The Trial

"The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a court room, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box." (Lee 295)

Now, because I didn't really incorporate history into my last blog post, I thought I might as well include some in this one, and maybe, just maybe, this last desperate attempt will be considered in my grade ;) ;)

I am not the best at blogging.  I am not the best at expressing my opinion when there are so many other stronger ones out there in the world.  A man's word is a strong thing, something that can take another man's will and strangle it until it gives into any strong-worded man.  Opinions and actions are what define us humans, and actions are the result of opinions.  People are more likely to listen to you if you are speaking loudly.  Now I don't know if you are following what I'm saying so I'll rephrase it:
-Strong opinions are heard and listened to.
-People like when someone is confident in what they say.
-People will follow someone who has an a mindset they follow and are consistent with.

"They're ugly, but those are the facts of life.'" (Lee 295)

Let's bring this into a scenario.

Joseph McCarthy, Wisconsin's senator from 1947 to 1957 (the Cold War), is one of the most famous anti-communists known in American history.  Known for his numerous accusations of American politicians and celebrities being Soviet sympathizers and the origin of the term McCarthyism, McCarthy was an extremely strong opinionated man.  And at the time, Americans strongly followed his beliefs, partially because of their high from beating Germany out in World War II, but also because we follow leaders with passion.  When did we stop and look at the reason behind McCarthy's accusations?

When do people ever stop and appeal to the humanity's case instead of someone else's band-wagonned opinion?

"'I say guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her.  She has committed no crime, 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.  She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she is white." (Lee 272)

But then I suppose that society has taught us to hole up our humanity so that we may adapt willingly to society's expectations.

Society- The unspoken rules, the whispered procedures, that any and all people must live by in order to survive this retched hell in which neighbor judges neighbor before either can walk out of his or her door.  This damned society where no one will ever be equal and happy about it, or be able to look at a complete stranger in the face and say, "You have just as good a chance in this world as me."

No one will ever be able to create a perfect society when there are strong-minded, stubborn people alive.  It's not just blacks, or homosexuals, or Jews who are prejudged.

And its not the fault of every white man and women during that era for believing something they were brought up believing.

It's no body's fault so stop playing the blame game.

Do not believe that any racist white or black man who was raised to believe something can simply say they shouldn't be prejudice because every one is created equal.  People do not change that easily.  People change but only because of another person.

Atticus Finch appealed to the human side of every witness.  He nearly broke through to Mayella Ewell, but some believe an abusive father is enough to stand between justice and injustice.

"'Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father?"
No answer.
"What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it? Why don't you tell the truth, child, didn't Bob Ewell beat you up?"
When Atticus turned away from Mayella he looked like his stomach hurt, but Mayella's face was a mixture of terror and fury.  Atticus sat down wearily and polished his glasses with his handkerchief." (Lee 251)

Fear is a powerful thing.

I do not believe that Tom Robinson raped Mayella Ewell.  I believe so because of his crippled left arm.  I do not believe that he is not guilty because the jury said he was guilty on account of racism.  I do not believe a fair trial means someone is innocent.  I believe the justice system is corrupt.  I do not believe every black man convicted guilty for any crime is because the jury is racist.  I believe there is a reason for every opinion, every single one, and that opinion should be heard and taken into consideration.

Society and the law means that every truth is based on opinion.

Blog 4

Respond to the trial! Wow. This might take a while.

To set the scene, let me say that this all takes place in the Maycomb County courthouse. It's an old, rustic building with plenty of seats for everyone.

The first person to vow to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth So Help Him God was Heck Tate, Maycomb County Sheriff. He's describing the events of the night of November 21st. Mayella Ewell, he describes, is "pretty well beat up... I asked her who hurt her and she said it was Tom Robinson." For Atticus' cross-examination, he asks if anyone called a doctor and if not, why not. They didn't because "no one thought about it at the time." Also, almost all of the bruises she got were on her right side, which means whoever hit her had to be left-handed.

Next up was Robert E. Lee Ewell, Mayella's father. He supposedly "heard Mayella screamin' like a stuck hog inside the house" and saw "the black n*****  yonder ruttin' on my Mayella!" Really lovely word choice there, Rob. For Atticus' cross-examination, he asked logistical questions and we find out that he is left-handed.

