The Effects of Greed in The Pearl

      The Pearl is a timeless novel that was published in 1947, written by John Steinbeck. ". . . the secret melody of the maybe pearl broke clear and beautiful, rich and warm and lovely, glowing and gloating and triumphant. In the surface of the great pearl he could see dream forms," page 26. The story takes place during the late 1800s in a village on the Baja peninsula. The main character is Kino, a poor pearl diver that is struggling to provide for his young family. This family consists of his wife, Juana, and their first child, Coyotito. As this story begins, Coyotito was stung by a scorpion, which would usually kill an infant. Juana did all that she could to save her child by sucking the venom out of his wound. When that did not help, she sent for the town doctor, who, even though he was disliked by local villagers due to his racism, was the only person with the ability to help. When he did not come, the family set out on foot to find him. However, he chose to not help the young family since they did not have any money. With both desperation and hope, Kino and Juana paddled out to the deep, blue sea in their treasured canoe to search for a grand pearl that they thought could pay for the doctor. After hope began to fade, they miraculously found a pearl that was the size of a bird egg and the biggest and most beautiful that they had ever seen. Gazing deep into its beauty, Kino saw wonderful possibilities of a new life free of poverty and burden, the life of a rich man who could take care of his family.
     By the time they had exuberantly paddled back to shore, the story of Kino finding the "Pearl of the World" had spread and the baby Coyotito recovered from his sting. When they arrived home, the doctor had also heard of this pearl and was there waiting for them, not to help the child, but in hopes of making the family indebted to him so he could get the pearl. Diabolically, he secretly administered poison to the poor child, saying that the poison of the sting came back, and then gave the antidote. That night, there was an attempt by some of the villagers to steal the great pearl, so in the morning Kino tried to sell it to the local vendors. Time after time, he felt cheated by the amounts he was offered for the huge, beautiful pearl, so he kept it another night. The very next day, Juana began to feel the greed and evil that was beginning to form around people's hearts due to the pearl, so she tried to get rid of it. Kino caught her and sent her home. While he was walking home, Kino was attacked by a man and they fought until Kino finally killed the attacker.
     The next day before anyone could stop them, Kino, Juana, and Coyotito left their village for good and began to travel North in hopes of selling the extraordinary pearl in the great city. Once on the road, they soon realized that they were being followed by trackers who would kill them to steal the pearl. After being followed quite some time, Kino attacked and killed all three of the criminals that were following them. However, while Kino was trying to protect his family, Coyotito was killed by a stray gunshot. Brokenhearted and disappointed in themselves, Kino and Juana returned to their village alone. Knowing that the pearl was the source of all of the evil that entered their lives, they threw the pearl back into the depths of the sea.
      This story of good, evil, and greed in human's hearts teaches us many lessons as we see the disastrous consequences when greed and evil take over a village and simple family's life. Before the pearl entered the villager's lives, everyone seemed to be humble and content with their life. What brought the pearl into the lives of Kino and his neighbors was the need for a cure of Coyotito's wound. But, once the pearl entered the lives of many, their list of wants and desires escalated. In this story, the destructive force of greed took its tool on both Kino and the villagers who wanted the pearl for their own gain.
     As I have already stated, the lives of Kino and Juana before the pearl were humble, but seemingly simple, normal and similar to their neighbors. Then their child's life was in jeopardy, and the first need in this story was created: the need for money to pay a doctor to see Coyotito. The need was fulfilled by the pearl and at first it was the most wonderful, beautiful, and lovely thing they had ever had in their life. However, Kino grew grew boastful around his neighbors, and professed to all of his increasing desires, now that they could be satisfied (see pages 31-33.) This list included being married in a church, his son attending school and gaining "freedom" with knowledge, a gun, and possibly a better home. He tried to sell the pearl, but his heart was greedy and he did not accept any of the offers for it. When his family was being chased by the bounty hunters, it was due to his greed for the pearl that he did not give it up to the men to possibly save the lives of his family. Once he began to unconsciously develop greed and kept wanting more, his life seemed to go downhill, resulting in the death of men and his child. It seemed as if the greed that this pearl represented ruined his life.
    The destructive force of greed for the pearl also greatly affected the villagers and neighbors of Kino and his family. When Kino found a pearl, at first his fellow friends and divers seemed to be pleased for him. But, then they thought of how they could gain this pearl for themselves. Even the priest who heard about the pearl first thought of how much it must be worth and if he married Kino or baptized his son, for those things often cost money money that poor villagers could usually not pay for. After Kino boasted to the villagers about all the things he could buy, "The music had gone out of Kino's head, but now, thinly, slowly, the melody of the morning, the music of evil, of the enemy sounded. . . Kino looked at his neighbors to see who might have brought this song in," page 35. Evil, greed, and desire began to form in the minds of the priest, doctor, and villagers. Some villagers became jealous, and this resulted in people attacking Kino and destroying his home and canoe so they could get the pearl for the money it was worth. Slowly but surely, this greed began to destroy the lives and the innocence of the village in Baja.
       ". . . in the surface of the pearl he saw. . . Coyotito lying in the little cave with the top of is head shot way. And the pearl was ugly; it was grey, like a malignant growth. And Kino heard the music of the pearl, distorted and insane," page 177. Kino was heartbroken at the end of the story. What seemed to be at first an answer to his prayers, turned out to be a nightmare that destroyed his simple but adequate life and killed his son. This novel by John Steinbeck helps to remind us that greed is a very destructive force, and that wonderful things in our lives may be ruined if we let greed control us. It also teaches us that things may happen in our lives that at first seem to be good, may not always be, and vice versa.

