Boo-log Lives Next Door

“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.

I have seen plenty of posts all about Atticus. After all, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is one of the characters that truly personifies the book; he’s a kind gentlemen that chooses not to discriminate blacks and whites. The fact that Atticus treats colored people with the same respect as whites is already an amazing trait in a novel that takes place during the time of the Great Depression, especially in the South. Then we also know that Atticus is a great shot, “One-Shot Finch”, and an excellent father to Scout and Jem. And in these chapters, we learn what an amazing lawyer Atticus really is. As Heck Tate is being examined by Atticus, Atticus takes great notice to what the officer says. Something so irrelevant as the fact that the right side of Mayella Ewell’s face was the side primarily injured suddenly turns into an important fact that a left-handed person would have had to create most of her facial injuries. By remembering that fact, Atticus leads to the conclusion that Bob Ewell, a left-handed man, may have been the one to inflict the injuries, not Tom Robinson, a right-handed person. He uses his intelligence to his advantage; when he interviews Mayella, he gains information by first starting off simple and finally attacking the nineteen-year-old with questions. Can anyone honestly say, especially at Atticus’ age, that they could remember such small details or evaluate a situation so accurately as to get vital information to show some prospect at winning an unwinnable case? It is no doubt that Atticus Finch is a great man, and hopefully, the evidence Atticus thoughtfully presented will win Tom Robinson’s case.

While reading chapters seventeen through twenty, I felt most of the case revolved around Tom Robinson being a Negro. The Ewells probably picked on him because they knew white people were in favor of winning than black people. I completely agree with what Atticus said at the end of the trial. No one gets to choose what his or her skin color is. We were all born into a family, whether black or white, without selecting a specific skin color. It isn’t Tom Robinson’s fault that he is black. Why should he be treated differently? It’s not like it was his fault that God made him African American. Everybody is born equally and should all have the same rights. I was very digusted, like Dill, to hear that Tom Robinson is being spoken to differently from white people. I think Atticus is sure to win the case. I could easily tell Mayella and Mr. Ewell were lying and that Tom Robinson told nothing but the truth. While Mayella became confused and frustrated at the questions, Tom Robinson responded to every question without hesistation or regret. The thing that surprised me was that Tom was referring to himself as a nigger. Today, African Americans do not call themselves niggers because they know their rights are as equal as white people’s. It’s a good thing that African Americans are treated much better than they were in the past.

This court case was intense and very eye catching. It was a good case, and for sure in my point of view that Atticus and Mr. Robinson should win this case. For in fact and proven, that Mr. Robinson is an innocent black man that was unfortunate. Atticus had wonderful and valid evidences and support for his claims that Mr. Robinson was innocent. It is disappointing that Mayella would do such a thing to a married man. She is just 19 years old and she’s “hitting” on this Mr. Robinson. That is totally inappropriate and not a lady like gesture. In addition what I hate about the lie that Mayella told the court is that Mr. Tom Robinson raped her, when in fact, she knew she didn’t. The nerve of people is so big! While I was reading this, I felt like entering the book, and start slapping Mayella and Mr. Bob Ewell to wake them up. If Mayella was a smart young girl, she would have revealed the abuse that she receives from Mr. Bob Ewell. It just makes me mad that there are people in this world that can live like this. Also, Mayella is just crying crocodile tears, and that just makes me want to knock some senses in her head.

The song, “The Last, the Lost, the Least” by Relient K, describes the current situation in Maycomb, Alabama well. The first stanza can correlate to how the white people in Maycomb live in privilege and look down on blacks. They push them at the farthest from their minds, even when the blacks are in bad condition (for example, the church that the Calpurnia’s congregation has to go to is run-down and used by other Maycomb-ers as a place to play poker). Instead, most of the whites in Maycomb just worry about themselves. The chorus is pretty similar to how Atticus defends everyone, including the last, the lost, and the least. Atticus is risking his life against the lynch mob in order to defend a man he believes is innocent, even if he has no money and is a “nigger”.

One of the lyrics in the song is “Step into a spacious place where pride and right will give way to the least of these to know the face of who a man can be”. This is exactly what Atticus is fighting for. He wants the people of Maycomb to drop their stupid pride of how whites are better than blacks and blacks are always the guilty ones, and look past that to the truth.

