2 Birds 1 Stone

“‘I wish Bob Ewell wouldn’t chew tobacco,’ (Lee 217)”

This quote is one of the less thought about, but most meaningful quotes in the book.  It tells the reader many things.  For one, it tells you that Atticus is extremely calm and collected, even in the face of defeat, anger, and Bob Ewell.  He does what any person should do, but don’t.  He simply ignores the threats, just as if they had never been directed toward him.  This makes him a stronger man than Bob Ewell, making it less likely for him to be beat up.  All in all, it shows that he is a gentleman, who would never even consider fighting, even if he had to.

In the last chapter, Scout is about to kill a rollie pollie but Jem stops her. I guess he realized how valuable a life can be whether it be a bug or a human. He probably thinks that if the bug didn’t harm her she shouldn’t kill it and take its life away. This reminded me of the trial with Tom Robinson. In his case he didn’t do anything to anyone and he shouldn’t be punished for that but he was anyways. Anyways, I think Jem has really grown up ever since the trial. He seems to be taking more things seriously and he has changed his view on the entire world. 

Personally, I believe that it is kind of unfair that Atticus made both Jem and Scout go home before the verdict was in.  I mean, come on.  If they had been there all day, hearing the testimonies and the cross examinations, and they were my children, I would have let the stay there and watch the rest of the trial.  It was almost over anyway.  All that was left was the jury deliberating about if Tom was guilty or not.  They had seen the worst part of the trial, so they should have been left alone.
Then again, the jury’s deliberation was the most important part.  If the jury decided for Tom, it would make a huge controversy, and, quite possibly, a fight would break out.  Scout and Jem could have gotten hurt.  Also, if the jury decided against Tom, there might also be a fight, except the black people would be attacking everyone and destroying the courtroom.  Sending the children home was a smart idea, so that he could deliver the news himself and not have to worry about his children being hurt.  He could tell them in a loving, caring voice, instead of a heartless voice of a juror.  I guess Atticus did make the right decision.

I think Atticus defended Tom very well in the trial. It is horrible how everyone on the jury said that Tom Robinson was guilty. I know this was a different time then ours but everyone seemed to still be racist. People in the trial should start listening to the case instead of looking at the color of the person who is telling the story. It pretty bad though that they will probably always favor the white person over that colored person. Even children like Scout and Jem understood that everyone was equal and that no one should have more rights than another person.  It was somewhat nice of them that they didn’t immediately kill Tom and that they would think over the case again and maybe have another trial. Then all of the sudden Mr. Ewell kept threatening Atticus. He kept saying things like he was going to kill him and stuff. But Atticus made a really good point that it was better for Mr. Ewell to let out his anger on him instead of on his kids. Also, I can’t believe that Tom tried to escape though and then he got shot like seventeen times. No one didn’t even really care that he was killed besides people like Atticus, Jem, and Scout. The news of his death was only talked about for two days. It must of been really hard for Atticus to break the news of Tom’s death to Tom’s wife and children. 

During the case in the courtroom, Mayella Ewell seemed nervous and in Tom Robinson’s story he said that Mr. Ewell was more mad at Mayella then at him. I think that Mayella is obviously abused by her father. I think she lied in the courtroom because her father had probably threatened her. I think abuse completely. No one has the right to physically or mentally harm someone, it’s just savage-behavior. I didn’t like how Mr. Ewell had called Mayella, his daughter, a whore. Anyways, I think Mayella just needs some more attention. She seems to be as Atticus said very lonely. I wish that Mayella would tell the truthbecause most likely more people will then protect her from her father from abusing her anymore.

It is really bad to lie in court and it is embarrassing if you are proven wrong. Then people only see you as a lier. I really liked this section of the book it was really interesting to see how the case of Tom Robinson would go. One part that I really liked though was when Mayella Ewell was called to the stand for questioning. I liked how Atticus was so nice to the people he was questioning, he seemed to try and just be a gentlemen about this whole case. Anyways, when Mayella was being questioned you could tell that some things seemed to be a lie. Like when you ask someone a question and the person begins to stutter or they pause for a while, they are most likely trying to come up with a good answer that will give them the most benefit. I really think that Mayella had been abused by her father and that he told her that she better lie in court or she’ll regret it. I say that because in the court room, she seemed to be afraid to tell the truth of what really happened that day. I think that Tom Robinson’s story was more believable because he didn’t have a different answer to everything, he only said what he knew was correct. This case is all really prejudice. If Tom Robinson is guilty then it was probably only because so many people thought “niggers” lied and that they are very dishonest, so then they would think that since Mayella was white then her story must be true. 

Atticus’s Speech (End of chapter 20)

            Sorry, but I did not have the time or willpower to retype the 3 or so pages of Atticus’s speech.  Anyway, it was an incredible speech.  It was some of the best writing I have ever read.  His proof was the lack of proof, which isn’t that good of something to rely on, but, for him, it was more than enough.  He held a convincing argument and, if I was on the jury, would have made me think twice about convicting Tom Robinson.  I believe that he can win this case, maybe it is because of that speech, or maybe because of how he acted throughout the trial.  He is the best lawyer that I have ever heard of.

 I like how Harper Lee changes characters.  There, I said it.  I had to get that out of the way.  Her dynamic portrayal of people is so realistic, it is scary.  Like how she changed Mr. Raymond from the village drunk to just another normal person.  He was originally portrayed as a man who everyone hated because he could not stay sober for more than five minutes or so.  In reality, he was just a man who did not care what people think about, whether it is about how disgusting he is, or just about the weather.
 Seriously though, Mr. Raymond makes me think about other misunderstood characters in the book.  He is like many other people in this book which are misunderstood, segregated, and disliked for no good reason. For example, Atticus is misunderstood for defending a “nigger”, Boo Radley is misunderstood for hiding out in his house, and Tom Robinson is misunderstood and stereotyped for being a “nigger”.  I believe that these are the so called “mockingbirds” of the book, and maybe they will have a greater meaning somewhere later in the book.  For now, I can stick to my wondering who the author is going to transform next. 

“’Get more like Cousin Joshua every day, don’t I?  Do you think I’ll end up costing the family five hundred dollars?’
 I know what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man.  It takes a woman to do that kind of work.”

To me, it just sounds like Atticus was trying to comfort Scout and Jem by putting himself in someone else’s shoes.  He was simply trying to be as good a father as he could be.  Also, he was asking the children what they thought about him.  This was quite a loaded question.  I do not see why Scout thought that it took a woman to do that, though.  Any person can ask a question like that.  I think she was just trying to say that only women can actually get an answer out of the person, rather than the question just being rhetorical.

I find it kind of strange that Dill decided to hide under Scout’s bed.  He could have made it seem like he was there with permission, so there would have been less questions.  That would have made his life a whole lot easier.  There would have been less commotion, and he could have lived happily, without thinking about his parents.  Besides that, it is kind of strange for someone to hide under a girl’s bed.  He could have been spying on her changing clothes or something.  Seriously, though, people don’t just go and hide under other people’s beds for no good reason.  They tend to have either a really good or a really bad excuse. 

I believe that there is something to Dill’s story and his running away that the readers are not aware of.  I mean, seriously.  If his parents are really ignoring him, he should talk to them.  If he was really the stand-alone man that he made himself seem like, he could have just barged into the room and demanded their attention.  That, or he could have understood that his parents might have been going through a hard time, and let them be, without worrying them beyond their wits.