To Kill a Mockingbird By STeVeN

To Kill A Mockingbird is an exciting and heartwarming story told by Jean Louis Finch also known as scout. The story begins in a small rural town in old Alabama during a time of segregation and financial losses in the stock market(Great Depression). Jean Louis Finch lives with her older brother Jeremy (Jem) and her dad Atticus. She also is visited every day except sundays by her black cook Calpurnia otherwise known as Cal. Anyways, Jean Louis tells us about how her brother broke his arm. She starts off explaining her summers there and one specific summer where they met a roudy and exaggerating kid named Dill. Now Dill had been coming to maycomb to live with his aunt every summer and had met jem and scout. They played together by doing a whole bunch of stuff but they especially liked acting out stories. One day as they were all walking down the road to their house, Dill asked "who lives there?" Jem and Scout turn around and tell Dill to met them at the finch house. So Jem and Scout tell Dill all the stories about the Radley house. Boo radley, who lived in that house, was said to be crazy. rumors say he stabbed his mother in the leg with scizzors and that he twiddles soap bars and never comes out of the house. Dill was so fascinated with these stories he suggested that they enact the stories told into a skit. Their fascination with Boo Radley ended up getting bigger and bigger until they decided to make contact with him. One day they wrote letter to him and attach it to a fishing pole. They carefully try to put it in his window while dill wacthes if anyone is coming. Suddenly Atticus appears around the corner and they get heavily reprimanded for their actions. He tells them they shouldnyt be bothering a man when all he wants to do is be left alone.

