In Chapter 24 Aunt Alexandra is having a meeting in the Finch house, when Atticus comes in and tells about the news that Tom Robinson tried to run away, and the prison guards killed him. I was not surprised by this attempt at freedom for a number of reasons.
Through the course of the book we see that Tom and Atticus are clearly aware of the outcome of the trial before it even happed. With that being said the burden that was put on Tom knowing that he was going to be killed eventually must have built up, thus creating this outburst while he was in prison. Like the civil rights movement itself, some people died trying then, and I think that Harper Lee made Tom Robinsons death this way to show that those effected by civil right sometimes died trying to get what they deserved. Tom fought in court for what he deserved, and the prison break attempt was like his final try. Another reason he may have done this is simply because he knew he had nothing to lose. If you were in the same situation as Tom would you have done the same thing? Could Tom Robinson be considered like a martyr as those in the civil right movements? Does Tom Robinson show characteristics of a martyr in what he did? If so which ones?
I agree with Thomas that it was not a real surprise to hear that Tom tried to run away. Tom was put in such an awful situation and there were no real high points in his life at this point. Afterall, he really had nothing to lose. He knew that he would never win the case after the appeal and the last shot at freedom was to try to escape. If I were Tom, i would have done the exact same thing because in his situation it seemed like the best decision. In addition, Tom running away or at least trying to raised awareness and this along with the trial helped Civil Rights push forward. Blacks were clearly not treated equally as whites and showing everyhting that Tom was involved with, it really gave people in Maycomb and around the south something to think about.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Thomas says about how this last attempt at freedom was Tom Robinson's final try. He, having lost hope, took matters in his own hands. Atticus says that they had a good shot at winning the appeal. Do you believe this statement or do you think racism would have won? I find it significant when Atticus says, "'...They got him just as he went over the fence. They said if he'd had two good arms he'd have made it, he was moving that fast...'"(315) This deepens the thought that racism killed Tom Robinson. In class, we talked about how he had been crippled by a cotton gin, a device made for the black man to use to help the white man grow rich. Racism crippled Tom Robinson, and in his final struggle, he would have succeeded if not for his arm. Responding to Thomas' post, I disagree. I believe that Tom Robinson had a lot to lose (his wife, his children, his friends), but he would probably would have lost them in the end anyway. A question I have is, is the editorial Mr. Underwood publishes significant in any way? What do you think of Aunt Alexandra's response to the situation and what she says to Miss Maudie? What is significant about the last line in chapter 24? Does it show Scout maturing?
ReplyDeleteI agree with the principal behind what you are saying, Thomas. I agree that the sadness built up inside of him and drove him to his last chance of living. I, however, was suprised when I heard that he had been killed. Tom seemed like such a graceful and calm character, not the kind of person to run away. Perhaps he was holding his sadness inside himself and it built up, driving him to rash measures. I think that you make a good point in bringing up that he was a martyr in civil rights and raised awareness. In response to the reactions to the death, and Amy's comment, I think that primarily, this marks a turning point in Aunt Alexandra's influence on Scout. For the first time, Scout seemed to take Aunt Alexandra as an example, however I did not think that the response by either Scout or Aunt Alexandra was realistic. In real life they would not have just gotten over it and gone back to being courteous hosts. What do people think about this scene? Is it realistic?
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