He becomes fascinated with Boo Radley and represents the perspective of childhood innocence throughout the novel. Alexandra is the perfect Southern lady, and her commitment to propriety and tradition often leads her to clash with Scout.
Though one can pity Mayella because of her overbearing father, one cannot pardon her for her shameful indictment of Tom Robinson. The black field hand accused of rape. An elderly, ill-tempered, racist woman who lives near the Finches. Although Jem believes that Mrs. Dubose is a thoroughly bad woman, Atticus admires her for the courage with which she battles her morphine addiction. Scout thinks that Nathan is similar to the deceased Mr. Heck is a decent man who tries to protect the innocent from danger.
Underwood respects Atticus and proves to be his ally. A wealthy white man who lives with his black mistress and multiracial children. Raymond pretends to be a drunk so that the citizens of Maycomb will have an explanation for his behavior. In reality, he is simply jaded by the hypocrisy of white society and prefers living among blacks.
A poor farmer and part of the mob that seeks to lynch Tom Robinson at the jail. Son of Mr. Walter Cunningham and classmate of Scout. Walter cannot afford lunch one day at school and accidentally gets Scout in trouble.
Ace your assignments with our guide to To Kill a Mockingbird! SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. How is Tom Robinson a mockingbird? What does the rabid dog Atticus shoots symbolize? How did Jem break his arm? What is the significance of the gifts Boo Radley leaves in the knothole? Why does the jury find Tom guilty? What role does Calpurnia play in the family and in the novel?
Why is Dill an important character? What does Mrs. Dubose teach Scout and Jem? Why does Dolphus Raymond hide Coca-Cola in a brown paper bag? Why does Mayella Ewell lie on the witness stand? In Maycomb society and, truthfully, the Southern United States at this time , basic human kindness from a black person to a white person is impermissible. The consequences are deadly when the "lesser" show their compassion — and then have the audacity to admit it — for the "greater.
The all-white jury is in an awkward position. If they acquit a black man who admittedly pities a white person, then they're voting to lessen their own power over the black community. However, if they convict Tom, they do so knowing that they're sentencing an innocent man to death.
Mayella makes their choice very easy when she looks at the jury and says, "'That nigger yonder took advantage of me an' if you fine fancy gentlemen don't wanta do nothin' about it then you're all yellow stinkin' cowards.
The remaining question about Tom's innocence is why did he run from the Ewell property if he did nothing wrong? Atticus explains that Tom was truly between a rock and a hard place: "he would not have dared strike a white woman under any circumstances and expect to live long, so he took the first opportunity to run — a sure sign of guilt.
Dill, a child who has not yet reached Scout's level of acceptance about societal prejudices, reacts strongly to the lack of respect African Americans are shown. As Dill and Scout leave the courtroom for a few minutes, Dolphus Raymond explains his own disdain for "'the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they're people, too.
The white community excuses his behavior because they believe he is an alcoholic who "can't help himself. With that conversation, Scout is further educated about prejudice and the negative consequences that result from it. When Bob Ewell takes the witness stand, Scout notes that the only thing "that made him better than his nearest neighbors was, that if scrubbed with lye soap in very hot water, his skin was white.
Ewell testifies with the confidence of someone who knows he's already won. If his case weren't so clear cut in his eyes, he wouldn't make lewd jokes when being questioned on the witness stand.
The more sophisticated white people in Maycomb at least try to pretend that their prejudices don't run so deep, but Ewell is beyond this sort of genteel pretense. He boldly tells Judge Taylor that he's "'asked this county for fifteen years to clean out that nest down yonder, they're dangerous to live around 'sides devaluin' my property — '" If a man's life were not at stake, Ewell's testimony would be laughable.
No one — not even a neighborhood of "lower-class" blacks — can devalue a piece of property that is basically an extension of the town dump. And, the entire courtroom will soon realize that the danger actually lies in living close to the Ewells, not vice versa.
Atticus gently shows the injustice of Tom's situation throughout the court proceedings. For instance, Atticus makes a point of noting that even though Mayella was badly beaten and claimed to have been brutally raped, no doctor was ever called to the scene. When he asks Sheriff Tate why he didn't call a doctor, the answer is a simple "'It wasn't necessary, Mr. Something sho' happened, it was obvious.
But Tom Robinson is a black man, so calling a doctor simply "wasn't necessary," another indicator of the deep-running prejudice that blacks in Maycomb live with every day.
Scout as well as Judge Taylor is genuinely surprised when Mayella claims that Atticus is mocking her. He is only treating her respectfully. That Lee chooses the word "mock" here is important. Mockingbirds repeat sounds they hear.
They're like little echo machines. Atticus is only repeating the story as it really happened, but in this case, an echo is a very dangerous thing to Mayella. Lee describes Mayella as being like "a steady-eyed cat with a twitchy tail," which is ironic given that Tom is much like a mockingbird just trying to make her life easier and more enjoyable. Cats hunt birds, and Lee's description is of a cat stalking prey. After Mayella's testimony, Scout suddenly understands that Mayella is "even lonelier than Boo Radley.
During his closing argument, Atticus ties the questions of race and social station together. Making no judgement about Mayella, Atticus tells the jury that "'she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with. What did she do? She tempted a Negro. Had Tom Robinson been a woman accused of seducing a white man, the outcome of the trial would be no different. How then, is Dolphus Raymond allowed to live and procreate with black women?
He's white, he owns land, and he comes from a "fine old family. Ironically, Scout thinks of Mayella as facing the same problems that a mixed child deals with: "white people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn't have anything to do with her because she was white. Previous Chapters Next Chapters Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks?
My Preferences My Reading List. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee.
0コメント