Greed As a Destructive Force, by Nicole Malapit

A poor family, Kino, Juana, and Coyotito, lived in a poor village. Everyday, life was the same. They ate the same meals, which were hotcakes, saw the same people, wore the same clothes, and lived in the same kind of small huts. The sea was their source of income, and their future was pretty much made up. They would continue their predictable life, and die in the village. But this was not the case with Kino's family. The beginning of all their troubles was when Coyotito had been bitten by a scorpion. This caused a great commotion in the village, so when Kino and his family went to the doctor, the entire village came with them. Kino didn't have enough money to give the doctor, so the doctor sent them away, without examining Coyotito. Later that day, Kino and his family took their canoe and went out to the ocean in search of pearls. At the ocean floor, Kino found a huge oyster, and in it, was a huge pearl. From this day forward, with the money from this pearl, Kino was sure he and his family would live in luxury. When the doctor heard Kino had a great pearl, he came to Kino's hut, to treat Coyotito, and to try to steal the pearl. Throughout the night, robbers came to steal the pearl, but were not successful, and they physically hurt Kino in the process. Later, Kino took his family to sell the pearl. The whole village came with them, as a sign of loyalty. The pearl buyer offered a small amount of money, telling Kino the pearl was too big, and had an ugly color to it. Kino refused to sell it. To prove he wasn't being unfair, the pearl buyer had other pearl buyers come and appraise the pearl. The amounts the pearl buyers mentioned were about the same, and were too little for Kino to settle for. Kino took the pearl and stormed off with the village. No villager really knew how much the pearl was worth, so Kino made plans to go north to see what other pearl buyers thought of the pearl. Kino was knew he made the right decision, but Juana thought otherwise. She thought Kino should have sold the pearl, and get its evilness out of their lives. That night, Juana couldn't stand still having the pearl. Too many horrible things were happenning to them because of the pearl. So, in the middle to the night, she took the pearl and headed out to the ovean. Kino had awaked because of Juana's movement. He grew suspicious of what Juana was doing, and secretly followed her. When Juana noticed Kino following her, she broke into a run. She was just about to throw the pearl into the ocean to rid them of evil, when Kino caught her arm, hit her, and kicked her in the side. Kino then ran toward the brush house. On his way, a man attacked him, trying to steal the pearl. Kino unknowingly dropped the pearl, and tried to protect himself. He took out his knife, and killed the stranger. Juana found the pearl Kino had dropped, and came to Kino's aid. Kino was afraid of the consequences of just killing someone, so he told Juana to get Coyotito, and they would run away. When Juana got Coyotito, Kino saw a bright flash, and knew it was his brush house. Someone had torn their house apart trying to look for the pearl, and when they couldn't find it, they burned the house down. Kino decided to hide in his brother's house, just until it got dark enough to run away to the mountains. That night, Kino and his family ran away, on a trail to the mountains. He knew he would never see the village and the people in it, ever again. They walked for miles until they rested. Trackers had been looking for them, so Kino tried to avoid them. Kino found a small pool of water where they could drink, and saw a cave in the mountain. They hid there, until the trackers set up a place for the night, right below them. Kino couldn't leave now, or else they would spot them, and Coyotito would probably cry. If they were to stay hidden until the next day, the trackers would find them in the morning. The only way they would live is if Kino got to the rifle, and killed all three of the trackers. Kino climbed out of his cave, and hid behind the bushes. Coyotito made a cry, which caught the attention of the trackers. They thought it was a coyote pup, and one of them shot into the cave. Kino leaped up, and stabbed the tracker with the rifle. He took the rifle, and killed the other two. Coyotito screamed, and Kino Knew the tracker had killed him. Kino and Juana knew the best thing to do, was go back to the village, and get rid of the pearl. They went back, side by side, and stood at the ocean's edge with dead Coyotito in a sack, and threw the pearl into the ocean. The evil subsided, and was no more.

My Reflection:
Steinbeck's novel, The Pearl, describes how man lives for himself, and how man longs for materialistic and secular things. The pearl Kino found could have gotten them a relaxing, rich, life. This is what everyone in the village wanted, and they'd do anything to get it. Because of the greed the doctor had, the doctor made Coyotito sick, then cured him, making Kino think the doctor altogether healed Coyotito. This would cost Kino extra money he didn't need to pay. Also because of the greed everyone around Kino and his family had, robbers came to Kino's hut to steal the pearl. The pearl buyers were greedy, and offered Kino a small price for the great pearl. This was very unfair to Kino and his family. Juana had been wise to try to get rid of the pearl before more destruction came, but Kino had prevented that from happening. Because he wanted his family to live a better life, he attacked Juana, and physically hurt her. This hurt their marriage, and they would never forget this, causing their relationship never to be as close as it was before. Because of greed, someone who Kino had probably grown up with, and was a friend to, attempted to kill Kino and steal his pearl. In self defense, Kino murdered this man. People back at the village tore apart their brush house, then burned it to ashes, barely killing Coyotito. Because of all of this, Kino, Juana, and Coyotito had to flee into the mountains, leaving their family and all they knew to be home. If the tracker found Kino, they would kill him and his family, and take the pearl. They too, were greedy. Because of this, Kino had no choice but kill all three of them. Coyotito died because of the trackers. Every horrific instance happened because people had wanted the pearl. When you think about how people live their lives, pretty much everything they do, is to benefit themself. Many people hurt others for their gain. They are always trying to elevate themselves with worldy pleasures. This is what our world has come down to.

