Previously On Scout´s Childhood...
Atticus is assigned the case of Tom Robinson, a black man who is blamed for raping Mayella Ewell and wants to prove to the jury that Mayella's father beat her up and blamed Tom for it. Later, Tom is questioned by Atticus on the events that supposedly happened, but he just says that he was trying to help Mayella when she tried to kiss him (not to mention that Tom's left arm was severely damaged and wasn't useful, hitting Mayella would've been extremely hard). Sadly, Tom is taken to prison but Atticus promises Tom to keep trying to set him free. Jem cries because he thought that the jury would be fair, but is only comforted by the sadness he shares with his dad. One day, Atticus arrives strangely early from work and tells Calpurnia, the maid, that he needs her help in order to tell Tom Robinson's wife that Tom was killed while trying to escape prison.
My Thoughts On...
“´I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.´” (Lee, 304)
This quote is said by Scout to Jem while they are discussing the types of people Maycomb. It all started when Aunt Alexandra prohibited Scout from bringing Walter Cunningham home, she said he was trash. I think that, since Scout is young and innocent, she does not understand that society has always been organized in social classes that don't usually mix with one another. I felt strangely pitiful for Scout, she lives in a time and place where poverty existed among everyone and where everyone was extremely judgmental and condescending towards others. I guess I didn't expect the 1930´s to be such a socially divided period of time, but then again; the 21st century is a socially divided time. Also, I don't think that I can totally understand Scout since her living arrangements and traditions are way different than mine. I also think that Scout does not understand the prejudice that exists in the different social classes or in colors of the skin. Honestly, I think that social hierarchy should not be defined by money or race, but should instead be way to organize society equally and fairly.
“´But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal- there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution gentlemen, is a court.´ ” (Lee, 274)
These are some of the last words of Atticus Finch in his trial in which he defends Tom Robinson. I think that the words that Atticus tells to the jury are not completely true since not even the court gave justice to Tom. The law is supposed to be enforced in a court, but morality and an individual's beliefs also interfere in a court. Justice was not granted to Tom because of the racial inequality and discrimination of his time , but hopefully it would've been granted today. Until what extent does law influence the final decision of the jury in court? Is prejudice present in every jury in a court? Is justice controversial or different for everyone, even though it shouldn't be?
To Be Continued...
So, I'm back. Honestly, this blog took me awhile to complete since I haven't written anything about the book in about a month (but I still enjoyed it so that is good). In other news, I just found out that Harper Lee passed away two days ago (February 19th, 2016) and it actually made me very upset since I didn't even finish her book while she was alive. Anyway, I literally have no idea of what could happen next in the book since I was looking forward to the trial and that already happened. I'm still waiting on the appearance of Boo Radley, I miss Jem, Scout and Dill talking about him and trying to get him out of his house. In the last chapters that I read, I learned that the good not always wins, I learned that life can sometimes be unfair.
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