Scout’s Honor

The song I chose is Helena by My Chemical Romance. The song tells of an innocent person being killed and the death destroying the lives of those around them. The same is with the conviction and eventual death of Tom. The town was a peaceful town with little to no conflicts, but with the conviction of Tom the town split in two. On one side was the few people that believed in what Atticus stood for. The other side was the racist side who decided that since Tom was black, he deserved to be put in jail irregardless of whether he committed a crime. In a way, they decided that even if he never committed a crime he would eventually do so.

I was extremely distraught when Tom lost the case. Although I knew he was going to lose, it still made me mad that with all of the evidence in his favor he was convicted. This clearly shows the racial gap between today and the past. Even when black people were freed they were segregated against until just recently. Before even twenty or thirty years ago, black people would be hated in many southern states. Today much of that social barrier has changed into a more understanding culture. I believe that stories such as this are one of the major reasons the country has changed. When people realize that these minorities are not much different, yet are hated for no reason they will often change their opinion. Although their is still a large cultural barrier, I do not think it will last long with Obama as president. He preaches togetherness and not to judge him based on his color, but by his skills and morales. If we all only judged on morales the country would never have been a slavery filled country. Although we have a bad past, I believe that moving on is the only way that we can take away the barrier. 

In these chapters Atticus is having the hardest time of his life and everyone is not helping at all.  With the trial of Tom everyone including the witness is saying he raped her even though Tom’s story is making more sense then Mayelle.  And the person that did beat up Mayelle is Mr. Ewell and everyone is believing him to protect himself.  Atticus knows that Tom is innocent, but i wonder what is going through everyone else mind when they hear the case.  I do see Atticus as a man of pirority and restrain, but how much longer can he go on like this.  Atticus does seem rather calm though so i think he will end the case swift and calm. 

Chapter 14 was the chapter that i really liked in this reading of to kill a mockingbird.  I think that Alexandria is over reacting when she tells Atticus to fire Calpurnia, and Atticus did the right thing when he told her no.  I think it is ironic that when they Jem and Scout fight they find Dill hiding under Scouts bed turns out being punished was how they found Dill faster.  I still wonder how much attention they didn’t give Dill for him to run away and he is a smart sixth grader to run all the way from Meridian to Maycomb.  I think that telling Ms. Racheal the next day of Dill’s wherabouts was good thinking beacause Dill really seemed like he wanted to talk to Scout about something important.

The trial is a horrible one in my opinion. The evidence clearly shows that Tom Robinson would not nor could he have beaten Mayella. The bruises on the right of her face clearly show that Tom could not have done it. For one he is right handed. If he would have used his right hand the bruises would be on the left side of her face. If he used his left then the bruises would be on the right. The problem is that Tom’s hand was made unusable when it was caught in the cotton gin as a child. Without a left hand Tom would have needed to reach unnaturally across his body to hit Mayella. The evidence against Bob Ewell also showed that he beat his daughter. By getting him to sign the paper, Atticus proves that he is left handed. This makes it extremely likely that if anyone beat Mayella, it was him. The testimonials also show some insight into what happened. When Mayella told her side of the story, she said that she invited Tom into her house to fix her drawer. He then proceeded to take advantage of her. When Bob saw her she left. This seems plausible until the reader realizes that Tom Robinson has never been one to be unkind or lustful. I thought it was kind of Tom’s employer to stand up for him during the trial knowing that he would harassed for doing so. Link Dias, Tom’s employer, stated that after eight years of working, he never had a problem with Tom. He is kicked out, but definitely left an impression in the courtroom. Tom then takes the stand and tells what the reader knows really happened. He was walking by the Ewell house as he does everyday when Mayella asked him to fix her door. Feeling sorry for her, he said yes and went inside. When he saw that the door was fine she grabbed him by the waist and told him to kiss her. It was then that Bob saw them and then beat Mayella for it. To hide her shame, she told everyone that Tom raped her. This is what the reader knows truly happened and what the majority of the town would have realized had they not been so closed minded. The fact that they were able to persuade even a couple people was amazing to me.

This song is another from one of my favorite bands. It talkes about a relaxed life and even talkes about eating seeds as a passed time activity. This relates to how the town was before the case of Tom Robinson. It then talks about the transition from being relaxed to disorder. This is the same transition as the town of Maycomb endured. They went from a relaxed state to disorder and chaos. It also states in the song that the disorder is not owned by one person. This means that multiple amounts of people are to blame for the disorder which is also true in Maycomb. Toxicity is very closely related to the happenings in Maycomb.

Atticus in these chapters gave me a big surprise and i am curious on why he tried to hide his past so well.  Atticus is known around the town and everyone seems to always hate him just because he is helping Tom
Robinson win his case.  I think there is something more then just that, I think he did something that the town people don’t like him for, but they haven’t said what yet.  I am curious on why this is and wondering what else Atticus can do.  The shock his kids must have felt must have been pretty big considering he shot Tim Johnson with one shot so easily and everyone else was scared to shot the dog.  I wonder what else Atticus is hiding about his past.

Chapters 13-16 are fairly interesting as it includes the beginning of the trial. It also has Aunt Alexandra move in who I particularly dislike. Aunt Alexandra is snobby and racist with no real morale compass. I already talked about how I tried to realize how her and her brother could be so racist. I think the reason is that she may have always been held to a higher esteem by her parents and was taught that she was better than everyone else while Atticus was told he was average. This could lead to completely different natures seen in many families such as when the youngest is spoiled and the oldest is rude because he or she thinks they are more mature than others. Any way, one of my favorite scenes in the chapters was when the men showed up at the jail and Atticus, although outnumbered, showed the men that he wasn’t afraid of them. The kids annoyed me greatly at this part for not leaving. They were completely unaware about what was happening. The trials were entertaining yet not as eventful as I hoped. One thing that happened was the segregation in the courtroom. The black citizens were forced to sit on the balcony which was another reminder of the racism in the town. Although the black citizens were forced to cit on the balcony, they still openly accepted the children to sit with them which shows that racism was mainly the white citizens doing. Oh and I almost forgot to mention that Scout beat up Jem.

These chapters were interesting because we are learning things about Atticus that he hasn’t told his kids yet.  Who would have guessed Atticus was a  marksman and the best in town, now that explains why he bought his kids air rifles.  Atticus is very calm and has patience for everything including all the insults he gets about being a nigger lover just because he has the courage to stand up for a black man.  Atticus is insulted to no end, a good example of this is the way Mrs. Dubose just kept talking about him in front of his kids for hours a day.  Atticus is an ideal gentleman and never lets words of people keep him from doing what he does for others and even if the whole family thinks he is the worst and bringing them down his still keeps his cool and just moves on.

This song is one of my personal favorites from my favorite bands. Although it is not about the same exact topic it tells of doing what you think is right and fun even if it means death. This is Atticus’ view on the topic as he agreed to defend a black man even if it meant death only to uphold qualities instilled in him. Oli Sykes explains in the song “I don’t want it, I just need it, man I can’t believe it”. This shows that even if he doesn’t want to do something if it is necessary he will do it.