Responding: To Kill a Mockingbird, Twelve through Twenty-one

Personal Response

As I followed the action in the courtroom, I empathized with Tom Robinson the most. This is because the evidence were more slanted to the side whereby Tom Robinson did not rape Mayella Ewell, and even though the judges knew this, Tom Robinson was still announced guilty of having raped Mayella.

Analyzing Literature
Recall and Intepret

1. The people of Maycomb County gather and plans to have Tom Robinson lynched. Scout helps her father in this scene as she comes along with her father, Atticus, and she chatted with Mr Cunningham a little, and he suddenly felt guilty and left, as the rest of the people followed and left as well.

2. As most of Mayella's injuries were on the right, this showed that the yperson who attacked her was most likely a left-handed person, whereas Tom Robinson's left hand was crippled. Also, Tom could not have caught Mayella around the neck and beat her around her face as he had only one good hand to use.

3. According to Atticus, Mayella's motive for accusing Tom is to prevent others from knowing that she had tempted a Negro, and that she kissed a black man, which was unspeakable of in their society at that time. Atticus was afraid that the jury will think that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes and basically immoral beings, and that all Negro men are not to be trusted around their women.


Analyzing Literature
Evaluate and Connect

4. The author depicts Mayella Ewell as a lonely person with no friends and that she was desperate for a friend which resulted in her tempting Tom Robinson. Mayella was also a child with only one parent, Mr Bob Ewell, and he was often drunk and beat her ocassionally.

5. I think a jury today would not have found Tom Robinson guilty. This is because the society in which this case happened was when the Blacks were being prejudiced against by the Whites, whereas the current society does not have as much racism as there were in the past.