“You’ll never leave” is carved faintly into the brick wall of the small jail cell, probably from its last guest. Every day, I started to believe the phrase more and more. I lay on the uncomfortable cot, pretending to be asleep. I’m lonely, but I’m not alone. I can hear him breathing and slowly flipping the pages of the newspaper; I assume it’s Mr. Heck Tate.
Everything is calm in and outside of the jail cell, as the town of Maycomb has retired for the night. After being in here for days, I’ve noticed that this nighttime silence makes everything seem more melancholy. More despondent. More lonely. I miss my family and my normal life, even though it wasn’t anything special. Wake up, work in the fields, pretend the rude comments don't bother me
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as I walk home, go to sleep, and do it all over again tomorrow. This town is plagued with prejudice. Regardless, I miss it all. With constant thoughts buzzing through my head, I can never sleep, even though I’m incredibly tired. I'm lucky if I can get an hour of good sleep each night. My living conditions don't help my fatigue. Food is limited; I'm only given enough to survive. It’s almost always stale, as they treat more like an animal rather than human. Of course, I’m used to small rations back home, but here, I'm barely given anything. The compact room is dank, and the cot is intolerable. I struggle to get comfortable. I guess I can't complain. I mean, I’m in jail; what was I expecting? I jump as I hear a few car engines pass by, and then tremble to a stop in the parking lot. The door swings open and forcefully slams shut. A few people walk into the building; I hear their booming footsteps and hushed murmurs. My palms begin to sweat and my heartbeat accelerates. I immediately wonder who these guys are and what they want. I'm almost sure they’re here to start trouble. As they enter the room, I become completely still out of utter fear for my life. “He in there Mr. Finch?” I hear one of the visitors asks. I realize the man who had been waiting was not Heck Tate, but it was my lawyer, Atticus Finch. Confusion consumes me as I wonder where Mr. Tate is when I need his protection most. Atticus is a good man, but he’s not physically intimidating, with his small size and old age. While I’m grateful for some security, I don't think Atticus’s usual tactics of talking things out will help in this situation. I’m trapped inside the jail cell, and I have no way of personally defending myself. I feel completely helpless, as the situation is out of my control. I bite my lip as I continue to eavesdrop on their conversation. “-Called ‘em off on a snipe hunt” I hear one of the men recite. It suddenly becomes clear that this gathering was not a rash decision. This meeting was planned. Something was definitely going to happen tonight. As I continued listening, I could hear the fear in Atticus’s voice. As a black man in southern territory, I was familiar with this voice. His pitch was steady, yet it seemed forced. He was a bit shaky, as he tried not to completely break down. Subsequently, I hear a voice of a young girl, I presume. “Hey Atticus”, the voice chirps. It must be Atticus’s youngest, Scout. I wonder why she was there; this whole night was so confusing. Suddenly, a soft smile grew on my face. No one is going to hurt me with a child around. Thank God she showed up. As I continued listening, I realized there were two other children there, Jem and Dill.
I knew of Jem, Atticus’s eldest, but I wasn’t sure who Dill was.
“- I’ll send him home.” A low voice grumbles. A loud noise fills the air, followed by a quiet whimper from what I assume to be Jem. It becomes clear that the man had hurt Jem. I wish I could help, but of course, I was locked up. I felt bad for causing all of this trouble for the Finches. Not only am I the reason for the events tonight, but I’m sure they’ve gotten criticism from the people of Maycomb for defending me on this case. Calpurnia from church spoke kindly of Atticus, so I feel bad that he got stuck with my case.
The men continue to discuss things, but I couldn’t hear them. Instead, I listened to Scout, who was talking to Walter Cunningham. She reminds me of my own children in some ways. Hearing her childish voice makes me miss my family even more, and it reminds me of my loneliness.
“-Entailments are bad.” Scout says loudly, breaking me from my thoughts. I could feel the tension in the room. Everyone, including me, is surprised by her forwardness. I couldn’t even believe that a child would know what entailment means. I freeze as I wait to see what will happen
next. “I’ll tell Walter you said hey, little lady.” He simply says. Then, I hear to door open and close once again. I hear the men’s footsteps. I hear their cars stutter, and return to the main road. I take a deep breath and begin to loosen up. I make the sign of the cross, as I was so relieved that my life was spared tonight. Thank God the men had left; thank God for the Finches. I definitely feel better, but it wasn’t long until the loneliness started to linger back to me, along with the worry I constantly felt. The trial was coming soon; I think it’s next week but I’ve lost count of the days. Since I’ve been in here, I haven’t been able to sleep very much. I’ve been too busy thinking about the trial. I really thought that I wasn’t going to win. However, after tonight, I start feeling hopeful. As for my loneliness, I listened for Atticus’s heavy breathing and the page-turning of his newspaper. I wasn’t alone now. I know now Atticus will protect me. I told myself it was safe to sleep tonight. So, for the first time in days, I put my head on the pillow and had a good sleep, leaving my bad thoughts aside.
First of all, I’d like to say sorry for all the things that Scout and I have done. We behaved badly by trying to make you come out of the house. Such as when we gave you a letter to let you know that we want you to go out of your house, even if you do not want to, but Atticus caught us, when I’m going to slip the paper in your window he took it from me and read it. He told me to stop bothering you because Atticus thought that we’re making fun of you, but we’re not, we just want you to go out and have fun with us.