Then came Mayella Ewell. She's young, unsure of herself. Her testimony included asking Tom to bust up her chiffarobe, fighting back, and fainting after it's all done. Atticus' cross-examination starts off very weird - he calls Mayella ma'am and asks if she has friends and she thinks he is trying to mock her. He asks her about specificites, to which she replies, "He got me around the neck cussin' and sayin' dirt" Atticus asks her if it was not Robinson who raped her, but her father. There's a long pause. Then she starts yelling, her "shoulders shook with angry sobs", and she refuses to answer anymore questions. There is a ten minute break. I'm sure it felt an awful lot longer than ten minutes.

Tom Robinson is called to the stand. He's a strongly-built man, but one defining feature about him is that his left arm is a foot shorter than his right. His testimony is something along the lines of this. Mayella has been calling him to do odd jobs for her for over half a year, without pay, before any of this happened. One day, he goes inside to fix her perfectly good door, turns around, and she's grabbing onto his legs. He doesn't know what to do, and is even more confused when she hugs him around the waist. Then she kisses him, Mr. Ewell sees, and he runs out of the house for the life of him.

Now it's time for Mr. Gilmer's cross-examination. Without an ounce of respect in his voice, he makes assumptions about Robinson's strength, his willingness to do odd jobs for Mayella without pay, and why he ran away so fast if he was innocent. 

Tom Robinson, at the verdict, was guilty.

Now, there's a whole lot of things wrong with this. There are way too many racist remarks to even keep count of, so as a whole, the thing that was wrong with this was the bias in the room. I don't even know who I believe in this case, in 2015, so the jury shouldn't have been able to decide that quickly and unanimously. The unquestionable bias in the room was such a big factor in this case that it was hard for the jury to hear anyone else. This obviously shouldn't have happened. There should've been no bias.

(I know this is really, REALLY long. I'm wrapping it up.)

This is still evident in today's world. 

The TKAM Trial

Today I'm going to be talking about the trial in TKAM. Hopefully you all have been keeping up with your reading and I don't spoil something and if I do you really need to catch up on reading. Anyway, let's go over the basics of what happened in the trial. (The next paragraph is basically a summary of the trial if you know everything about it, feel free to skim)

Okay so, Heck Tate, Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson are all give their side of the story. Heck Tate says he was called by Bob Ewell on the night of November twenty-first. Mr.Ewell told Heck Tate that a n-word had just raped his daughter. He found Mayella lying on the ground, beat up and asked who had beat her, to which she responded with Tom Robinson. No doctor was called and he states that she was mostly beat up on her right side. Next Bob Ewell his called and he says on the night of November 21st he was coming from the woods and heard Mayella screaming. He then sees Tom Robinson taking advantage of Mayella. He then ran and got Tate. We then find out that Bob is left handed making him a good candidate for beating Mayella. Next Mayella tells her story. she says she was on the porch and called tom over to chop up a chifferobe. she then says Tom grabbed her and began to beat and took advantage of her. Atticus then questions her a ton and figures out that she is unsure and uneasy about the events that took place that night. All of her facts don't add up like at all. She also never seems to know answers to anything and if she does she changes them often.

Tom Robinson then tells his side of the story he says that he has done chores for Mayella before and that she came on to him. This is very different from what the other witnesses are saying. I think he's telling the truth because lets be real do you really think Mayella, Bob and Tate would tell the complete truth. There is also the whole thing where Mayella changes her answers and is confused about what to say. Her body language also tells us shes super nervous as seen in the quote: "Mayella jumped slightly at the question."(pg.246)  She is clearly terrified of saying the wrong thing. Anyway during Tom's questioning we find out that his left hand was crippled in a cotton gin accident. This pretty much is sating that tom could not have committed the crime.

  Let's see, why is Tom innocent? Well we know that Mayella was beat on her right side, meaning someone must have done it with there left hand. This rules out Tom because his left hand is non functioning. Tom also states that he heard Bob Ewell say "you god-damn whore, I'll kill ya." (pg.260 also sorry about the language in the quote) which tells us that Bob Ewell was both left handed and violent, meaning it is highly likely he abused Mayella. But we know that Bob Ewell is not convicted and Tom is, why because everyone decides to take Mayella and Bob's side. It really does make me mad because of how many clear facts were overlooked. A lot of straightforward things were also overlooked. This whole convicting someone without evidence reminds me of the Scottsboro trial where 9 boys were convicted of rape with no clear evidence. Let's be real if this were a trial today this probably wouldn't have happened.