This quote shows how Dill was treated by his new father in Meridian. If I was in his position, I probably would’ve ran to someone’s house too. I would’ve went to a nearby friend’s house instead of one that is hundreds of miles away. The reason Dill ran to Scout and Jem’s house was probably because they were the only people Dill trusted and believed in. I still can’t believe Dill was treated so badly. He says that his parents ignore him and reads in their room all night with the door shut. He believes that his parents would live better without him because he can’t do them any good. I think that is a terrible way to feel. Dill is probably lonely and miserable in Meridian.

http://www.youngandhealthy.ca/caah/Portals/1/img/illustrations/abstinence1.jpg

There was a certain section on the book, when Dill came to the Finches to stay at their place for a while. It is practical that boys sleep on other boy’s room when “sleepovers” occur. Also girls sleep together in one room because they are all girls. In this case, what is the problem right? On the other hand, in this book, who in the right mind, would sleep with a girl without even being married? Dill slept next to Scout because he “felt like it”. He was assigned to sleep with Jem because he is a guy and he disobeys and takes advantage of the privilege he was given; to stay at the Finches. I also can’t believe my eyes that Scout was ok with him sleeping next to her. If I was Scout, I would freak out and tell him to get out and go back to my brother’s room. If Dill can think of taking Scout’s hand in marriage and saying that he “loves” her, there is no doubt that he could have done something irrational at that time. They may seem like angels (like in the photos) but it’s dangerous to have a girl that claims to “love” a boy and a boy that claims to “love a girl in the same room, with no one around.

A happy family is what everyone wants. To be a complete blood related family, there is a father, a mother, and children. For the Finches, they only have Atticus (their father). Scout and Jem don’t have a mother to brag about or anything because she died at their early age. However, this doesn’t give the right for Aunt Alexandra to take over and acts like their mother. Even if she is the sister of their father, she has no right to go to their home and change their lives that quickly. Also, since she is not the mother of the two, she should learn to accept who these kids are, not try to change them because their personality of character doesn’t fit her standards. She is just an auntie, she is not the mother. She claims that she is just helping, but it doesn’t seem that way to me. If feels like while I was reading, that she was taking over the way they live. In addition I don’t see the point of why Aunt Alexandra should be living with them after all these years. They have Calpurnia who is their beloved maid. These two kids were doing just ok without Aunt Alexandra.

When Scout passed her bed to turn on the light, she stepped on something warm. That something was actually Dill. Jem and Scout were both amazed and wordless. Dill tells her and Jem about how he got to Maycomb from Meridian. He says he got to their house on thirteen dollars. I personally find that very hard to believe. How can a boy as young as Dill travel ten or eleven miles on foot? He must’ve a lot of courage and determination to come this far. I find it strange that Dill came to Jem and Scout when he needed help. I think Jem and Scout are his only friends that he can truly depend on. Also, when it came to bedtime, Dill went to Scout’s bed instead of Jem’s bed like he was supposed to. I think he really cares about Scout. If I was in Dill’s position, I would never have the urge or determination to run away from my parents, no matter how bad they treat me. I would just suck it up. I don’t believe I have as much courage as Dill. I was actually very satisfied with Atticus’s response to Dill’s appearance. He was very understanding and caring toward Dill and Scout’s emotions. I believe Atticus was very nice when he didn’t force Dill to go back to his house.  It is too bad Atticus has that case to worry about..

In chapter 14, Jem and Scout get a surprise visit from Dill after mistaking him to be a snake under Scout’s bed. Simply put it, Dill ran away. In the time of the Great Depression, running away wasn’t too difficult. Compare it to nowadays; there are no computers, no missing persons report, no news. However, the difficulty to successfully runaway doesn’t bug me. What bugs me is how similar Dill’s situation is to many other kids’ in the present. After talking to Atticus about Dill, Scout finally hears why Dill even left his home in the first place. In the beginning, Scout thought he was living a happy life down in Meridian; then she finds out the truth that it wasn’t all happy boat building.

Dill explains to Scout how his new father, his family, lost interest in him. Things ended up better without him; his parents wanted nothing to do with him. As much as Scout thinks this is a strange reason to leave your home, that kind of thinking happens more often. Kids become forgotten and families move on without them. As far away as the time of the book is to us, there are some things that remain the same.