In chapter 22 Miss Maudie says two quotes that show that she is fully supportive of Atticus. One of Miss Maudie's quotes that shows support of Atticus is "I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father is one of them," (Lee 288). This quote shows that Miss Maudie is in support of Atticus because she knows that other white lawyers would not want to defend Tom Robinson due to a lot of bad scrutiny from the citizen of Maycomb. Also, it shows that she supports him because it shows that she respects Atticus for what he is doing and how he stands up for what he believes in. Another quote showing that Miss Maudie supports Atticus is "We're so rarely called on to be Christians, but when we are, we've got men like Atticus to go for us," (Lee 288). By saying this she is showing her support for Atticus because she supports that he did everything he could to help Tom Robinson. Both these quotes show that Miss Maudie supports Atticus and that not everyone in Maycomb is against Atticus for defending Tom Robinson.
On Page 289 Miss Maudie is talking about how it is not a coincidence that Judge Taylor chose Atticus to defend Tom Robinson. What do you think about this? Do you think it is a coincidence or did Judge Taylor pick Atticus for a reason?
I think Judge Taylor picked Atticus for a reason. I believe, coming from a judges perspective, that Taylor knew deep down inside him Tom Robinson was a innocent man, but couldn't show this to the people of the town. I think the judge knew if he picked Atticus he thought that out of all the lawyers around Atticus would be the best to prove Tom innocent.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is no coincidence that Judge Taylor picked Atticus to defend Tom Robinson. Judge Taylor might not be the next Dolphus Raymond, but has enough empathy for Tom Robinson, that he puts his best guy on the job. This is extremely important because it's one thing if the jury is made up of racists, but it's a whole different situation if the judge is a racist.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Judge Taylor had some reasoning for picking Atticus to represent Tom. Judge Taylor rightly understands that Tom is a human, just like him. But I also think that there may be another reason why Judge Taylor picked Atticus. When Atticus is having Tom tell his side of the story during the trial, Tom says that Mayella was the one to start the hugging/kissing. "This time Judge Taylor's gavel came down with a bang" (259). Judge Taylor obviously doesn't believe that Tom is completely equal, which is why he gets so disturbed and offended when Tom mentions that Mayella may be the one who started all of this.
ReplyDeleteWhat's another possible reason why Judge Taylor may have picked Atticus?