Evil or Good

To Kill a Mocking Bird
By Lauren Hanano
A Day
To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story of a little girl called Scout Finch and her brother, Jem living in the "tired old town" of Maycomb, Alabama. Scout and her brother lives with their widowed father, Atticus. During this time period which they grew up in, racism was still a big deal to most people. At the time, there was also a huge stock market crash which lead to a worldwide business slump. The Finches were one of the fortunate familes because Acticus was a lawyer and they lived reasonably well off in comparison to the rest of society. The Finches’ also had a black cook, Calpurnia, she was the children’s connection between the white people and her own black community.
One summer when Scout was six and Jem was ten, they met a boy named a boy named Dill, who came to spend the summer with his aunt who lived next door for the summer. The three children are both terrified by, and fascinated with the spooky house on their street called the Radley Place. The house is owned by Mr.Nathan Radley, whose brother, "Boo" has lived there for years without ever going outside. They soon become obsessed with trying to make him come out of his home and go through plan after plan, but nothing tends to work and draw him out. The two following summers, Scout and Jem find that someone is leaving them small gifts inside a knothole of a tree right outside of the the Radley place. Several times, they though that the mysterious Boo was making gestures to them, but to their disappointment, never appears in person. Soon the Finch children realize that Boo Radley deserves to live in peace, and they leave him alone.
Atticus father is a respected and upstanding lawyer but when he is assigned to defend innocent, black Tom Robinson against two dishonest white people. Many of Maycomb's citizens disapprove and Atticus knows what is at risk for him but, he also knows that he has to defend this man and do the right thing, or he can't live with himself.
This case turns the whole town against Atticus and Scout has to deal with the other children taunting, even when they celebrate Christmas, and calling her family "nigger-lovers", she is tempted to stand up for her father by fighting but, he has told her not to. For him, Atticus faces men who intent on lynching Tom, but this danger is averted when Scout, Jem, and Dill shame the mob into dispersing by forcing them to view the situation from Atticus' and Tom's points of view.
When it was time for the trial, the children were sitting in the "colored balcony" with the town’s black citizens. Atticus provides clear evidence that the accusers, Mayelle Ewell and her father, Bob, are lying. In fact, the friendless Mayella was making sexual advances towards Tom and her father caught her in the act, then she accused Tom of raping her to cover her shame and guilt. Despite the evidence pointing to Tom’s innocence, the all-white jury convicts him. When a hopless Tom later tries to escape from prison, he is shot to death. In the end of the trial, Jem is shocked and he now has a different perspective of justice.
It seems that the case is finally over and life returns back to normal until the night of Halloween. Bob Ewell feels that Atticus and the judge have made a fool out of him, and he swears to get revenge. On the way home from a party, Bob Ewell jumps at Jem and Scout and attacks them in the darkness. After Jem is badly ingured and his arm is broken, their ghostly neighbor, Boo Radley, rescues Scout and her brother by stabbing Ewell. Boo carries the wounded Jem back to Atticus’s house, where the sheriff, in order to protect Boo, insists that Ewell tripped and fell on his own knife while he was struggling with Jem. After sitting with Scout for a while, Boo disappears once more to his home and never to be seen again.
While standing on the Radley porch, Scout can finally imagine what life must be like for Boo and regrets that they never repaid him for the gifts he had given them. He has become a human being to her at last. With this realization, through the example of their father, they grew to understand that the not everything in the world is always fair and that prejudice is a very real aspect of their world no matter how subtle it seems.Through the events of those two years, Scout learns that no matter their differences, the people of Maycomb County are all people. No one is lesser or better than anyone else because they're all people. She realizes that once you get to know them, most people are good and kind no matter what they seem like on the outside.
Boo Radley, is one of the novel’s "mockingbirds," Boo was a good person that was injured by the evil of mankind. Tom Robinson is also one of the "mockingbirds." He was an important symbol of innocence that was destroyed by evil.
Most things consist of both good and evil. Usually "evil often triumphs, but never conquers." Every story needs a conflict, and the conflict was a struggle between the forces of good and evil. The force of evil could never triumph in the end and ultimate victory for the forces of the good may become greater when it has had to overcome smaller victories of the evil forces. Evil may win a battle every now and then, but good will always have the greater outcome and win the war.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Dylan Morrison-Fogel

