Rossiter's TKAM Blog 2019

There is a good reason this book is a staple of most American middle school curriculums.  In its simplest form, the story tells of a young girl living in the deep south around the time of the Great Depression. Yet the reason this book remains relevant sits deep within the books many lessons and experiences.  Through the ebbs and flows of Scout’s childhood the reader is shown many events which, while not necessarily similar to our own, are based on moment in the total human experience. Everyone can see a little of themselves in Scout, whether it might be her over curiosity, courage, intelligence, or little moments of greater understanding and empathy.  This makes Scout a memorable and lovable character. You are drawn to trust her instincts and reasoning, for better or worse. We see the entire story from the point of view of a young child, biased in it’s own individual way. The narrative is not much swayed by race or politics, but by stories hear...

One of the most critical themes in TKAM is fake versus real. This is highlighted many times throughout the book, mainly towards the end. The obvious example was when Boo, whom most people in Maycomb described as an evil man, saved Jem and Scout from the real evil. The fake, or made-up version of Boo was from people who did not know him, which made him seem like a terrible monster that should be locked up. The real version, which came at the very end of the book, finally showed Boo as the warm, empathetic hero who saved the protagonist. Unfortunately, this realization came after too much fear had been instilled in most of the Maycomb community, so this possibly amazing person was not accepted. In the second to last paragraph, Atticus says, "Most people are Scout, when you finally see them" (323). He is talking about how most people are good when you get to know them and step into their shoes like Scout tried to with Boo. Through the precious moment when Scout was empathizing...

           While Jem and Scout were very brave on their walk home from the pageant, being able to survive  an attack from a grown man with a knife, they made multiple mistakes that nearly cost them their lives.  The first was Scout forgetting her shoes. One part of their journey has them walk by a large tree, which  roots spread out onto the sidewalk These roots had already made Scout trip on the way there. If Scout  had her shoes, as soon as Jem realized something was wrong he could've had them run right away, but  they could go no faster than a walk because of Scout's lack of shoes. The second was not accepting a ride.  They knew it was dark, and that they were alone, but they chose to walk. As the person offering the ride  came from the pageant, and Maycomb is a small town, the kids probably knew the man at least by name,  so they could've trusted him to take them home. The biggest mistake was probably Jem'...

Jem and Scout make a collection of mistakes on their journey home together.  Most of these mistakes would be insignificant by themselves, but grouped together lead to a large risk.  Jem and Scout where not necessarily being foolish in their action due to the fact that they had little to no reason to be worried of an attack in an area so close to home.  Previously, Atticus was quick to ensure them that Bob Ewell was not a threat, and they had no reason not to believe him. As Scout tells us, “Mr. Ewell found himself as forgotten as Tom Robinson” (284).  Yet calculated risk is not always correct. Darkness Jem should have been able to predict the darkness, seeing as he spends much of his time outside.  The lack of light could have caused many more issues beside being followed. As we see during both their initial and return trip, the siblings struggle with direction despite knowing the basic way.  This could have been an easy fix, as Jem could have brou...

         On their way back from the pageant, Jem and Scout made many choices that led to them being attacked by Bob Ewell. Firstly, after the pageant, Jem and Scout were offered a ride back to their home, but they decided to walk in the pitch black of the night. "You all want a ride home? ... No sir thank you, ... It's just a little walk". This made it much easier for Scout and Jem to be targeted by Bob Ewell. The only reason Ewell saw them in the dark of the night was because Scout's ham costume material had a shiny quality that made it visible. When Jem and Scout grew suspicious of the sound that was following them, Jem did not make them run to the house as fast as possible. He did not do this since Scout had forgotten her shoes at the school and it was closed. If Scout had more support on her feet, she would have been able to run with being worried about stepping on a rock or injuring her foot in any way. If they had taken up the offer for a ride home, or Sco...

In chapter 26 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee describes Scout learning about current events in class.  In her class, Harper Lee chose to include Cecil Jacobs talking about the inequalities Adolf Hitler is showing Jewish people.  After this, Miss Gates tells the class that Maycomb is will never be this way because Maycomb is a democracy, and Germany is a dictatorship.  In response to a question asked about why Hitler doesn’t like the Jews, Miss Gates says, “I don’t know Henry. They contribute to every society they live in, and most of all, they are a deeply religious people.”  Harper Lee included this conversation during Scouts class because it \shows how the town of Maycomb doesn’t realize that there are major inequalities going on in their own town. This passage relates to the conversation Aunt Alexandra was having with the ladies of the town because both conversations show how ignorant Maycmb really is.  Throughout these chapters, Sc...

At the end of Chapter 26, Scout’s third grade class is having a discussion about Hitler. Miss Gates, Scout’s teacher, asks the class what a democracy is, “‘Equal rights for all, special privileges for none,’ I quoted. ‘Very good Jean Louise, very good,’ Miss Gates smiled. In front of DEMOCRACY, she printed WE ARE A. ‘now class, say it all together ‘we are a democracy.’’”(281). This lesson is ironic because nothing in Maycomb has been democratic. The Ewells have a horrible reputation in Maycomb. The family has been labelled by the Maycomb way as “animals”. Atticus proved that Mr. Ewell and Mayella were lying during the trial.  The Ewells won the trial because they are white. If Tom Robinson was a white man, he would have won. The people of Maycomb chose to avoid the fact that the Ewells were lying and had a bad reputation, and they made a decision based on race. Scout notices this at the end of the chapter. She asks Jem, “Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and...

