Picture (Chp.21-25)
This picture shows a black man behind bars. Tom Robinson is trapped in racism and discrimination. I feel really bad for the people that have to live through all these crude remarks because of the color of their skin. It must’ve been really hard for Tom. This picture shows a man trapped in a jail cell, but Tom was not only trapped in that, he was trapped in a dark hole that consisted of the racism of many people. I think that Tom represented all the black people whose lives were filled with racist remarks. And it is sad that people like him are forced to live that way their whole life.
The Verdict (Chp21-25)
I was not at all surprised at the verdict of the case. Discrimination plays such a big role in this book that racism isn’t even surprising anymore. I’m still pretty sad though that Tom Robinson’s case didn’t result in his favor. But, what I am sort of happy about is that the black population in Maycomb respected Atticus even though he lost the case. The people sent him an enormous amount of food and it showed appreciation for the white guy that defended the black. The verdict also changed Jem’s views on things. He used to have hope in the world that people wouldn’t side on one side based on the color of people’s skin. He was wrong and was clearly disappointed in that realization he made.
The events that led to the verdict also made that one little scene where the decision was made a relieving part in the book, since it was talked about most of the time. Now, all the gossip and worries that Atticus and the children went through will hopefully be gone. Atticus can probably ease a bit now that he doesn’t have to worry about what he should discuss in the trial or how he should continue to protect Tom. The verdict was a pretty relieving part in the book.
Picture (chp.17-20)
http://www.town.haverhill.nh.us/Resources/Old-Court-Room.jpg
I picked this picture because it resembles what the courtroom back in the day would look like. It has that antique courtroom look, and I also put the link and not the picture because the picture won’t upload for some reason. Anyways, I can picture Atticus in the courtroom, questioning the witnesses, and since the picture is in black and white, it looks a little bit more like back in the day. The place is all wooden and there’s a chalkboard, so it must’ve been way back in the day. I think this is a good example of hoe the courtroom looked like.
The Outside World (Chs 13-16)
In this week’s post for Chapters 13 through 16 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee introduces the African American community from a solidly African American perspective at a drastic moment in the book—just as race relations in Maycomb are thrown into overtime by the trial of Tom Robinson. By emphasizing the goodness and solidarity of the African American community, Lee shows that the racism that is so highly rampant among Maycomb’s whites in an extremely harsh, ugly, and brutish fashion. One of the main moral themes of the novel so far is that of sympathy and understanding; one of Atticus Finch’s fundamental beliefs is that Scout should always try to put herself in someone else’s shoes before she judges them. “Walk a mile in a man’s shoes before you criticize his sneakers.” Lee enables us to identify with the African American community in a way that makes the townspeople’s unwillingness to do so seem mean-spirited and stubborn. Simply because of their racial prejudice, the townspeople are prepared to accept the word of the cruel, ignorant Bob Ewell over that of a decent black man, Mr. Tom Robinson. If the novel’s main theme involves the threat that evil and hatred pose to innocence and goodness, it becomes clear that ignorant, unsympathetic racial prejudice will be the predominant incarnation of evil and hatred, as the childhood innocence of Scout and Jem is thrown into crisis by the circumstances of the trial. Calpurnia decides to show the outside world to Scout and Jem, to show that the world is not penetrated by the “angry black man”, as the rest of “white Maycomb” would like Scout and Jem to believe.
~Daniel Waqar
Song (Chs 13-16)
May 22, 2009, 2:47 am
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Music I decided to do this week’s group post in the musical department, with the song “…And Justice for All” by Metallica. The lyrics of the song refer to the act of social injustice, in which “Lady Justice” is “raped”, the “halls of justice” are “painted green”, “ [the] doors are beset by “power wolves”, and “seeking no truth, winning is all.” These nihilistic lyrics may be a result of the death of former bassist, Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident in Sweden before the recording of this album. Singer James Hetfield accused the bus driver of being drunk, but the accusations were never taken to court. This may be the prime source of anger toward the Justice System, but these details are unconfirmed. Either way, this song fully captures my source of anger towards the cruel justice system that is incapacitating a poor “mockingbird”, epitomized as Mister Tom Robinson.
For those of you that would like to listen to the song in its entirety, here is the YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfoDh1XL2wo
~Daniel Waqar
Song (Chs 17-20)
May 22, 2009, 2:36 am
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Music I decided to do this week’s song as Come As You Are by Nirvana. Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the band Nirvana, described the lyrics of “Come as You are” as contradictory, and said the song was about “people and what they’re expected to act like”. Pointing to the line “Take your time, hurry up, choice is yours, don’t be late”, essayist Catherine J. Creswell writes that in Cobain’s lyrics, “[p]hrases clump into strings of empty clichés whose own ostensible meaning is forced into contradictions or simple rhyme sound”. In light of Cobain’s 1994 suicide by self-inflicted gunshot-wound, Allmusic’s Mark Deming suggests that “[h]earing Kurt Cobain sing ‘And I swear that I don’t have a gun’ gives ‘Come as You Are’ a sting it was never meant to have when [Nevermind] was first released in 1991.” Deming reasons that the “don’t have a gun” lyric is “[Cobain's] attempt to reassure listeners that … his target is the world at large rather than the individuals in it, and that there was still room in this damaged world for everyone”.