To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a book about a girl named Jean Louise “Scout”. She lives with her older brother, Jeremy “Jem”, and her dad Atticus in a town called Maycomb. One day, they meet a boy named Dill, who visits the neighborhood every summer. During that summer, they would act out stories that were told about the man in the house next door, Arthur Radley “Boo”. The summer, the three tried to sneak onto the Radley property, and got shot at by Nathan Radley, Boo’s brother. Jem loses his pants on a fence, and when he returns, the holes were all mended up. During winter, Scout and Jem had been finding “gifts” that have been left for them in a knothole of a tree. Scout and Jem believe that Boo was leaving them gifts, but Nathan Radley plugs up the hole with cement. One night a fire starts in a neighbor’s house, and without being seen, as she is standing outside, someone puts a blanket on Scout to keep her warm. Positive Boo did it, she tells Atticus about the ripped jeans and the gifts in the knothole. Later, Atticus (being a lawyer) decides to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. Friends at school and people on the street are discussed because Maycomb’s white people are racist. tom was accused of raping a white woman. Even people in the family, were teasing Scout, so she beat up her cousin who was calling Atticus a “nigger-lover”. The Finch’s black cook, Calpurnia “Cal”, takes Jem and Scout to the black church, where they were appreciated by most for helping another black person. Atticus’s sister, Alexandra, came to stay with them, to teach Jem and Scout to behave and for her to teach Scout how to act like a lady. Alexandra slowly drives Jem and Scout crazy with her “properness”. Dill, who was supposed to live with his new step-dad, runs away and comes to the Finches house and hides under Scouts bed. Atticus agrees to let Dill stay for awhile.
Tom Robinson’s trial begins and he is put in the local jail for the night, where a group of men come to kill him. Atticus stayed there that night to protect Tom. Scout, Jem, and Dill show up and Scout persuades the men to leave. During the actual trial in court, the kids sit up in the black balcony, out of sight, because Atticus said they couldn’t come. As the trial went on, Mayella Ewell and Bob Ewell, the accusers, lied constantly. Atticus gave good evidence that would prove that Bob had attacked his daughter instead of Tom. Even with the evidence, Tom was still accused because he was black. Tom later tried to escape from jail and was shot. Even with the Ewell victory, Bob still has a grudge agenst Atticus and swears to get him back. On the way back from a play, Scout and Jem were attacked in the dark by Bob. Bob had broken Jem’s arm and knocked him uncoscience. Boo Radley came to the rescue and stopped Bob by stabbing him in the chest with a knife. Boo carried Jem back to the Finch house and disappears into his own house after a talk with the sheriff.

