Tom Robinson is dead. I did not think the story was going to end like this. I did think someone was going to die, especially from the title, but surely not Tom Robinson. The world we live in is based a lot on race which always ends up leading to racism. Racism, in this story, has taken the life away from an innocent person who has been accused of wrong doings only because of the color of his skin. I think that Tom Robinson has the right to live and should not have been shot, much less 17 times! People these days should get to know someone instead of judging them by the color of their skin. I think if everyone really got to know who the real Tom Robinson was, they would have gave him a little space to speak his part of the story but instead everybody ganged up on him and nobody knew what had really happen, though there were a few people on his side, the entire town overpowered him and he was powerless. This story is wrapping up in a racist way. I feel as there will be some kind of ending that will change this little town in Alabama a little bit.

When I read that Tom Robinson was guilty, I was disappointed but not surprised. Due to the stereotype of the racist, white trash, and somewhat uneducated. I assumed that the jury did indeed follow said stereotype and to some extent, I was correct. Even presented with incriminating evidence, and strong testimonials proving Mr. Robinson’s innocence, the jury still condemned him to death. This angered me slightly, not the fact that he was guilty, but the way pronounced him guilty and completely disregarding the overwhelming evidence that Mr. Robinson was indeed innocent. The racism present at the time impeded the work of the justice system, causing injustice after injustice to be committed again and again due to people’s ignorance of not excepting something that is not of similar race. Unfortunately later in the book, we the readers find out that Tom Robinson attempted to escape from his imminent doom and was shot seventeen times and later died. 

This picture here shows a flower from a Camellia bush. I used this picture to symbolize the relationship between Jem and Mrs. Dubose. When they first met there was a lot of tension between the two. Jem would normally walk by her house everyday and listen to her continual rants. It wasn’t until one day in particular that Mrs. Dubose finally got to Jem. She began to rant about how wrong his dad was in defending Tom Robinson. That is what set Jem off; he took Scout’s brand new baton and smashed all of her Camellia bushes with them. His father was not pleased and sentenced him to read to Mrs. Dubose for a month. Jem didn’t enjoy her company in the least, and it wasn’t until she passed away near the end of the month did he find out who Mrs. Dubose truly was. His father explained to him that she was a morphine addict and told him that was what was responsible for her uncontrollable fits. She wanted to quit before she died and succeeded. Jem’s father handed him a box with a Camellia blossom inside of it. He told him it was a gift from Mrs. Dubose. That is when Jem finally realized that Mrs. Dubose was not a senile, cranky old lady but a nice and very brave elderly woman. 

As the book continues, it goes more in depth into the trial of Tom Robinson. As we all know by now, Tom Robinson is an African American citizen that was more likely than not, wrongfully convicted of a rape and assault on a young girl in the city of Maycomb, Alabama. The trial is in full swing, Atticus is hacking away at the lies and deception the plaintiffs have brought forth to the courtroom. In fact, Atticus is presenting a very well built case. Given his circumstances and the era he lives in, being able to put forth a good defense for an African American in those days was the mark of  a truly great lawyer. Hopefully the jury will put aside their prejudice and racism for the sake of the trial. If one looks at the facts, they could clearly see that Tom Robinson is indeed an innocent man.  

The story is getting to a point where everything is slowly winding together. In these chapters Tom Robinson’s trail becomes a big part of the story. More and more people are against Tom Robinson, which causes everyone to dislike Atticus. During the trail everyone states their testimonies. Mayella was the first to go. She says that Tom Robinson tried to rape her when he was supposed to be doing his work. Then, after Mayella, it is Tom Robinson’s turn to testify. He claims that he did not do anything wrong. Instead Mayella was the one that was coming on to him and he did not do anything. After this it was Atticus’s turn to state his story. When he was stating what happened he had valid reasons for everything. He was defending Tom Robinson very well. One of his main reasons was the fact that Tom Robinson is right handed; therefore he could not have done such a thing, because the bruise on Mayella’s face was on the right side. But a person that could have done this was Bob, Tom Robinson’s dad, because he is left handed. But the judge completely ignored this statement because he is siding with Bob. This trail is unfair in many ways. Everyone totally ignores the truth only because of racism.

More and more people are beginning to have conflicting opinions of the trial taking place in Maycomb. Atticus believes that Tom Robison should be set free because he was wrongly accused of a crime he did not commit. However, due to the fact that he is black, most people in the community are against letting him go free even if he is in fact innocent. This racism was unfortunately very common at the time. Usually, if an African American was accused of a crime, some how they were automatically proven guilty. Hopefully, Tom Robinson will be found innocent, but we won’t find out until later in the book.

“Maybe he doesn’t have anywhere to run off to…”

This quote shows a lot of racism. It states that African Americans are fixed in one area because of their history. They are saying that they have to stay no matter what, because their population is scarce. This affects Dill in a way because he feels like he is lost and has no where or no one to go to. He runs away with this thought in his head. I think Dill thinks that he is what they are talking about because to him it all fits him. Dill is a very confused kid who thinks he has no where to go.

This book reveals more and more as we get more into the book. More and more people think Tom Robinson is guilty. Tom Robinson’s case is slowly going down hill. As for Atticus, many people are not too happy with him. As Atticus was having some alone time at night, four  cars with a huge group of men came towards him. They wanted him to leave the jailhouse for no apparent reason. At this point I thought they were planning to do something to Tom Robinson. As all this was happening, Atticus’s three children ran to his rescue. Sout, Jem, and Dill snuck out of their house and followed him to the jail. Atticus pleaded them to leave but the children were not ready to leave their father in a dangerous position like that. To his surprise his children did help. Scout recognizes Mr. Cunningham and decides to conversate with him for a little bit. To everyone’s surprise she makes Mr. Cunningham reconsider and he tells everyone to leave Atticus alone.  I think what Atticus’s children did was very corageous. Without them, their father would probably have been hurt. Atticus should be more then thankful for his very loving children.

As we all know, Dill was caught hiding under the bed. He explained to Scout and Jem that he had run away from home because he felt that his mom and her new husband did not need him. For some reason or another, instead of concealing his presence, Jem told Atticus. This confused me because based on Jem’s character, one would assume he would hide one of his good friends. I speculate he did that because he might have been hormonal, as described in previous chapters. Maybe Jem felt that he was growing up and told Atticus because it was the right thing to do. Hopefully the book will better explain as to why this happened because I for one do not understand why Jem did that.

When the book first introduced Mrs. Dubose in chapter eleven, my first impression was she was an angry, rude, and confused old woman. She had temper tantrums on a daily basis and directed them at all pass by. Unfortunately for Scout and Jem, the became the most common commuters to pass her house. Normally, they would ignore her angry comments and fits, until she began to rant about Atticus and the trail. That is what made Jem snap and take the newly bought baton and smash all the tops of the camellia bush in the garden. Scout began to scream over her brand new baton being broken. Jem grabbed her hair and threatened to pull it all out, but Scout continued to scream. Due to Scout’s screaming; they were eventually caught and Jem was sentenced to read to Mrs. Dubose for one month. Near the end of the month Jem’s first impression of Mrs. Dubose was still believed to be true in his mind until Mrs. Dubose passed away. Atticus explained that her fits were the result of a morphine addiction and she was determined to quit before she passed. Atticus gave Jem the box Mrs. Dubose made him that contained a beautiful camellia blossom, similar to the ones he destroyed. Atticus went on to explain what Mrs. Dubose did was true courage, ” It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through.” As with Jem my first impression changed from a cantankerous, angry old woman to a courageous and loving person.

Post by: Dayne Cahlan