Thanks for reading, I know it was a little long but I tend to add random details. In conclusion Tom should not have been convicted and Bob should have. As always comment if you want( luv the feedback) and be nice in the comments as well. I am going to sleep now.

TKAM Trial

In the TKAM trial, many different things happened. In fact there was so much to keep track of, my mind decided to kill itself halfway through the trial chapters. Yay! (Obvious sarcasm is obvious).

Anyway, the basic synopsis of the trial is; Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Bob Ewell claims that he herd Mayella scream, he went to his house, saw Tom running from his house, and saw Mayella laying on the floor. Heck Tate claims that Bob came to him and said "A n**** is raping my daughter." Then he went there and saw Mayella on the floor beaten and raped. Tom says that he went there to chop up a Chiff-a-robe. When he got there, Mayella tried to kiss him and do stuff. Tom ran because he was scared of Bob and he knew that this would be tried and accused of kissing her. Mayella said that she asked him to chop up the Chiff-a-robe but when he got inside, he raped and beat her. Also, she was strangled and beaten on her right side of her face. This is interesting because Tom's left hand is injured and he can't hit her with that hand making it impossible for her to hit her on the right side of her face. Also, he can't strangle her because of said injured arm.

I think that instead of Tom being convicted of guilty, Bob should have been. It was him who hit Mayella because he's left handed and therefor could hit her on her right side. He also has the most motive and most capable of doing it.

This can be related to Atticus when he said "walk around in another mans skin." I be leave that Atticus is doing this because he feels sorry for him and understands him because he saw what's going on with Tom and defended him because of that.

TKAM and The Great Depression

"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when i first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop... somehow it was hotter then... bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum."

Lee chapter 1 page 6

In TKAM we see all sorts of people affected by the great depression. we see it through the Cunningham family, who are farmers and afford pretty much anything. Since all the farmers are broke and can't afford services the people who do the services are also broke. All of this can be seen through this dialogue between scout and Atticus: "Not exactly the Cunninghams are country folk, farmers, and the crash hit'm the hardest.""Atticus said professional people were poor because the farmers were poor. As Maycomb county was a farm country, nickles and dimes were hard to come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers." I will also note that there is a mention of the WPA (work progress administration) which was part of the new deal that FDR put into action to help combat the depression.

Yeah this quote is a bit of a throwback to chapter one page 6, and yes it was longer that what I typed but you can look it up if you want the extra detail. Anyway sit back enjoy my energy drink induced blog extravaganza. As you probably know this is the part of the book where scout is describing Maycomb to us. We get our first glimpse into what life in the small southern town would be like. We see the slow paced town with its old fashioned values. We can see this through the description of the men in collared shirts and ladies using talcum powder. The last part of the quote also makes a reference to FDR who said "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." during his inauguration speech which just happened to be in the same time period as TKAM. This quote is leading into other parts of the book that show the great depression in action.

So to recap: what wrong in Maycomb county? Well, Maycomb county(as we know) is farmer based meaning the depression hit them pretty hard. There is no work for farmers meaning no work for everyone else. The crash of the stock market was the main cause of the depression and left a ton of people out of work. So, how could it have been fixed? You see I'm not into solving government problems but you know who was, FDR. FDR created the new deal since he knew WWII would only be temporary fix. The deal consisted of multiple programs to help create jobs and fix up the government. 

Wow that was a lot of thinking but, remember there could have been multiple reasons the depression occurred and could have been fixed. Oh, and comment if you want to. I love to read feedback and comments help me improve. Just be nice plz I can be a lil sensitive. 

"Jem opened the box.  Inside, surrounded by wads of damp cotton, was a white, waxy, perfect camellia.  It was a Snow-on-the-Mountain...
Jem picked up the candy box and threw it in the fire.  He picked up the camellia, and when I went off to bed I saw him fingering the white petals."

Imagine having a neighbor whom you believe made it their personal mission to torment you.  That was Ms. Dubose.
I believe according to Atticus, you never mock the dead.  No matter how terrible they were in life, they have it far worse in death.  They greatest gift is life, so why despise those who had that gift taken from them?
And to have them give you something that says they wanted you to know they thought highly of you before they died, shows true character.  But to then rip up that memento is even more disrespectful than mocking the living.
Jem could have just as easily taken the flower and cherished it but instead made the ignorant decision to burn it. I essence, he burned one of the only remaining earthen forms of Mrs. Dubose's spirit.
That shows a lot of what kind of simple minded person Jem is.
But of course youth is always accompanied by ignorance.