REFLECTION:
In this book the triumph of evil over good would be when Tom was accused of the rape of Mayella Ewell when it was her father beating her instead. Tom was accused and sentenced because he was a black person and black people always loose in a court case agenst a white man. Another triumph of evil over good was when a boy at Scout’s school was teasing her because her dad was defending a black person. Scout had to turn around and walk away from a fight with him. Also, in the book it said that Scouts teacher told her to stop listening to her brother and father’s way of teaching because they were wrong. The last example of a triumph of evil over good was when Dill had to run away from his new step-dad. In the book it said that Dill ran away because he was kept in the cellar by his step-dad. He was starved to death until a nearby farmer had heard him yelling for help. The farmer had to slip peas in through a vent to feed Dill. Then in the end Dill still had to go back to his evil step-dad.
Some examples of the triumph of good over evil was when Boo Radley had stabbed Bob Ewell in the chest when he was attacking the kids. Another example of the triumph of good over evil was when Scout had backed up her father by hitting her cousin in the face. She was protecting her family. The last example of a triumph of good over evil was when Scout persuaded the group of men wanting to kill Tom Robinson to go away. Scout had recognized a Cunningham in the group and had asked a series of polite but effective questions like: “How’s your entailment gettin’ along?” or “Don’t you remember me Mr. Cunningham? I’m Jean Louise Finch. You brought us some hickory nuts one time, remember?” These questions had probably made Mr. Cunningham feel like there was nothing wrong with the innocent kids asking him innocent questions.
The scourge of the social equality was the racial differences between the black people and the white people. In the book, black people were servants and slaves to the white people. The black people and the white people had very different privileges too. The white people got to sit in closer seats to a court trial while the black people had to sit in a far away balcony. The black people also had to go to church in an old building, without any pianos, organs, hymnbooks or church programs. On each of the seats was a small cardboard fan because it was hot and damp inside. there was also social inequality for mixed races. The people of a mixed race did not fit in with the whites or the blacks so they had to make another group by themselves. The social inequality was so bad in Maycomb, black people would lose a court case just because they were black. Even if there was excellent proof that the white person was guilty, the black person would still lose.

To Kill A Mocking Bird

Summary: To Kill A Mocking Bird

By: Jensen Koga


Jean Louise Finch nicknamed Scott is living with her brother Jem Finch, there widowed father Atticus and their cook Calpurnia. They live in a small town called Maycomb in Alabama and at the time this story takes place there is a lot of prejudice. Atticus is a prominent lawyer and the Finch family is considered to be well off money wise as compared to the rest of the town’s people. One summer they meet a boy named Dill and they become friends. Dill is from Meridian Mississippi and comes to stay with his Aunty Rachael every winter. Back home Dill went to the pictures shows but finds out in Maycomb there weren’t any. After Dill becomes spellbound with the spooky house on their street called the Radley Place, the three of them Dill, Jem and Scout start acting out stories together. Mr. Nathan Radley owned this house and lived there with his brother Arthur. Arthur’s nickname was Bool. Even if Boo lived there many years he never came out the house. Scout goes to school for the first time that fall and she hates it. Scout and Jem find gifts left for them in a knothole of a tree on the Radley property. That following summer Dill comes back and Dill, Jem and Scout start to act stories about Boo Radley a.k.a. (Arthur Radley). Atticus puts a stop to their stories and he said “to see life from another persons perspective before making a judgement on them”. On Dills last night in Maycomb before their summer ends the three of them sneak onto the Radleys property. While they were on the property Nathan Radely shot at them. As they were running Jem loss his pants when they were trying to escape. They went back for his pants and found it stuck to the fence someone had hung it over the fence. The next winter Jem and Scout find more presents in the tree they thought it was left by the Mysterious Boo Radley. Nathan Radley eventfully plugs the hole with cement. It was not long until a fire broke out in another neighbor’s house, and while they were looking at the blazing fire someone slipped on a blanket on Scouts shoulders. Scout was convinced that Boo Radley put the blanket on her shoulders. Jem tells Atticus about the pants on the fence and all of the presents in the tree. Maycomb is a racist white community and even so Atticus agrees to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was accused of having sex a white woman. Atticus decision to defend Tom Robinson not only affected himself but his decision also affected his children, Jem and Scout because the other children abused them at school and even when they celebrated Christmas at the compound of the Finches family landing. While out of town, Calpurnia the Finches black cook takes Jem and Scout to a local black church where they embrace children. Atticus’s sister, Alexandra, comes to live with the Finches to help care for them. Dill who is supposed to live with his new father in another town runs away and comes back to Maycomb. Tom Robinson trials begin. At the trial Jem and Scout sneak into the colored balcony with the black citizens. Atticus provides clear evidence that Mayella Ewell and her father Bob are lying. Atticus also proved that it was not Tom Robinson who hit Mayella but her father instead. The all white jury convicted the innocent Tom Robinson. Later Tom tries to escape and gets shot trying. Bob feels that Atticus and the judge made a fool out of him and he wants revenge. To get back at them Bob tries to break in to the judge’s house and attacks Jem and Scout while they are walking home from the Halloween Party. Boo Radley comes to the rescue and stabs Bob Ewell. The sheriff protected Boo Radley and claimed Bob Ewell fell on his own knife. Now, Scout understood what her father meant when he told her about judging people that she doesn’t personally know.