Bob Ewell continues to be a problem in Maycomb because of the grudge he has against everyone that embarrassed him in court. Even though Bob Ewell won the court case and had his one moment to shine,  but after everyone has forgotten about him and he kind of disappeared in the town. Because of this, he has continued to be a problem in Maycomb by trying to somehow have the spotlight once again by bothering people that were involved in the case. Harper Lee includes this in the novel to show that even though Bob Ewell won the case he still is in the same place as he is before. He still lives in a dump and still has the same respect as he did before, little to none. When Link Deas says, “I’ll get you in on Ladies’ Law, so get outa my sight! If you don’t think I mean it, just bother this girl again!” (286). This shows that even the white people of Maycomb dislike Bob Ewell and that his family name will never go up just stay in the same place. Scout’s growth connects to this because she is...

What is ironic about the lesson Miss Gates is teaching the children? Miss Gates argument is ironic because during the lesson she is advocating for the Jews, a struggling minority, while also believing that the blacks should not have the same rights as the whites when Scout overhears her say: "They were gettin' way above themselves, an' the next thing they think they can do is marry us" (283). Scout is confused by this because her hypocrisy is something new to her. She is confused by Miss Gates's views because she feels that is Miss Gates supports one minority she shouldn't bash another. Her inconsistent views are strange because she is teaching the fact that the Jews should not be persecuted and perfectly understands what it means, while also thinking the exact opposite about the blacks. This demonstrates that Scout is learning the idea of hierocracy. Rather than brushing away the confusion she feels, she asks questions in an attempt to understand the min...

Tom Robinson was shot by an officer for trying to run out of jail, and climb the fence. Tom did this even though he had a good chance of not getting too bad of a sentence. Harper Lee makes it very clear that Tom is innocent throughout the case, so when he is found guilty, it is mostly because of his race. His death was a big shock to everyone around him. You can visibly see in Atticus's face that he is angry, as Harper Lee describes him as pale. I think that when Atticus gets the news he blames himself for not assuring Tom enough. After getting the news about his death, Aunt Alexandra says, "'It tears him to pieces. He doesn't show it much, but it tears him to pieces"(296). Even though she may not understand why he does what he does, she still knows how much he cares. In addition, another reason that the news about Tom dying could be surprising is because he clearly had people like Atticus who cared about him. Usually the reason someone would try to escape from ja...

Tom Robinson was wrongfully convicted of raping Maryella and even though Tom could’ve appealed his sentence and had a good chance of winning that appeal, he decided to just give up. Tom was put in jail and he believed the only way he could have his freedom back was by trying to escape, that would be a grave mistake. It did not come as a surprise to hear that Tom Robinson was shot to death. The last thing that Tom said to Atticus was, “Good-bye, Mr. Finch, there ain’t nothin’ you can do now, so there ain’t no use tryin.”(267) Harper Lee wants to show how pessimistic colored people were during Scout’s time due to the fact that their word would never go over a white person’s word, thus, giving colored people no hope of equal treatment like in Tom’s case during the trial. The result of this is Tom not having any hope left, which caused him to try and escape jail in which resulted in him getting shot 17 times to his death. Tom’s last words to Atticus foreshadowed what woul...

The news about Tom Robinson is not shocking. Given the racial inequalities at the time it is much more likely for a police officer to shoot and kill a black man then a white man. Atticus gets home early from work, he pulls Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra aside: “‘Tom’s dead ...They shot him,’ said Atticus. ‘He was running. It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge  at the fence and started climbing over. Right in front of them-’” (268) The trial ended with Mr. Robinson being pronounced guilty because of his race. Harper Lee makes it very obvious that Tom really was not guilty, but because of his race and the prejudice against black people, he had no conceivability to win against a white person. While, Tom Robinson is in jail, he tries to escape by climbing over the fence. He does this because he knows he is not guilty and that there were no chances left, and would be charged for something he did not do. There was no hope left in him and a...

Does the news about Tom surprise you? Why or why not? - Minsky The news about Tom Robinson was very surprising. The way that the characters had been talking made it seem like Mr. Robinson had a very good chance of getting an appeal. At the same time, it is not surprising to me that Harper Lee would include this in the story. Mr. Robinson had been through a biased court case, and as Atticus says he was “tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own”(269). Atticus says that the prison guards viewed Mr. Robinson as an escaping prisoner, not as a person at that moment. However, they weren’t only viewing him as an escaping prisoner, they were viewing him as a black escaping prisoner. If it were Mr. Ewell who had been arrested and trying to escape, the prison guards would not have felt that it was necessary to shoot him as many times, and as extensively as they did. It was not surprising to find out that Mr. Robinson had tried to escape. It was initially surprising to find out...