Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Chapter 17






In chapter 17, the town is all listening carefully to the trial. Mr. Ewell said that when reached the house, he looked in the window and saw Tom Robinson raping his daughter. Tom Robinson fled, and Mr. Ewell went into the house, saw that his daughter was all right, and ran for the sheriff. Atticus cross-exterminated and asked Mr. Ewell why no doctor was called, but his response was "  it was too expensive and there was no need". Atticus clung himself into that incoherent response because if one is hurt, one is immediately taken to the hospital to make sure there are no major injuries. Another evidence of why Atticus believe Mr. Ewell beats his daughter is because he is left handed and a left-handed man would be more likely to leave bruises on the right side of a girl’s face. But. Mr. Eweill insists that Tom Robinson was the one who beat her.

In this chapter, we can see the abilities of Atticus as a lawyer and the manipulation that Mr. Ewell is doing to his daughter. We can see from the trial that Mr. Bob Ewell who is a drunk man, most had beaten his daughter but she does not denounce him because she is scare of him. These cases are very similar to what is happening know with violence against women. Violence against women are so common and women are scare of denouncing them, and rather have an innocent man get punished for what they had not done. 

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Chapter 16




In chapter 16 everyone in the town is going to watch the most expected event; the trial of Tom Robinson. Even Miss Stephanie Crawford and  Mr. Dolphus Raymond went to the courtroom. The only person who did not go was Miss Maudie. She did not go because the courtroom was like watchng a roman carnival. I agree with her because she knows that no matter how much evidence Atticus shows, Tom Robinson wil never win. Since he wil never win it be like a death sentence because he will never be able to get out of jail.  When the crowd went to eat lunch, it was the opportunity when Jem, Scout and Dill enter the courtoom form the back side. Reverend Sykes saved them seats in the balcony where the colored people were allowed to watch the trial from. Judge Taylor was the one who had the power in his hands to decide the destiny of of Tom Robinson. 

Monday, May 12, 2014

Chapter 15




  • One week after Dill's arrival, Mr. Heck Tate comes to Atticus house one evening and informs him that Tom Robinson has been moved to Maycomb jail and that there might be a lynch of mob. Jem tells Scout that he overheard  a conversation between aunt Alexandra and Atticus, aunt Alexandra was about to accuse Atticus of disgracing the family for taking responsibility in Tom's case. The following evening, Atticus takes his car and goes to town, an unusual propensity that spur Scout, Dill and Jem to follow. Atticus was in Maycomb jail reading a newspaper and when Scout, Dill and Jem were about to go home, four cars approach and demanded Atticus to move away from the jailhouse door but he refused. Scout runs towards Atticus and the mob threatens Atticus to get rid of the children as soon as possible. Scout looks around the mob and sees Mr. Cunningham, the father of her classmate Walter Cunningham, and she tells him about his friendship with his son, and this makes Mr. Cunningham and the mob go away. Mr. Underwood who was near the window started talking with Atticus and then Atticus took the children home. 

Chapter 14




The trial was imminent and Jem and Scout were whispered around the whole town. Scout asks Atticus what "rape" meant and she tell him that she heard it in Calpurnia's church. This is when aunt Alexandra, tells her not to go there anymore and to get rid of Calpurnia. Atticus does not agree and tells her that Calpurnia has help him raise Jem and Scout, therefore, she is a very important person in their family. Scout gets livid for what aunt Alexandra says but Jem wants her to understand aunt Alexandra's perspective and it was atrocious to make her look like the villain of her life. Scout gets livid again when Jem does not take her side, and they start to fight. Atticus arrives and breaks up the fight. They were order to go to bed.  Scout goes running to Jem's bedroom because she feels like there is something underneath her bed. Underneath her bed was Dill. Jem tells Atticus that Dill is in their house and they give him food to eat. Dill had escaped from his house because his mother and his new father did not give him any attention. Dill goes to Jem's bed first and then starts talking to Scout on her bed.

Dill's parents is an example of parents who do not take care of their children but they have a third person ( Mrs. Rachel) the aunt who takes her of them. I believe that Dill is a kid who suffers been alone and likes been with Jem, and Scout because he feels warmth of a family.


Monday, May 5, 2014

Chapter 13




Aunt Alexandra role starts to be more prominent in the next chapters. She stays in Atticus's house because she believes that the children need a feminine influence, or a feminine model. She is more worry about Scout, since she has not been able to do or wear a feminine outfit, she believes that she could be of great help to change her attitude. Aunt Alexandra gets used to Maycomb. She becomes friends with the Maycomb ladies, were she attends meetings where they drink coffee and eat cake. She is very proud to be a Finch, and doesn't want Jem and Scout to lack pride to be a potential excellent Finch. Since so many families have lived in the town, they see generation by generation with the special characteristics that represents them. Atticus try to explain this to Scout, but all he does is offends her and make her cry. She feels like Atticus does not like how she is, but the truth is that Atticus does like her like she is but aunt Alexandra wants to have a perfect image of the family and make the children feel bad for who they are. 


