and possibly seek the wrath of Atticus cautions and advises them not to as it is futile and will only get them in trouble with the Radleys and Atticus. Unconvinced by scouts pleas/cry’s and having insulted her Jem’s plan of action is to enter through the back to get a look at boo through the windows. Scout tags along seeing as that their only choice and they reach this compromise by a deal that if she gets to go with them then she won’t tell on them to Atticus. While their they manage to “discreetly” reach a window in the back of the Radley estate but when they find nothing in the window they leave, but as they leave Scout trips over something and a shotgun is fired at them. The trio runs for their lives but as they leave Jem’s pants get caught in the fence. He has to take them off and run to his house, but knowing the crowd of Maycomb citizens that heard the blast crowd around the Radley’s house they are also expected to be there. When they arrive they are questioned by Ms. Maudie and Atticus and Dill strikes genius and weaves a marvelous tale to fool the adults. But Mr. Radley is shaken and he is ready to fire at whatever was there and was expecting it to be an African American and says that if he/she ever comes back on his property he will kill him. What I am shocked at is that he would kill someone who dared entered his property without permission. It is understandable that he wants his privacy and protection but he will shoot to kill any trespasser is quite extreme. There could be many reasons why someone would enter his house besides for invading on his privacy or wanting to hurt him such as if they needed help and his house was the closest one.

Is being educated a bad thing? Is it worse to be/ get ahead of your class mates? According to Ms. Caroline it is. She chastises scout for being able to not only read but read books and well. As scout enters the first grade she already has the ability to read and write and is far ahead of the class (even the populace who keep being held-back) due to Atticus teaching her how to read and her own natural hankering to read. I’ve heard of “going to the corner” for acting how you are required to by your teacher or not doing what you were supposed to but I never thought you were to be yelled at for being “too smart” or know more than you’re supposed to. I am surprised the children have any motivation to learn what-so-ever as the teacher who is supposed to teach and praise her students only seem to be hindering them. How are these kids supposed to want to learn if they see one of their own pupils being punished for learning and getting ahead? In their formative years with education these could have detrimental effects on the behavior and the way these children will regard education and learning in general and could make them end up disliking learning in the end.

This picture represents the sections that we read in that the trial starts. Although it’s not imaginative (hey, I’m extremely tired), that’s easily the highlight of this section, and easily of the entire book as well. Tom Robinson is put on trial for no reason other than his race and the fact that he is unwanted due to his skin color around the town; he is set up by Mayella Ewell to be framed for rape and the trial is beginning. Things seem to be going well for Atticus, but I still cannot see this case being won by him. Only time will tell as the book begins to he at up.

During chapters 17-20, The trial makes it obvious that the Ewells, although white, have a very harsh, poor life, even more so than Tom Robinson. When the witness badgers Tom Robinson he is finally forced to admit that he always helps Mayelle because he feels sorry for her. In Maycomb, this was outrageous. A black man feeling sorry for a white girl? Also during the trial, it is made obvious that it would have been hard to Tom to inflict such damage onto Mayelle, considering that one of his hands was destroyed by a cotton gin he was younger.

Atticus even gives his version of the story. Tom Robinson was asked inside to help fix the Ewells door, when Mayelle desperately asked Tom for a kiss. Her father then came inside, accused her of being a whore and beat her. When troubled with this, all Mayelle could say was that the only reason that they wouldn’t convict Tom was because they were not brave enough. Its obvious that Maycomb is a completely prejudiced place, except for a few. At this point I see that, even though the prosecutor has no case, Tom will not be acquitted.