My Reactions:

This book is very educational and interesting. I found myself getting hooked to the story. I felt angry when Tom Robinson was not treated fairly. I felt good when Atticus did what he thought was right and defended Tom Robinson. I thought it was funny when the three children Dill, Jem and Scout sneaked out of their house and went to the Radley’s house to try to get Boo Radley to come out. Mr. Nathan Radley caught them and while running away Jem’s pants came off and he went back to get them it was on the fence.
I also thought it was surprising that the white people give the black people a hard time but when the children went to the black people’s church most of them welcomed the children.
The triumph of evil over good is when Bob Hewell lied and accused, a black man, Tom Robinson for raping his daughter and the jury ruled in Bob Hewell’s favor even after the evidence was clear that Tom Robinson was innocent and Bob Hewell lied. The evil lies of Bob Hewell won over the good and innocent Tom Robinson.
The triumph of good over evil is when a white prominent lawyer, Atticus, defends a black man, Tom Robinson, because he believed Tom is innocent and Bob Hewell was lying. Race did not matter to Atticus; he even put himself and his family in a bad spot when he decided to defend Tom Robinson. His friends and family turned against Atticus and his family when Atticus decided to defend a black man. Although this was bad for Atticus and his family this was good for Tom Robinson because I don’t think that anyone else would have stepped up and accepted this case.
The scourge of the social inequality is the devastation of a community when it lacks uniformity or any type of respect. Such as, we depend on the courts to uphold the law and make the best decision to protect the innocent in the community. But in this story even if Atticus proved that Tom Robinson was innocent the all white jury decided that he was guilty just because Tom Robinson was black. If Tom Robinson were white, would the jury decide differently? I wonder? It’s just not right.

