Boo-log Lives Next Door

What is wrong with the fact that in confusion, Boo Radley draped a blanket over Scout? Why does Scout have to have such shame? The only things we have heard about Boo Radley are hard rumors. These kids have no hard evidence that Boo Radley is a bad person. Even Miss Maudie claims that Boo Radley was a nice person. The only things these kids can rely on are rumors that have slowly changed over the years. I did not like Scout’s reaction by almost vomiting about the appearance of Boo Radley behind her. Why incriminate a guy who these have never met before. They do not know about his personality and his good qualities. Snow day in Maycomb was unexpected. This is a town in the South that never gets snow. I thought it was pretty funny how they did not even get that much to build a snow man or make snow angels, but they still attempted. That shows how rare snow can be in some places of the world. If someone is not used to something, and they get a little bit of it, they will try to make use of it as if they got plenty of it. Scout tried to make a snowman even when there was barely any snow.

I think it is ridiculous that Ms. Caroline is discouraging scout not to read. Does she think it is better for scout? Teachers are supposed to teach not… encourage them to be uneducated. If I were Scout I would read even more just to make Ms. Caroline angry. What kind of teacher does she thinks she is? What surprises me is the fact that the higher authorities do not know about this. I do not like how Scout’s only offensive was to go complain to her brother, and I don’t think his response really helped. I mean, how does a new teaching method cover up the fact that she is telling a child to uneducated herself. A teaching method is meant for someone to effectively input information properly into someone else’s brain. I have never heard of a teaching method where information is encouraged to be taken out of the brain. Ms. Caroline is not a very good teacher so far. After the incident with the Cunningham, when scout tried to tell Ms. Caroline about how he will not take anything that he can not pay back, Ms. Caroline (of coarse) did not understand the Cunningham’s stance and hit Scout with a ruler.

“So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I’d rather it be me than that houseful of children out there” (Lee 218).

This quote shows how caring and thoughtful Atticus is, even if it is for the other side. If I was in Atticus’s place, I probably would’nt have thought of Mayella at all. He is a person that thinks of other people, even if they’re not truthful. For example, Mayella obviously told a lie in court so she can blame everything on Tom Robinson, but not only was Atticus respectful and truthful toward her and the court, he even thinks about her situation and how she’s handling it. Atticus doesn’t want Mayella and those children to suffer another beating, so he doesn’t mind Mr. Ewell spitting on him. After all, being spat on is less painful than a hard beating from Mr. Ewell.

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     “If you don’t have anything good to say, keep it to yourself” is an old saying for all elementary schools nation wide. Our teachers always tell us that it is better to keep opinions to yourself so no one will get offended. Also by practicing this principle, children learn how to be respectful to each other and to other grown ups. This picture illustrates that because this kid keeps his mouth shut because he does not want to offend anyone, like how Mr. Ewell offended Atticus Finch by spitting on him, beating him and threatening him. Why can’t people learn that respect is what we need to get our lives in shape? Mr. Ewell should have just kept his mouth shut and took his anger and frustration out of a pillow or on a piece of wood, not human beings.

Life is crazy, isn’t it? After all, just by growing up, people’s perspective of the world starts to change. When we’re kids, we sort out the world into two types of people: good and bad. And how we differentiate between the two is good = the people that follows what our parents teach us, and bad = the people who don’t. But that gets shattered as we get older and we experience more. Like Jem, we start to lose that innocent look at life. Jem, who is just a kid, sees how different the world is when they become “bad”. To him, the entirety of Maycomb County is now cruel and evil. They’ve done the unspeakable; they have sent an innocent man to jail and to be later strapped to a chair and electricuted. However, let’s pretend we are some average Maycomb citizen… let’s be Stephanie Crawford. To us (as Stephanie Crawford), this is a rightful sentence for a black man that has been accused and convicted of raping a white woman. Look at how split people are when it comes to topics like abortion or capital punishment. Every person gets set on their own belief system, and whoever tries to defy our belief system suddenly becomes bad. We can’t really classify anyone as all bad, we end up learning. Jem’s just getting the scrape of how life really is. Now he knows that not everyone is a good, perfect person.

