Chapter 21
Do Atticus and Jem both expect the same verdict?
Chapter 22
Explain in your own words why Atticus believes Jem has a right to know what has happened.
Chapter 23
Define “circumstantial evidence” and how it relates to Tom’s conviction.
Chapter 24
We read about the Maycomb ladies in this chapter, what is your opinion of them?
Chapter 25
What do they mean when they say Tom’s death was “typical”?
12 comments:
Chapter 25:
When the townsfolk say that Tom's death was "typical", they mean that it was typical for a black person to die in such manner. They think that since he's black, he obviously wouldn't look far enough into his own future to worry about his family's welfare. They think that it is "typical" of a black person to try and escape from jail, knowing that they have no chance with armed guards on duty. Also, they think that a black person would not be foresightful enough to realize that they still have a chance at freedom from the higher courts. A rational white person would obviously never do that. This is what the townsfolk mean when they say that Tom Robinson's death was typical.
Yes, Atticus and Jem both expect the same verdict. They both believe that Tom will be announced as not guilty. I think that it wasn't right to say that just because Tom was a "colored" person, that he commited the raping crime.
Ch 24
Stephanie Crawford is very harsh. I never realized that Miss Maudie even talked to the ladies. Aunt Alexandra used to seem stiff and unfeeling to Scout, but now she sees that it is important to keep a good outer appearance to save ones self from the public eye. Scout seems shocked that the ladies aren't completely boring. She learned a lot after realizing that being a "lady" is more about putting on a happy face. The weakness that Aunt Alexandra shows seems to shock Scout.
Chapter 23
Circumstantial evidence is evidence that proves a fact by proving other facts that create a basis for believing that the first fact is true. I think this has to do with Tom's case because his crime was never directly proved. Other facts (and skin color) made the jury assume that Tom did the crime, even if the facts were biased or complete lies. This made it harder for Tom to prove his innocence.
Chpater 21 Response
Atticus and Jem do not expect the same verdict. They do however share the same opinion of what the verdict should be. Jem, because he is young beieves that the jury will see the truth. Atticus, who is older, knows too much about the world and knows that all the jury will see is the color of Tom's skin. However I think Atticus is surprised by how long the jury stayed out of the room. He knows that Maycomb does not over all approve of black people. And the fact that they were out as long as they were showed him that he had a chance.
Atticus believes that Jem has a right to know what happened because in the beginning of the story he says that they all live in the same house and that Atticus made it this way for them so they better learn to cope with it. In a way he is right because all these years he has been a lawyer and the children should have learned to cope with everything that comes their way.I think that Jem was old enough to handle the verdict because he knew what times were like. He knew that people still had alot of racism still in their hearts. Even if Tom Robinson was not guilty, people would have still probably had hatred towards "colored" people, and hatred towards Atticus and his family. In my opinion, Atticus was in a way right to believe that Jem had aright to know what had happened because he probably believed that Jem was old enough to handle the verdict.
Chapter 21 Response:
Jem and Atticus do not expect the same verdict in the case. Jem figures that although it is quite clear that Tom Robinson is innocent (because Mayella's story changes and Tom Robindon couldn't have caused her injuries due to his disability), and so he automatically reasons the jury will find him not guilty. Jem thinks that since his innocence is apparent, to him, it will be apparent to the jury who will do the right thing and free Tom Robinson. However, Atticus knew that because Tom Robinson was black, his chances of "winning" were slim. At this time, most people are prejudiced and would never find someone black innocent, whether it was the right thing or not.
~Cailin
Chapter 22:
I believe Atticus has his reasons for letting Jem know what happened. Atticus is not like other dads, he is more of a friend than a dad. He believes that you can't shield someone from the truth, Jem will find out eventually. Its better for Jem to see it first hand rather than hear all of the gossip of the neighbors. I think that makes Atticus a very good man, because he understands kids and knows that if you shield them from the truth and smother them, they are just going to try to find out themselves what happened and rebel.
Circumstantial evidence is evidence that proves a fact by proving other facts that create a basis for believing that the first fact is true. I believe that this has something to do with Tom's case because people just went off of the color of his skin and they didn't take into consideration all the other evidence. In the book, if a white man said that a colored man did something wrong, then the black man was accused and possibly convicted for a crime that he may not even have committed.In most of the trial, even men who believed that Tom was innocent, acted like they thought that he was guilty just so that they wouldn't be shunned by the other men. If someone agreed with the colored man and other men found out about it, then you were preety much ignored by the white man unless some of your friends agreed with you.
Chapter 21:
I do not think that Jem and Atticus expected the same vertict. This is because Jem thought, before the trial ended, that Atticus was completely clear with his evidence, and absolutely won the case. However, Atticus thought otherwise. For example, in Atticus's closing statement, he was basically saying how no matter what happens, in court, there should be no discrimination what-so-ever. He said this because he knew that he was going to lose and just wanted to inform everyone in the courtroom that everyone should always be equal in court. Also, when Jem came home, he was crying because he knew his father should have won the trial, but because Tom Robinson was black, the final vertict was guilty. This is how Jem and Atticus differed in there thoughts towards the vertict.
After reading all of these posts, I can see that all of you have done a good job of analyzing the questions before responding. We are nearing the end of this wonderful book, and I hope all of you have enjoyed it as much as me! Thanks for posting!
Great analysis by everyone. It's interesting to read different responses to the same question. Many times the same question can have multiple answers.
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