Throughout Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, as readers, we have noticed that the Finch family is more acceptive of black people. Atticus has decided to defend a black male, and is getting a lot of grief. Because he is strong, and decides to look past things, Atticus moves on, but his kid's have a harder time with this. They are young, and don't realize that their dad has to defend Tom Robinson, so they have to be informed to fight back with their heads rather than their fists.
During the trial, the kids had to sit in the black balcony because there was no room anywhere else. Unlike many other white people in the novel, the kids were totally fine with it, making no fuss at all.
Later, the kids have to go outside, and are encountered by Dolphus Raymond. A few chapters before, the kids were convinced that he was an alcoholic, drinking whiskey out of a paper bag. When the kids were encountered by him, they found out that it was not whiskey in the bag, but actually coca-cola. This shocked the kids, because Raymond lives near the black side of town, with a black woman, and multiple kids with her. They were curious, and scared at the same time.
Questions: Do you think it was a coincidence that the kids sat with the blacks? Why? Now that we know that Raymond isn't an alcoholic, why do you think he lives with blacks? Do you think that Atticus and him will ever meet, and try to do something about the racism?
The symoblism of the three kids sitting with the blacks is huge. Scout and Jem's father went against the normal trend of Maycomb when he accepted to defend the black Tom Robinson. Harper Lee segusted that both of Atticus' children were affected by this, through what Atticus told them and by how others treated Jem and Scout. However, after all of the verbal beatings from their peers at school and other adults, the kids still decided to sit with all of the black adults at the courthouse. Harper Lee is trying to tell her readers that both Scout and Jem decided to follow Atticus' brief and rather confusing words as opposed to listening to the raging majority of the people in Maycomb. It's not easy to do as a kid. Children are always around each other due to school and tend to follow the advise of one another. Jem and Scout's relationship with their father overpowers this, though, and it's clear that both are growing up to become more like Atticus everyday.
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ReplyDeleteI do not think that the seating was a coincidence. I think that Scout, Jem, and Dill sat in the black balcony because they have the same mind set as Atticus. What I mean is that they are very open-minded, like Atticus, and don’t care what a person’s skin color is. They see most everyone as equal. So, it didn’t faze them when they sat in the black balcony. Also, they knew Reverend Sykes from the time that Calpurnia brought them to her church, so there was that aspect of the reason why they sat there, too. So, I do not think that the seating was a coincidence, but that they sat there because they knew Reverend Sykes and had the same perspective on the trial as him, the other blacks and Atticus, which was that for the trial to be fair race shouldn’t be a factor.
ReplyDeleteWhen Jem, Scout, and Dill sat in the black section of the courtroom, it was not a coincidence. Harper Lee is using this as a way to further characterize Jem and Scout. Throughout the whole story, Jem and Scout have been maturing. By having the children sit with the black folks, Harper Lee is showing that Jem and Scout continue to take after their father. Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape. This is a big deal in Maycomb and by putting Jem and Scout in the Black section, it demonstrates their support for what Atticus is standing up and taking a risk doing. It shows that they are on their Dad’s side, rooting for Tom Robinson to be innocent.
ReplyDeleteIt was not a coincidence that the kids sat with the black community to watch the trial play out. As it was mentioned above in earlier comments, Scout and Jem are acting more like Atticus, and siding with the blacks. Also, though Dill has not reached the same mautrity level as Jem, or even Scout, he still decides to sit with the blacks. He didn't have to. As Dolphus Raymond pointed out, Dill is still young enough to cry over the mistreatment of a person, just because of their skin color. Dolphus Raymond might have chosen to live with the black community because he genuinely likes them better than the white community of Maycomb. That is understood, because the majority of the white community are racist.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Jem and Scout are comfortable sitting in the black section is another example of how Atticus' way of not conforming to the Maycomb society rules is beneficial towards the children. Had they not been okay with sitting in the black section, the kids would have missed out on the trial completely due to lack of seating. Another unusual thing about the kids, Scout in particular, is that when they are told something they understand it but are able to still make their own opinion based on what they see themselves. Most kids just blindly accept what they are told without question. An example of how Scout is able to think for herself is when they first start talking to Dolphus Raymond, they are hesitant because of all the things they've heard about him. However, once they get talking to him they are able to form their own opinion and realize he's not what others think he is. Harper Lee is showing Scout's ability to form her own opinions as yet another example of how she is maturing.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think Scout's unusually mature and open mind will affect her later in the story?
Do you think that Dolphus Raymond will become an important character later on, or was he simply put in as a symbol of Scout's coming of age?
I think that while Scouts open and mature mind has a positive effect on most of the grown-ups in Maycomb, it will affect her in a bad way when she is dealing with other kids because, as shown before in her interactions with the other kids during the scenes when she is at school, the other kids are not as open to any viewpoint that is different from theirs and so I think they will shun Scout because of that later in the book.
DeleteI don't think it was a coincidence, it was a small symbol to show that the Finch's care for everyone with the same amount- no matter the skin color. That was shown through when they didn't even acknowledge the fact they were one of the only white people sitting on the balcony.
ReplyDeleteWhen Raymond reveals he is not an alcoholic that is a extremely strong symbol. The bottle inside the bad represents who Raymond really is and his beliefs. The paper bag that covers the bottle represents what the town thinks about Raymond and their rumors that won't let him reveal who he really is.
Through out these chapters you learn more about Atticus and his public and private acts. What scared the children in the court room? Why was Atticus doing this? What effect did his actions have on the trial?
Raymond lives with blacks for a very simple reason. He prefers their company, as they are more open minded. Even Tom Robinson, who had a bad life and was never treated well by whites, still was open-minded and accepting. The black church allowed whites in, but the white church did not allow blacks in. The entire community is more accepting, and the kind of person you would want to be with. Dolphus Raymond wanted to be with good people, and he had the money and the power to choose what skin color people he wanted to be around. If mayella ewell had had that sort of opportunity, she may not have had to condemn Tom Robinson to the fate that she did.
ReplyDeleteIn the court room during Atticus's closing remarks, he scares the children a little bit. He takes off some of his more fancy clothes, loosens his tie and takes out his pocket watch. He does this to make the court room environment more casual and to show the jury that he is a real person too. By doing this, the trial became more from the heart and less from a pice of paper. Atticus was really trying to make the jury feel sympathy for T. Rob. and prove that he is not guilty.
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