Reality is harsh and cruel. We end up changing our thoughts of what is good and what is bad. We learn how people and life really is; and it definitely isn’t all rainbows and gummy bears. Hey, Jem and everyone that reads this, welcome to reality.

These chapters were outrageous compared to the passed chapters. It is enough that Mr. Tom Robinson is a hated man because he is black. It is enough that he was frames for “raping” Mayella Ewell. It is enough that, Bob Ewell was the one who is supposed to be sued, not Mr. Tom Robinson. It is enough that blacks were discriminated and convicted of crime, just because of their color. It is not fair, how Atticus Finch, prepared and laid out valid and well supported arguments during the trial. Why would the jury or the judge, have the verdict of placing Mr. Tom Robinson as a guilty criminal man? They have the heart as hard like a stone. Not only did they convict him guilty, they murdered him?! I believe that it is unreasonable to shoot someone seventeen times because they ran away. Everyone knows that Tom Robinson is an innocent man, and if he ran away at least shoot only once, but seventeen times?! It’s like a Tom Robinson was a dangerous criminal that had to be stopped with seventeen bullets and cause him his life. When I was reading this I just wanted to beat up the person that shot Mr. Tom Robinson. It is just unfair for him and his family. Bob Ewell and Mayella Ewell, should be held personally responsible for his death.   

From these chapters, the main thing that readers wanted to know was, of course, the results of Tom Robinson’s case. I somehow expected the results would end up like this, a white man defeating a black man. That is the outcome of all the other trials that involve African Americans in Maycomb. There has never been one case that favored the black man instead of the white man. Atticus fought for Tom Robinson strongly and gave it his all throughout the case. Trying to save a black man shows Atticus’s bravery and determination. Most people today think that black and white people should be given the same rights and should be treated similarly.  We have to consider that this book took place during the Great Depression, and that most people didn’t care for African Americans then. From the responses given from the two sides, one would be positive that Tom Robinson’s explanation was more believable and had a greater chance of winning than Mr. Ewell’s. I’m glad that the world has changed for the better, from the Great Depression to today. People treat African Americans with respect these days, and I’m sure that most people do not judge them by their skin color. There might be some still out there favoring one race over the other, but most have changed, which is extraordinary to know.

This picture represents the judge’s decision/ruling. His decision not only affects Tom Robinson, but Atticus as well. In my opinion, the judge is always fair to both sides of the court.  When I realized that judges favor white people over African Americans in Maycomb, I thought that was just selfish and hateful. I believe in Atticus and his opinions. Maybe the judge in charge of this case is really a wise judge and equally respectful to both parties. The result of the judge’s choice is the climax of this story. Whether Atticus wins this case or not, I think he will always be known as a trustworthy and caring man at heart.

During the trial, it truly became apparent on how great Atticus is. In chapters leading up to the trial, Atticus holds his head up high, refusing to give in to the prejudices other town citizens hold against Tom Robinson. I thought “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor captured this about Atticus. In the first stanza of the song, it goes:

 ”Went the distance, now I’m back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive.”

This lyric connects to my idea of Atticus, because he did go the distance by taking on this controversial and possibly unwinnable case. And despite how we perceive Atticus knowing that he’s a gentleman that knows his way around a gun, he really is just a man that is here to prove his client’s innocence. Similarly other parts of the song can correlate to how difficult this fight really is. Like I said before, this case is practically unwinnable. There has never been a case where a black man against a white, where the black man won. However, during the trial, Atticus attacks the witnesses and against the odds, gives a good bout, one that could possibly win this case.

“She was white and she tempted a Negro…No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.” (272)

Humility is an essential part of life. With out shame you have no respect for others, and most importantly for yourself. Mayella, has no respect for herself because of two reasons. She lusted for a man that was already married and two; she lied about getting raped by Mr. Tom Robinson. She wasn’t thinking clearly or she wasn’t thinking at all because she acted before she thought about the consequences. She just wanted her butt to be saved and proclaimed as innocent, so she won’t ruin her reputation. She is deliberately willing to take down and ruin another person’s life with the mistake that she started.