"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is a novel about the adventures of several children and how they see, through their naive minds, a trial of a man accused of rape. The story starts off positive, exploring the many adventures of the children of a lawyer, Atticus Finch. Scout Finch, the protagonist, has many adventures with her older brother, Jem. The children find many ways to entertain themselves, from annoying their neighbor Boo Radley to acting out stories with a friend they meet over one summer named Dill. Scout then starts school for the first time only to find that she does not like it very much. Meanwhile, a black man in their community is accused of raping a white woman. Atticus believes that he is innocent, and is the only one who sticks up for him and eventually is his attorney in a trial. The children are unable to understand this racism, and are confused when people disrespect Atticus and themselves. In the trial, Atticus tries his best to show that Tom is innocent, and makes a very strong case. To see how the trial concludes, and find out what happens to the children, (because there is an element of danger in the end for them) you will have to read this novel for yourself. I would highly recommend reading it if you are looking for something to read. It starts off slow, but picks up in the end.
Questions:
1. If someone you knew was being unjustly accused for a crime, would you try to help them? Even if it meant that the rest of your community would be against you?
2. Lee's use of the children as a way for the reader to see the trial gives the reader a unique perspective. How would you feel if you were in Atticus's children's position? How would you react to all of the hate you were exposed to?
10 comments:
1) I like to believe that if someone was wrongly accused for a crime within my community I would try to help them. For me, I always would try to do the right thing, even if it meant that others would despise me for my actions.
I believe I would try to help them. I would worry about doing the right thing over how my image would be percived by the rest of my comunity. The person should not go down for a crime they didnt commit while the real criminal goes free.
Answering question number 1, I would probably not try to help someone who was unjustly accused for a crime. It is not my place to get involved, and I highly doubt that that same person would help me if I was in their situation. The only way I would help someone is if it was a close family member or friend. I care about the people who are in my life and I would do anything for them, even if that means that the rest of the community would be against me.
1. I think it would depend on how well I knew the person, what the crime was and if I was certain they were innocent. If it was a stranger I am not sure how I would react but if I knew the person and knew they were innocent I would definitely help them not matter what other people thought.
I agree that I too would try to help Tom. Even if the community was against my actions, I think I would find the strength to stand up for what is right.
To clear some things up, Atticus knew Tom as a neighbor. There was also strong evidence that supported Tom's innocence. Atticus believed that the white woman's father beat her up to make it look like rape, so that they could blame Tom. As the reader, one gets a strong impression that Tom is innocence through the details and various points Atticus brings up during the trial. Since the community was primarily white, however, racism plays a major role in their judging of this case. If Atticus did not agree to defend Tom there might not have been anyone else to do so. Just some things to think about as you contemplate the questions...
I would try to help them just because it would be the right thing to do. I think you should always do what is right no matter what people think of you. I would want people to help me if i was in a difficult situation.
1. I would try to help them as far as moral support goes. Helping in any other way would be out of my knowledge and league. I would find this very unfair to the person being accused and would want to at least do something.
2. If I was in their position, I think I would be confused on the whole thing and not understand what was going on. Being surrounded by the hate would be disheartening. I'm not quite sure how I'd react.
To answer question 1, if i knew that this person was innocent and still being accused of a crime, i would definitely stand up for them. It is wrong for someone to be punished and suffer in jail for a crime that they never committed. I would not care what other thought because i would be fighting for what I know is right.
If someone were being accused of a crime, I would do everything in my power to help them. However, if there was no chance for my assistance to save them, I wouldn't be as motivated to help them.
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