Blog 2

"'One more thing, gentlemen, before I quit. Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the Yankees and the distaff side of the Executive branch are fond of hurling at us. There is a tendency in this year of grace, 1935, for certain people to use this phrase out of context, to satisfy all conditions."

I'm not sure if Atticus meant to call 1935 "the year of grace". It's a weird word choice. I'm not sure if grace is the right word to describe the year when the dust bowl was at its peak, the strongest hurricane to ever hit the US hit, and the repercussions of the Great Depression 6 years before were still in full effect. While there were many natural disasters, also many laws were passed in 1935, such as the New Deal/WPA, National Labor Relations act, the Social Security Act, and many more. Laws aren't usually passed without a backlash, debate, or tension. Atticus is the speaker here, and he is saying this in his closing remarks in the Ewell/Robinson trial. He is addressing everyone, and I imagine that the room is quiet with anticipation.

The thing that was wrong about this is not that this wasn't true about 1935, but that it was. This is a good representation of how it was in 1935, whether people liked it or not. The fact is that people were not created equal, then or now. Not everyone has the same opportunities to be successful as everyone else, whether that be trying to make a clock for a science project but being accused of it being a bomb, or being supposedly shot because of a misdemeanor but really because of the color of your skin. Not everyone is created equal.

What should've, but obviously didn't, happen is that no one has any type of bias in their life and everyone treats everyone how they want to be treated. We still have an awfully long way to go in both regards.

Maycomb History Problems

Starting in chapter 16 of TKAM, Tom Robinson goes on trial for raping Mayella Ewell. This part of the book is very similar to a real life event that occurred in 1931. Nine African Americans were accused of raping two white american women. Both these events are super similar in  that they both involved black men (man) raping white women (woman). The accusations are extremity similar, it is unknown if these men actually did rape these women, but they did get arrested and put in jail with little to no evidence against them. The accusations of the two seem too similar. I believe that Harper Lee took inspiration from this event to create a controversial topic in her book. To recap, both in the book and in real life, black man or men raped white woman or women. They were accused of being rapers with not much evidence backing this up. Hmmmmmmmm...Seems interesting. Also seems racist.

Since I'm in honers, I have to do another one. *Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* I'm now getting really sassy. And now I'm breaking the fourth wall. I'M DOING SO WELL!

Anyway, lets not ADHD ourselves too off topic.

Anyway, *looks through book* well since I just spent about 20 minutes looking for that page so I could quote it (no seriously, I just spent about 20 minutes looking for a page) I'm instead just gonna summarize it and hope I don't get points taken off. In one of the earlier chapters, Bob Ewell is very poor. This is much like many people were in the great depression. But, tying him even more to the great depression, it claims that he accepts no help from others and is extremely stubborn to take any help from others. This is very similar to how people reacted to financial help from the government in the actual great depression era. The accepted almost no help from the government or help at all from others.

When Do You Have To Obey The Law?

"'Let us leave it at this," said Atticus dryly.  "You, Miss Scout Finch, are of the common folk.  You must obey the law.'" (Lee 40)

When Scout Finch questions the reasoning behind attending school, she goes to her father, Atticus Finch, for answers, as she has always done.  The Ewells have lived generations based upon a first-day-of-school-attendance-only streak that had no intention of ending with the latest generation: Burris Ewell.  Scout's resistance to school is understandable but her father's belief that some are above the law is, perhaps, teetering on the controversial side.
In my opinion, no one is above the law or below it in a perfect society.  Nowadays the law is less of a set of rules and more of a social standard.  Little does it treat all fairly, which is why the law bringing equality is impossible.  It creates inequality for never can a world such as ours uphold to the standards of carrying it out thoroughly.  What causes it to have such a strong denotation of inequality is the fact that it effects every one's political, economic, and social status in varying blows.  For example, a man who accumulates a $30,000 annual income will suffer more so than one who accumulates $200,000, if both were to receive a speeding ticket of equal value. This will result in the man with a lower income to believe the government unjust to the lower societies and the wealthier man to believe he can afford to repeatedly break the law.
So it may seem as though the only way for all to obey the law is to give a punishment with equal value to all humans.  This, in theory, is death.  Now you must realize that if the law's punishment is death, all would obey it, but it would induce a tyrannical and military-based society with a high tolerance of violence.  That is hardly a utopia, yet the law is equal. so perhaps equal law should not be our goal, but allowing factors outside of morality and humanity to not affect the judicial syste

Made up laws in Maycomb County?

