Comments for The Epic TKAM Blog

Comment on Racial Progression (21-25) by staceyabidi

staceyabidi — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:45:56 +0000

I hadn’t actually thought about it, but you’re right. Maycomb is actually showing some hope. A lot of racism still obviously occurs, but it’s in a much less quantity than it was before. Tom Robinson actually had a chance with Atticus defending him, and it was no accident as Miss Maudie told Scout and Jem. The jury took a while to decide too, which shows that what Atticus said got to them, especially since it was an all-white jury. However, Tom Robinson was convicted guilty, people still disliked Negroes, and even Atticus got a death threat. There’s still a lot of racism in Maycomb, but you’re right in saying that there was a lot of progression.
(Comment author: Stacey Abidi)

Comment on The Jury (Ch21-25) by vivlee

vivlee — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:44:08 +0000

I totally agree with you! I was really hoping that the time the jury took to deliberate would make them change their minds and make Tom innocent. Tom doesn’t deserve the punishment that would’ve been given to him. Why couldn’t the people of the jury have more sense and take a stand to make Tom innocent. An innocent man shouldn’t be convicted, the one who should be convicted is Bob Ewell. I can’t stand him in this book, he has no right to be acting rude to all the other characters in this book.

I was so surprised that Tom actually tried to escape. I believed that if he stuck it out, sooner or later, he would’ve been sent free.

One of my favorite characters in the book is Atticus. At first I thought that he was a distant father and was very strict. I’m proved to be wrong. Atticus is a really caring father and he teaches his children life long lessons. I believe his judgment on them has made Jem and Scout become some of the best children in Maycomb County.

Hopefully Tom, even though he died, will still be proven innocent in the end.

Great post Shane!!! :]]
Very well written and there’s a lot of thought put into it.

Comment on Unbalanced Courtroom Image (Ch17-20) by alanthecat

alanthecat — Sat, 23 May 2009 03:05:32 +0000

True Shane. Coming in, Atticus already knew that he probably would not be able to win. What is amazing though is that he goes in with a high head, and it looks like he’s going down with one too. Even though he has the disadvantage to the white jury, he is still doing the absolute best he can because its the right thing to do. Remember the thing about Atticus telling Scout that “killing a mockingbird is a sin”? I think I’m now starting to see how that quote plays in later on, like now. Here, Tom Robinson is the mockingbird, someone so innocent but is going to be killed just because. They’re blaming the African American man in order to keep the facade of white superiority, and how we couldn’t possibly have committed such an act against society. Fortunately, we’re mostly out of that period of thinking though right?

Comment on “You’re a strong girl, what were you doing all the time, just standing there?” (Ch17-20) by Daniel Verkamp

Daniel Verkamp — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:19:53 +0000

I agree, this is a very good post Lia . Mayella is lying in front of a jury of people and she knows she is doing it, yet her morals are low enough that she continues. I suppose her dad could be threatening her, since the tone of the author kind of tell us that Mayella’s father is the one beating her. I think Mr. Ewell might be forcing his daughter to charge Tom Robinson for r*pe. I think that could be the case, or Mr. Ewell could be forcing Mayella to charge for r*pe in order to hide that she wanted to have relationships with a black man. Either way, it shows that Mr. Ewell has horrible reasons for making his daughter go through this and it also shows that Mayella is very easily manipulated. I just hope that the truth comes out and we get to see what is actually going on, because Tom Robinson obviously did not r*pe Mayella. Stupid think wont late me say r-a-p-e.

Comment on “You’re a strong girl, what were you doing all the time, just standing there?” (Ch17-20) by auntjemsyrup

auntjemsyrup — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:00:13 +0000

I definitely agree with you Lia that Mayella has no moral values. It still can’t hit me that people can lie about something just to save their sorry butts. As for Mayella, if she acted more mature and responsible, she’d get the Mr. Right she has been longing for. As for Mr. Ewell, he should be the one getting sued! He’s a drunken irresponsible father, which beats up his daughter because he feels like it. Why can’t Mayella just say the truth so her agony and pain that she gets from her dad, would stop? I just feel bad for Mr. Robinson because he’s a colored man and everyone has the thinking of: blacks being criminals.