–Wikipedia search: Come As You Are, Nirvana
This song fits perfectly within the persona of To Kill a Mockingbird because it symbolizes how people must stand up for themselves and not change who they are despite social stigmas and “ostracization.” People should just be themselves, and the world must accept that at face value, simply put.
For those of you who would like to listen to the song in its purest form, here is the link to it on YouTube:
~Daniel Waqar
Tom Robinson as a Mockingbird in TKAM (Chs 17-20)
I decided to do this week’s post for Chapters 17 through 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird on one of the foremost characters, and essentially, without this character, the novel would not be the same. This character is Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is the black field hand accused of sexually assaulting a white woman named Mayella Ewell. Tom is one of the novel’s “mockingbirds,” an important symbol of pure innocence and kindness destroyed by evil. Mister Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman. During the trial, two different stories are maintained. One is the Ewells, both Mayella and Bob, and the other is of Mister Tom Robinson’s. Mayella and Bob Ewell maintain that Mr. Tom Robinson was asked to help Mayella, but Mister Tom Robinson twisted this encounter into something it should not have been, while Mr. Tom Robinson maintains it was Mayella that attacked him and wanted kisses and hugs from him. It seems Tom Robinson is being taken advantage of both the Ewells and most of Maycomb and Southern Alabama in general. He is, simply put, a mockingbird. All of the community’s pent-up rage, frustration, and in-depth hatred is embodied in how they treat Tom Robinson and African Americans in general. For over 250 years in that community, slavery was considered a legal transaction. However, at that time, African Americans had just received their rights (though some were still legally fighting for them), and had started to begin to use them. However, many, like Tom Robinson, despite the fact that they now have legal status and rights in the South, still do not fight against those who seek to oppress their rights. I think this might be one of the reasons that Atticus might lose the trial. But we might have to wait and see.
~Daniel Waqar
Atticus (Chp.17-20)
I think Atticus is a pretty amazing person and lawyer, considering that he pretty much proved that Tom Robinson didn’t rape Mayella, and that she was just desperately alone and was in great need of attention and love. I think Atticus’s cross-examination and patience towards the trial was to say the least inspirational. I like his strong character; his persistence with Tom Robinson and how he doesn’t give up. It’s pretty awesome. I can’t find another word to describe him; all I could think of is awesome. I like how Atticus asked Bob Ewell to write his name, knowing that if he was not right-handed, this would provide evidence and proof for him. Atticus knew that a left-handed person would only harm someone’s right side of their face.
Atticus amazes me. He is a great father, telling his kids not to give up and teaching them how to read. He knows how to perfectly kill a crazy animal with one shot, and he is modest in every way. He is a great lawyer, knowing many ways to manipulate people to get the information he needs. Atticus is an intelligent man. If he was real, I would really look up to him.
Scout’s Innocence (Chp.13-16)
As I was reading Chapter 15 in the book, I couldn’t help but notice Scout’s innocence towards the group of men at the Maycomb jail. What she said to Mr. Cunningham was so innocent that it caused him to order the group of men to depart from the jail. I think this saved a lot of trouble for Atticus, Tom Robinson and everyone else. Had she not been there, and had Mr. Underwood not been hiding near his window, violence would probably be involved. Scout basically saved Atticus and Tom, but I’m not saying Atticus can’t protect himself, because he has definitely proven himself by shooting a mad dog with one try, instantly killing it. With that ability, Atticus could probably do more than that to harm others. But, since there was a group of men who wanted to lynch Tom, I think Scout really saved some blood. Mr. Underwood was also a backup, just in case the men decide to harm Atticus, and Scout, too, because of her annoyance. I would be pretty annoyed if I wanted to kill a man but have a little girl talk to me about my legal entailments and my kid. It just amazes me how people truly hate others based on the colors of their skin, even to the point where lynch mobs are created to kill one black man who is not even proven guilty of raping a white girl.
Quote (Chs 5-9)
May 15, 2009, 2:26 am
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This is not really a quote, but this still works. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, we as readers see the words “nigger” and “negro(s)” very frequently. At the time of the book’s publishing, in 1960, these words were commonly used to refer to African American folk and descendents of slaves. However, times have changed, to put this in the simplest terms possible. Even during these times, Dr. Martin Luther King Junior used these terms (I don’t believe I have ever heard him say the word “nigger”) to refer to not only himself as an African American man, but the black race as a whole in America. “Negro”, “nigger”, and other juxtapositions of the same word have been transposed in the English language for many centuries. These terms came in to the English language from other languages, most likely Latin or Spanish, either of these Romance languages. Spanish slave traders would use the term “negro” (from which the word “nigger” developed) to refer to Africans that they were trading in this little slavery business. At the time when African Americans were fighting hard for simply their Creator-endowed civil rights, these words were justified in a sense to refer to this creed of people because many Americans (not just those descendants of slave traders and overseers) believed it to be a denigrating and offense way to get away with overtly insulting the lower rung of humanity. However, times HAVE changed drastically. One thing is for sure—one can no longer get away with saying “nigger”, or its less offensive cousin “negro” without some sort of hype or controversy. “Nigger-lover” is used to refer to Atticus Finch as he is taking up the case of Mr. Thomas Robinson, a man who he deems to be innocent. In today’s America, these words are considered offensive and demeaning to African-Americans and would never be tolerated. Just because Atticus chooses to be ahead of his time and resort to defending the innocent and wrongly-accused person does not make him in love with the “lower rung of society”, if such a thing exists/existed/will exist.
~Daniel Waqar
