Scout Finch, a tomboy who solves most of her problems with her own two fists, lives with her older brother, Jem, and her father, Atticus. Jem and Scout’s mother had passed away from a sudden heart attack when Scout was only two years old. The family lives in Maycomb, where respect is based on reputations, social rankings and history of ancestors. Atticus, a busy lawyer, has help raising his children from their black housekeeper, Culpernia. Jem and Scout grow up knowing every one of their neighbors’ habits and histories. The only person they fail to understand is Arthur (Boo) Radley. Boo Radley lives in the Radley Place and never comes out of the house. One summer, Jem and Scout make a new friend, Dill, who is visiting from Meridian. They soon devise plans to lure Boo Radley out of the house, all of which fail.
One day, Jem and Scout find out that Atticus would be defending a Negro, Tom Robinson, who is wrongly accused of rape and beating a white woman. Many neighbors insult Jem and Scout, and they have a difficult time controlling their tempers. Jem is caught destroying Mrs. Dubose’s camellias after a confrontation with her about Atticus “lawing for niggers,” and as punishment, he must read to Mrs. Dubose for a month. Scout and Jem, although deathly afraid of Mrs. Dubose, learn a lesson in bravery from her.
The trial approaches, and Aunt Alexandra moves into the Finches’ home to provide Scout with a “feminine influence.” The next summer, the Robinson trial is in session. Although Atticus declares that Tom couldn’t possibly have committed the crime because he is crippled, etc., the jury still finds him guilty, and Tom is sent to prison. Even though Tom was convicted, Bob Ewell, the victim’s father, promises to get even with Atticus for “makin’ fun of his already tarnished” reputation. Not long after his conviction, Tom tries to escape from prison and is shot and killed.
Life seems to return to normalcy until the Halloween pageant. As Scout and Jem walk home, they hear “odd noises.” Suddenly, a fight breaks out with Jem and a mysterious stranger. Jem’s arm is badly broken, and he is unconscious. A stranger then carries Jem home. Once inside the house, the sheriff bursts in and announces that Bob Ewell was found dead where their fight had taken place. Scout figures out that the stranger who carried Jem home was Boo Radley and that he was the one who killed Bob Ewell. To protect Boo, the sheriff asserts that Ewell tripped and fell on his knife. As Jem lies in his bed, Boo visits Jem one last time before asking Scout to walk him home. She lets Boo take her arm like a gentleman so the neighbors will think of him as one and not a monster. When Boo is safe in the comforts of his home, Scout returns to Jem’s room. Atticus reads to Scout until she falls asleep and then carries her to bed. He then returns to Jem’s bedside and waits for him to wake up.
My Response:
Scout and Jem learned valuable lessons about the triumph of good over evil and evil over good throughout the story.
A good example of the triumph of good over evil was when Bob Ewell sought revenge on Atticus by attacking Jem and Scout after the Halloween pageant. Bob broke Jem’s arm and left him unconscious, but soon enough, Bob paid the price, with his life. Boo Radley came to the rescue and freed everyone of Bob for good. The sheriff did not press charges against Boo to protect him, and Jem and Scout were returned home safely to Atticus. I thought Bob got just what he deserved. Previously, he had beaten his own daughter, bruising her right side of her face, and not only had he threatened to seek revenge on Atticus, but he had tried to physically “get rid” of Jem and Scout. All Atticus was trying to do was defend the innocent Tom Robinson.
An example of the triumph of evil over good was when Tom, who was black, was convicted of raping and beating Mayella Ewell, who was white. One day in particular, Mayella asked Tom to get a box down for her, and while doing so, Mayella spurred into action.
“She grabbed me round the legs, grabbed me round th’ legs, Mr. Finch. She scared me so bad I hopped down an’ turned the chair over--that was the only thing, only furniture, ‘sturbed in that room, Mr. Finch, when I left it. I swear ‘fore God.” “Mr. Finch, I got down offa that chair an’ turned around an’ she sorta jumped on me.” “She reached up an’ kissed me ‘side of th’ face. She says she never kissed a grown man before an’ she might as well kiss a nigger. She says what her pap do to her don’t count. She says, ‘kiss me back, nigger.’ I say Miss Mayella lemme outa here an’ tried to run but she got her back to the door an’ I’da had to push her. I didn’t wanta harm her, Mr. Finch, an’ I say lemme pass, but just when I say it Mr. Ewell yonder hollered through th’ window.”
Although Tom was indeed telling the truth, the jury found him guilty. Bob and Mayella had escaped unaffected but were the true evil doers. Mayella was the one after Tom, and her father, Bob, saw what had happened and beat her. Both of them had lied about the incident and gotten away with it.
Occurrences in the book have also taught me about the scourge of social inequality. The Tom Robinson trial was a prime example. Many people in the jury either:
1) Were racist against the “black” race
or
2) Assumed that Tom had committed the crime because he came from an African American history.
Atticus tried his very hardest to prove Tom innocent, but he knew that he’d never win this trial because the jury had their minds set…Tom was guilty. He was black and, thus, was socially inferior.
Another example was when Culpernia, the Finch family housekeeper, took Jem and Scout to her church. A woman named Lula declared:
“You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here—they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church ain’t it Miss Cal?”
This showed the lack of respect one race had for the other. Shouldn’t everyone be treated equally was the question asked by both Jem and Scout. I do believe so. Everyone should be treated equally, no matter what the “color” of their skin, what their background (history), or how they dress, think, express themselves, etc. African Americans are people, too, and the whites showed no sympathy towards them. They refused to accept or understand the African Americans and sometimes talked badly about them behind their backs.
“…the simple hell people give other people—without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people too,” said Mr. Raymond.
Man was created equally, and yet some people still think they are superior to others. Differences are what make you, you. If we didn’t have diversity among ourselves, we’d all be the same. The world would be so boring. I think we should learn to accept each other no matter how different we may be. We are all one and must understand that we need to work together to stay together.
Atticus says, “Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal.”
Indeed, men are created equal.
-lasie ann
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