to kill a mocking bird

TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD

BY: HARRISON WRAY



To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Alabama during the Depression, and is narrated by the main character, a little girl named Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. Her father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer with high moral standards. Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill are intrigued by the local rumors about a man named Boo Radley, who lives in their neighborhood but never leaves his house. Legend has it that he once stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors, and he is made out to be a kind of monster. Dill is from Mississippi but spends his summer in Maycomb at a house near the Finch's. The children are curious to know more about Boo, and during one summer create a mini-drama they enact daily, which tells the events of his life as they know them. Slowly, the children begin moving closer to the Radley house, which is said to be haunted. They try leaving notes for Boo on his windowsill with a fishing pole, but are caught by Atticus, who firmly reprimands them for making fun of a sad man's life. Next, the children try sneaking over to the house at night and looking through its windows. Boo's brother, Nathan Radley, who lives in the house, thinks he hears a prowler and firing his gun. The children run away, but Jem loses his pants in a fence. When he returns in the middle of the night to get them back, they have been neatly folded and the tear from the fence roughly sewn up. Other mysterious things happen to the Finch children. A certain tree near the Radley house has a hole in which little presents are often left for them, such as pennies, chewing gum, and soap carved figures of a little boy and girl who bear a striking resemblance to Scout and Jem. The children don't know where these gifts are coming from, and when they go to leave a note for the mystery giver, they find that Boo's brother has plugged up the hole with cement. The next winter brings unexpected cold and snow, and Miss Maudie's house catches on fire. While Jem and Scout, shivering, watch the blaze from near the Radley house, someone puts a blanket around Scout without her realizing it. Not until she returns home and Atticus asks her where the blanket came from does she realize that Boo Radley must have put it around her while she was entranced by watching Miss Maudie, her favorite neighbor, and her burning house. Atticus decides to take on a case involving a black man named Tom Robinson who has been accused of raping a very poor white girl named Mayella Ewel a member of the notorious Ewell family, who belong to the layer of Maycomb society that people refer to as "trash." The Finch family faces harsh criticism in the heavily racist Maycomb because of Atticus's decision to defend Tom. But, Atticus insists on going through with the case because his conscience could not let him do otherwise. He knows Tom is innocent, and also that he has almost no chance at being acquitted, because the white jury will never believe a black man over a white woman. Despite this, Atticus wants to reveal the truth to his fellow townspeople, expose their bigotry, and encourage them to imagine the possibility of racial equality. The time for the trial draws closer, and Atticus's sister Alexandra comes to stay with the family. She is proper and old-fashioned and wants to shape Scout into the model of the Southern feminine ideal, much to Scout's resentment. Dill runs away from his home, where his mother and new father don't seem interested in him, and stays in Maycomb for the summer of Tom's trial. The night before the trial, Tom is moved into the county jail, and Atticus, fearing a possible lynching, stands guard outside the jail door all night. Jem is concerned about him, and the three children sneak into town to find him. A group of men arrive ready to cause some violence to Tom, and threaten Atticus in the process. At first Jem, Scout and Dill stand aside, but when she senses true danger, Scout runs out and begins to speak to one of the men, the father of one of her classmates in school. Her innocence brings the crowd out of their mob mentality, and they leave. The trial pits the evidence of the white Ewell family against the black Tom's evidence. According to the Ewells, Mayella asked Tom to do some work for her while her father was out, and Tom came into their house and forcibly beat and raped Mayella until her father appeared and scared him away. Tom's version is that Mayella invited him inside, then threw her arms around him and began to kiss him. Tom tried to push her away. When Bob Ewell arrived, he flew into a rage and beat her, while Tom ran away in fright. According to the sheriff's testimony, Mayella's bruises were on the right side of her face, which means she was most likely punched with a left hand. Tom Robinson's left arm is useless due to an old accident, whereas Mr. Ewell leads with his left. Given the evidence of reasonable doubt, Tom should go free, but after hours of deliberation, the jury pronounces him guilty. Scout, Jem and Dill sneak into the courthouse to see the trial and sit in the balcony with Maycomb's black population. They are stunned at the verdict because to them, the evidence was so clearly in Tom's favor. Though the verdict is unfortunate, Atticus feels some satisfaction that the jury took so long deciding. Usually, the decision would be made in minutes, because a black man's word would not be trusted. Atticus is hoping for an appeal, but unfortunately Tom tries to escape from his prison and is shot to death in the process. Jem has trouble handling the results of the trial, feeling that his trust in the goodness and rationality of humanity has been betrayed. Meanwhile, Mr. Ewell threatens Atticus and other people connected with the trial because he feels he was humiliated. He gets his revenge one night while Jem and Scout are walking home from Halloween play at their school. He follows them home in the dark, then runs at them and attempts to kill them with a large kitchen knife. Jem breaks his arm, and Scout, who is wearing a confining ham shaped wire costume and cannot see what is going on, is helpless throughout the attack. The elusive Boo Radley stabs Mr. Ewell and saves the children. Finally, Scout has a chance to meet the shy and nervous Boo. At the end of this fateful night, the sheriff declares that Mr. Ewell fell on his own knife so Boo, the hero of the situation, won't have to be tried for murder. Scout walks Boo home and imagines how he has viewed the town and observed her, Jem and Dill over the years from inside his home. Boo goes inside, closes the door, and she never sees him again