Mr. Underwood's editorial in the paper discussed Tom's chance at winning the case, and comparing him to a songbird. Towards the end of chapter 25, Scout is reading Mr. Underwood's article. "How could this be so, I wondered, as I read Mr. Underwood's editorial. Senseless killing...Then Mr. Underwood's meaning became clear: ... Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed" (Lee 323). Scout is confused by how Tom's death could have been "senseless killing" when Tom had been given a fair trial, had Atticus Finch fight for him, and then had twelve men agree on whether he was guilty or not. She realizes that Mr. Underwood is saying that Atticus has done all he could to save Tom, but that every man knew in his gut that once the case had began, Tom had already lost it. This is significant because it shows that although everything had gone as good as it could have: fair trial; good lawyer, nobody could convince twelve men to be be fair to a black man, which shows that they are not empathetic, and go out of their way to avoid trouble and controversy. The mention that Tom was dead once Mayella screamed is significant because if Mr. Ewell and Mayella hadn't decided to take the accusation to court, then life would go on as normal for everyone. But because they did decide to take it to court and draw attention to what Tom supposedly did, the public would automatically believe the Ewells' side of the story, because they're white. All in all, Scout was confused about why Mr. Underwood thinks Tom's death was irrational, if he was given a fair trial, which Scout begins to understand that it is because the jury and public had already decided Tom was guilty the minute the case had been brought to attention.
Do you think that Tom's death was "senseless killing?" Why or why not?
I think that Tom's death was senseless killing. Like Atticus said, "What was one Negro, more or less, among two hundred of 'em? He wasn't Tom to them, he was an escaping prisoner." (Lee 315) The prison guards who shot Tom weren't specifically trying to target him because of what he allegedly did; if it had been a different black man trying to escape the same way Tom had, the guards would have reacted the same way. No matter who it was, as long as he was black, the guards would have senselessly shot him 17 times. Because Tom was black, he was severely punished for trying to escape the punishment for a crime he didn't even commit. In the 1930s, even black prisoners were treated more harshly than white prisoners.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in this editorial, I think that Mr. Underwood very vaguely hit on the true issue of the case, but still somewhat avoided it. While Scout is pondering on the editorial, she explains, “Mr. Underwood didn’t talk about the miscarriages of justice… simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples” (323). Also, as Fiona said, he also compared Tom’s killing to the senseless one of a songbird. Mr. Underwood is trying to appear sensitive about the subject, but it’s very clear that he sees Tom as worthy as a songbird; with no benefit to the society. People tend to think of animals as useless creatures, and here African-Americans are being compared to animals. Still, this is very true, and Mr. Underwood is reflecting the society’s views when he says this. People do not think when they kill an African-American, much like songbirds, possibly because they know there will be little consequences for them, much like Tom’s trial. However, he still covers it up by putting in the bit about how it’s “a sin to kill cripples,” which could mean one of two things: he really doesn’t care about the fact that Tom was African-American, but still wants to appear sensitive, or he is afraid of society, and is trying to find another way to say it was a shame.
ReplyDeleteTom's death was a senseless killing. As Charlotte said, Tom was shot because he is black. The guards shot him 17 times when they could have just shot him once. The trail wasn't fair because Tom is black. Scout soon realizes that there really was no way for Atticus to win the case with the disadvantage that Tom is black. Scout understood that once Mayella screamed then Tom would be dead because the Ewells would bring this to court. Atticus did try his hardest because he knew it would count. Mr. Underwood was comparing the trial to a song bird.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think that Scout realized the inevitable doom of Tom Robinson. Not even Atticus can convince a racist jury to choose in favor of Tom Robinson. I think Scout is starting to realize that white people discriminate for no specific reason, and they discriminate to a very large degree. She figured out that trying to save Tom was futile because the most of the jury is incapable of feeling empathy for a black man.
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