"Atticus, you must be wrong...."

"How's that?"

"Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong..."

"They're certainly entitled to think that, and there entitled to full respect for their opinions," said Atticus, "but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."

-Lee pg.139-140

As you probably know in this part of the book we see scout and Atticus discussing why so many of the people in Maycomb county seem to have something against him. Me and you both know its because of the Tom Robinson trial and how people think it is very wrong for Atticus to be defending a black man. Not only is that dumb but it also causes Atticus' actions to look illegal when in reality its not and Atticus knows this.These people are creating unwritten but followed laws. We see another example of people making up laws when Miss Caroline tells scout to stop letting her father teach her. That rule she made up is definitely not real and is just something she uses because in her opinion she teaches best. Yeah, because you can definitely make your own rules and laws that other people have to follow.(That was supposed to be sarcastic.)


Let me help you out little bit more with what i'm trying to say because I'm not the best at explaining things. Basically all these "rules" and "laws" make up the society standards and norms for Maycomb county. Not only do these standards affect everyday people who are different but they influence the actual law as well. We know that the people of Maycombs opinions are strong, strong enough to have influence over things such as trials. This still happens today with peoples opinions clouding the real laws. Everyday we catch people discriminating when its illegal, they think their opinion is above the law when its not. I see all sorts of people get discriminated against because someone else's opinion is apparently correct and more important. Personally, simply being a teen has caused people to create rules or not take me seriously. People are quick to think teens are reckless and don't deserve the same treatment as adults. Not only is that treating people unfairly but it can be mentally damaging as well. It is wrong that people put their opinions first, even before the law, it is right to treat everyone fairly and follow the law that is in place.

My one solution: Treat others how you would want to be treated, follow the law, and don't make up laws and rules just because you want to, also don't discriminate it's illegal. You doing this helps the world be a better place which makes Pepe and I very happy.

Unwritten Rules and Laws are Dumb

"I suppose she chose me because she knew my name; as I read the alphabet a faint line appeared between her eyebrows, and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile Register aloud, she discovered I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste. Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to teach me any more, it would interfere with my reading." Lee Page 22

Now, I can guess what you're all wondering. What does this even mean? Well, I can read your minds. All of them.
Actually, this to me is basically the dumbest thing ever.

Let me explain, have you ever played a game, lets use 4-square. You hit the ball to one person and they say you're out. You ask why and they say something so nit-picky it makes you want to tear their hair out until their scalp bleeds. Yes, we have all had that one kid, that one infuriating small child who kills you inside. To me, Miss Caroline is this kid to Scout. Miss Caroline is making up rules and restrictions that aren't written because she basically wants to, or she has the power too.
Now, I can see why she would invent these "laws" restricting Scout. It could interfere with the class's curriculum and/or class plans, but really, do you have to make up laws?
I never believed in unwritten laws and rules. Besides logical unwritten laws (don't throw sharp things, don't kill people, dumb things like that) unwritten rules are dumb. Don't go to the bathroom during dinner, don't call people dumb. Why do they exist? I understand most of them, but some of them, I mean really do we need a rule that says (or doesn't say) that we can't be on our phone at lunch at school? Miss Caroline seems to be a very passionate person on unwritten rules, and I don't really think she's a great person.

So yeah,
Summary of the post, dumb unwritten rules are stupid and Miss Caroline is stupid.

Blog 1

"'For a number of reasons,' said Atticus. 'The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again."

This quote happens right after when Atticus is telling Scout, the narrator, about everything he's gotten himself into. He decided to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, against the rape of Mayella Ewell, and why many people in Maycomb county don't agree with his choice to defend Tim. Atticus made the right to decision to defend the man because he is a good man who didn't mean any harm. A wrong decision in this was the backlash that the town gave him and, later, his own family. The law should have no bias or prejudice in it, but it's hard in this time period. This will also be comparable to events that happen later in the book that there is foreshadowing for right now. Also, the unfairness of the law is always prevalent in society, especially in events recently concerning terrorism.