Comment on Prejudice, Immorality, and Shame (Ch17-20) by vrinkleypruna

vrinkleypruna — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:00:14 +0000

I agree with your thought about Mayella being a coward. It makes me mad seeing that an innocent man, Tom Robinson, is being accused of something he obviously didn’t do. Times in the past were so harsh, and people were so discriminative, it is ridiculous. I strongly dislike people who are really racist towards other people. It doesn’t make sense to me about how much people hate other people just because of the color of their skin. It’s not like they had a choice, and like you said, they were born like that. I really don’t get racism, at all. Every race has a stereotypical reputation for something, and I can see how people can think that; but really, don’t judge someone because of how they look or what color their skin is. Anyways, I agree with you, Mayella can’t accept the fact that she is just desperately alone with an abusive father and 7 unhelpful siblings.

Comment on Dill Runs Away (Ch13-16) by Xjhanee (:

Xjhanee (: — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:32:47 +0000

I would assume like everyone else did, that newly married couples would like to spend as much time possible with each other, because they so in awe that they just got married. So, I understand Dill’s mother, and also step father’s behavior. Dill is a only child he is probably used to getting all the attention from his mother, so he may feel neglected, but that shouldn’t make someone run away, he should at least give them a little bit of time. He could have talked to his mom, but think about it, kids now a day don’t really express their feelings to their parents. I also think, Dill is not telling the whole truth about the whole “neglect” situation, I feel as if it’s deeper than that, more to the story than he is telling. I also wonder why he would go to Dill & Scout’s house instead of his own aunt’s house that lives right next door.

Comment on The Confrontation 13-16 by koriclayton

koriclayton — Tue, 19 May 2009 06:21:33 +0000

I thought this Confrontation really showed a lot about people’s personalities too. It really showed who was on who’s side and showed who was playing an act and who wasn’t. I’m really glad that Jem had made the choice to follow Atticus because without Jem and Scout, Atticus would’ve probably seen the situation that night end differently, even with the unknown cover over him. It’s like a domino effect. If Scout wasn’t as inquisitive as she was she would’ve never got Mr. Walter to get everyone to go home. If Jem would’ve never disobeyed Atticus, Scout wouldn’t have had the chance to talk to Walter and if Jem hadn’t had taken Scout along with him then he would’ve never had ended up in front of the mob like they did. So in all of these ifs and never hads, it shows that even if one little thing would’ve went differently than the whole outcome of the situation would’ve been different. I think the mobs are only going to get worse though and that Atticus should start watching his back more often pretty soon or have some hidden cover that can watch his back for him.

Comment on The Confrontation 13-16 by alanthecat

alanthecat — Tue, 19 May 2009 03:44:13 +0000

Good analysis Paul. I was considering writing one of my posts on this part, but I couldn’t find the information that I wanted to support it. Ah well.

This part did shed some insight onto the town’s opinion of Tom Robinson and the drama being played up. Personally, I think that Tom is just the scapegoat for the terrible Ewell clan. Since no one dares challenge their opinion, save Atticus, it seems as though everyone has adopted the negative view towards Tom. The attack on the jail seemed like it would be coming, but I didn’t expect the moral judgment still present in the few at the confrontation. Mr. Underwood, protecting Atticus with his shotgun and even Mr. Cunningham, who was swayed from his ill intentions by the words of a small child, Scout. I really like your scrutiny of Atticus, where you said he is willing to defend the rights of others at great personal risk. This is a trait that is present in any good person, and something that should be there in everyone’s hearts.

Comment on Dill Runs Away (Ch13-16) by Yolanda

Yolanda — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:34:06 +0000

I kind of agree with the point that you made about Dill’s mother and his new step-father. They are newly weds and of course they would want to spend time with each other, but I don’t think Dill should have ran away just because he felt a little neglected. Dill should have just told his mother how he felt. His parent’s wouldn’t have made a big deal about it. I do think that his mother should have known he would act like this and she should have paid more attention to him. Most of the time, kids with a new step-parent usually feel neglected because there is a new person in there life. Dill really needs to go back home and tell his mother how he feels, because running away does not do anything except make his parents worried.