Chapter 12




In chapter 12 we start to see that Jem has just turned 12 and is acting more mature; what he liked to do are not the same, and isolates from his sister. He feels like everything Scout does it to pester him, and before he thought that she acting less like a girl was good, but now he wants her to act more like a girl. Scout feels lonely because Jem is in bad mood. Atticus had to travel every day for two weeks because the state legislature to he was a member called him for session. Scout was solitary and decided to join Calpurina on Sunday to go to a colored church. The church was called the First Purchase because it was bought with the first earning of the freed slaves. When Scout and Calpurnia got there, they met with Lula who demands them to be out of their church because Scout was a white person, and she also said that they had their own church to go to. Calpurnia was about to leave the church when Reverend Sykes welcome them in an hospitality manner.Reverend Sykes knew about Scout's father helping Tom Robinson, a member of their church. The church was penniless for now because they were not able to buy hymnal, and also because most of the people did not know how to read. Therefore they sung  by echoing the words that Zeebo, Calpurnia’s eldest son and the town garbage collector, read from their only hymnal. Reverend Sykes collects money for Tom Robinson's wife, Helen, who was unemployed and had hard times trying to find work now that her husband was accused of raping a white woman. This is when Scout really understands what Tom Robinson is accused by Bob Ewell.  Scout was ecstatic because she met Calpurnia outside of work, and her daily routine which was different to hers. When Calpurnia and Scout got home, aunt Alexandra was waiting at the house. 

We can analyse that Calpurnia lives two worlds differently, when she is with her community of colored people and when she is at work. Calpurnia knows how to read, talks in a different accent when is at the church and talks proper English when she is at work. In the church scene we can see that the colored people are also racist, or scared to have a white person with them because they are so hypnotized that all white people are the same. I believe that this was the first chapter that let us see the life or the colored people, we can see that they work together to help others and are very united. 

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Chapter 11




In chapter 11, Jem and Scout learns a lesson. Their neighbor Mrs. Dubose is an old woman who is addicted to morphine. She is disrespectful to Jem and Scout. One day Jem and Scout were passing  by Mrs. Dubose house and she insulted Jem saying that "Atticus was not any better than the “niggers and trash he works for,” Jem got frenzy and took Scout baton he had bought her and destroyed Mrs. Dubose camellia bushes. Mrs. Dubose felt contemptuous, and punished Jem by making him come to his house every day for a month to read to her. Scout, accompany her brother on every session he had. Every session was longer than the other, and after a month the punish was over. Weeks after the punishment was done, Mrs. Dubose died and Jem received a box from Mrs. Dubose's maid with a single white camellia inside. Atticus explains to him that Mrs. Dubose enjoy the reading sessions because it was part of her effort to combat the morphine addiction. 



Chapter 9, 10, 11 Analysis

After chapter 8 we will see the transition from Jem and Scout's interest. Their curiosity towards Boo is curtailed  because now they have to deal with the real world, the real image of Maycomb. Adult problems are been presented to them through Tom Robinson's case were the town's residents image is exposed, their racism and their evilness. The residents of Maycomb not only go against Atticus for his decision on helping Tom Robinson but also on Jem and Scout. The family membersof the Finch such as aunt Alexrandra and Francis also go against Atticus. 

Atticus knows that since the trial is about to occur, his children will also be targeted to all sorts of comments, therefore, he installed moral values on them. For example, justice, restrain and honesty. The are not to fight with anyone no matter what verbal abuse they get. Instead they will have to ignored it because that is courage. The reason why Atticus never told his children that he was skill in shooting was because for Atticus bravery has nothing to do with weapons. The mad dog is a symbol of the evil the town has in their hearts and that soon it will be destroyed, since Atticus is seen as a hero after he looses the trial. When Mrs. Dubose punished Jem, Atticus sees this as a perfect opportunity to show them what real courage is. She represents a balanced between bravery and determination. Her disease gives her courage to survive and be strong to be able to combat her morphine addiction. When Mrs. Dubose gives a box to Jem with a single camellia, this shows that she has a pure soul. Jem rejects the gift because he does not see good in her. The gift was Mrs. Dubose gesture to thank Jem but Jem is not mature enough to understand that evil and good can exist in the same person.