Assumptions In To Kill A Mockingbird

Although their outcomes differ drastically, Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird and Joel Schumacher’s movie, A Time To Kill, still share many themes within their stories. The theme of perspective has major influences on other themes in the plot lines of each story: racial inequality, morality, and justice. Some people only seem to understand someone when they put it in a perspective other than their own. Firstly, people assume things based on their ideas or, the influence on other’s assumptions and opinions. Scout Finch’s assumptions and the effect the assumptions of others on her beliefs; Carla Brigance’s assumptions and the KKK’s effect on other’s beliefs are strong examples. Secondly, it is until someone tells them or shows them that

there is no proper way to look at life and cannot truly understand another’s actions and thoughts from their own perception. Thirdly, once they know this and try to look at things from another’s perspective, they begin to understand the other person more clearly.
There are plenty of assumptions about different people and how they act in many situations.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, the degree of assumptions and rumours range from in the house to all over town. After Calpurnia speaks to Scout about calling young Walter Cunningham out on his preference to syrup on his food, upset Scout, then goes to Atticus and says, “She likes Jem better’n she likes me, anyway.” (Lee 33). Scout clearly assumes this because Calpurnia seems to get on her case more than Jem’s, so to her it immediately means Cal likes Jem better. Scout does not consider Calpurnia’s perspective in the situation but focuses only on her own. Scout and Jem’s assumptions about Boo Radley are all based off things other people have previously assumed: “People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. Any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work.” (10). These Things that Scout and Jem gather from others then become their beliefs because they are not taught how to understand others from

perspective.
Similarly, in A Time To Kill, the assumptions made by people varied. The way Jake Brigance’s wife, Carla, talked to him about not calling the sheriff is an obvious example: “Jake Tyler Brigance, we agreed that you were gonna call the sheriff. Now look at everything that has happened. I am sorry to tell you this darlin’ but those two boys are in the ground and you were in a position to prevent every bit of this!” (0:52:18). Carla speaking to him like this displays that she is upset because he had not done what she thought was the right thing without looking at things from his side. Likewise when the Jury vote before the last part of the trial. They know that what the men, Billy Ray Cobb and James Louis 'Pete' Willard, did rape little Tonia but they thought that had no relevance to the current trial. They do not care that Carl Lee’s actions justify as more than just a retaliation and assume that he is in the wrong because he is black.
One person’s hint at another's perspective can influence others in powerful ways. Lee’s book makes a very fitting example of this through an exchange between Scout and Atticus: “First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…” “Sir?” “... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee 39). Through this exchange Scout learns that by looking at the event from the other person’s side of things you can better grasp the thoughts of that person. She does take awhile to do so but at least she learns this to make use of it.
This can not only work in terms of understanding others but it can also be used to get others to realize things. Joel Schumacher’s movie demonstrates this through a speech from Carl Lee to Jake in the jail cell the night before the final part of the trial: “America is a war and you are on the other side. How's a black man ever going to get a fair trial with the enemy on the bench and in the jury box?. My life in white hands? You Jake, that's how. You are my secret weapon because you are one of the bad guys. You don't mean to be but you are. It's how you was raised. Nigger, negro, black, African-american, no matter how you see me, you see me different, you see me like that jury sees me, you are them. Now throw out your points of law, Jake. If you was on that jury, what would it take to convince you to set me free? That's how you save my ass. That's how you save us both.” (2:10:33). With these words, Carl Lee gets Jake to try and see things using the jury’s eyes rather than his own. Carl encourages him to take his ability to see things from another point of view and use it to his advantage. The final realization after viewing another’s perspective is what brings people together while helping them notice things that they would not if they had not reached that understanding.
By reflecting on that person’s position, people perceive the situation differently like taking into account that they are wrong or that what the other person did was justified and vice versa.

In the final pages of Lee’s book, Scout walks Boo home. After Boo heads inside, Scout finally makes good use of what Atticus tells her and realizes that he was right: “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.” (Lee 374). Scout finally realizes that by seeing from someone else's view allows for her to get a sense of why they do things and how they

feel.
In a like manner, by understanding this concept one can get others to feel what they feel and give others a sense of why they do the things they do. The last few minutes of the movie, Jake takes his final opportunity to make the jury see that Carl Lee is innocent and uses it the best he can; he says, “I want to tell you a story. I'm going to ask you all to close your eyes while I tell you the story. I want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to yourselves. Go ahead. Close your eyes, please. This is a story about a little girl walking home from the grocery store one sunny afternoon. I want you to picture this little girl. Suddenly a truck races up. Two men jump out and grab her. They drag her into a nearby field and they tie her up and they rip her clothes from her body. Now they climb on. First one, then the other, raping her, shattering everything innocent and pure with a vicious thrust in a fog of drunken breath and sweat. And when they're done, after they've killed her tiny womb, murdered any chance for her to have children, to have life beyond her own, they decide to use her for target practice. They start throwing full beer cans at her. They throw them so hard that it tears the flesh all the way to her bones. Then they urinate on her. Now comes the hanging. They have a rope. They tie a noose. Imagine the noose going tight around her neck and with a sudden blinding jerk she's pulled into the air and her feet and legs go kicking. They don't find the ground. The hanging branch isn't strong enough. It snaps and she falls back to the earth. So they pick her up, throw her in the back of the truck and drive out to Foggy Creek Bridge. Pitch her over the edge. And she drops some thirty feet down to the creek bottom below. Can you see her? Her raped, beaten, broken body soaked in their urine, soaked in their semen, soaked in her blood, left to die. Can you see her? I want you to picture that little girl. Now imagine she's white.” (2:15:53). In the form of a story, Jake forces the jury to see from the eyes of a spectator to the rape of little Tonia, giving them insight to the reasons and thoughts of many others who think that what Carl Lee did was right using their own feelings and judgement.
In conclusion, sometimes understanding a person means looking through a perspective other than one’s own and reflecting upon it. First, assumptions can be damaging to anything from a close relationship to a society and can be as great of an effect on one person as it is on a group of people. Second, people sometimes need people to remind us that there are more ways than one to view a situation and a person’s view is not the only important one. Third, when a person reflects on the other side of the situation, they have options of using what they have discovered. Once people realize that the ability to view other perspectives is a great tool for communication and problem solving in conflicts but also helps get points across to others. In the end, the human ability to view other perspectives is both a gift and a curse, depending on the circumstances in which the ability is used. It is an essential component to human intelligence.