In addition to being a lawyer, Atticus enjoys being a father to Jem and Scout. When Jem and Scout found out that their father would be defending a black person, they knew immediately that there would be much controversy, humiliation from the people of Maycomb and great difficulty keeping Tom alive for the trial. It was not long when Atticus had to leave the house very late to go to jail, where Tom was kept because many white people wanted to kill him. Worrying about their father, Jem and Scout sneak out of the house to find him. A self-appointed lynch mob has gathered on the jail to take justice into their own hands. Scout decides to talk to Walter Cunningham, one of the members of the mob. She talks about how her father Atticus thought that "entailments are bad "(154 ) " and that his boy Walter is a real nice boy and tell him I said hey"(154). Upon hearing this, the mob realized that Atticus cannot be all bad if he has such a nice daughter as Scout. Atticus, with some unexpected help from his children, faces down the mob and cause them to break up the potential lynching of the man behind bars. Having gone to a black church earlier, the children found out that Tom is actually a kind person, church-going and a good husband and father to his children.
...m to their senses...That proves something - that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they're still human. Hmp, maybe we need a police force of children." (Page 173) As Scout saved her father from the mobs, the relationship between both characters increases, but the relationship is also shown as being complicated as Scout remembered a lesson that her father taught her in the weirdest of situations.
What does it mean to be a good parent? The most common definition of a good parent is one who makes their children feel valued and loved, by teaching them the difference between right and wrong. At the end of the day, the most essential thing is to create a nurturing environment where your children feel like they can mature into confident, independent, and caring adults. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird defines what a true parent really is thought hardships and struggles throughout the book. The story is set in the Depression era of a little town in southern Alabama that is struggling with thick prejudice on a colored rape case. The story is told through a character
Jem was suddenly furious. He leaped off the bed, grabbed me by the collar and shook me. “I never wanta hear about that courthouse again, ever, ever, you hear me? You hear me? Don’t you ever say one word to me about it again, you hear? Now go on!” (Lee 331).
came over for dinner at Scout’s house, Scout unintentionally insulted Walter when he was pouring molasses all over his food to enhance the flavor. Since Walter is poor, to make his food more flavorful, he developed a habit of adding molasses on his food to improve the taste; Scout had a high standard of living; so she found this odd. Call chided Scout afterwards about how she was mean and that she sould try to see things from other people’s perspectives before judging
“Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell's shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of
Maycomb is a petite, sleepy town, however, the political side is vicious. Atticus selflessly decides to defend Tom, an African American, in court who was being wrongly prosecuted for rape. Despite Maycomb’s arsenal of verbal chastisement on himself and his children, continued to defend Tom. Because Tom was African-American, his rights were subconsciously removed due to racial bias. "It was just him I couldn't stand," Dill said…"That old Mr. Gilmer doin' him thataway, talking so hateful to him… It was the way he said it made me sick, plain sick… The way that man called him 'boy' all the time an' sneered at him, an' looked around at the jury every time he answered… It ain't right, somehow it ain't right to do 'em that way. Hasn't anybody got any business talkin' like that—it just makes me sick." (Lee 155-165). Although the treatment was harsh, Atticus continued to defend Tom because Atticus’s virtues abide by protecting the innocent. The overwhelming negativity crowding the court case that Atticus disrupts for Tom Robinson supports Atticus’s altruism in defending the
Modes of Communication in To Kill a Mockingbird Effective communication is a result of the utilization of different techniques to convey a particular idea or perspective. Different methods used to express a person's feelings are found throughout society and aid in creating a learned individual, family, and community. In the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee uses several modes of communication to display her feelings on moral, political, and social issues. Lee's tactics parallel those used by one character in her novel, Atticus Finch. In order to express his feelings to his children, Atticus uses three simple teaching devices; the use of examples, verbal statements, and learning through experience.
I sit here waiting, waiting for the day for the I can be free. Free from work, free from these awful people, free from everything. I wish I could just settle down at my own place where I can grow my own food, farm my own land, be my own boss. I already dont have to worry about Lennie getting in any trouble. I guess I'm halfway there. It could just be me on my own, on a little farm, with some chickens, maybe some pigs or a cow. I can grow my own food. I know how to cook, I’m not too bad. I can teach myself some things. I can even go into town every saturday and trade in some of my things. While I'm there I can visit Lennie's grave, maybe bring him some pretty flowers. Oh I'm sure he would like that. I really do miss that sun of a gun.
Mrs. Lafayette Dubose is conniving because she knows how to hurt people with her words. Mostly everything that Mrs. Dubose says to Scout and Jem is very hurtful. She says exactly what she knows will hurt them the most. As she gets to know the kids better, she learns what they’re proud of or what they strive for, she does her very best to defeat their pride and make them feel ashamed or embarrassed. When Mrs. Dubose was first introduced she started yelling at the kids. Before she even knew them or could understand what amazing kids they were, she judged them and got mad and made them resent her. Jem and Scout were heading to town to buy Jems birthday present. As they walked past Mrs. Dubose’s house, she yells at them and thought they were skipping school and they were way too young to go to town alone. They disagreed and she yelled at them. “Don’t you lie to me!” she yelled. “Jeremy Finch, Maudie Atkinson told me you broke down her scuppernong arbor this morning. She’s going to tell your father and then you’ll wish you never saw the light of day! If you aren’t sent I reform school before next week, my name’s not Dubose!” (Lee, 135) Scout and Jem were doing absolutely nothing wrong. They were just walking to town and minding their own business. Mrs. Dubose on the other hand was sitting on her porch. She had nothing better to do then to pick on two little kids. She knew who they were and how badly they wanted to make their daddy proud. She knew that if she threated to tell their father, they would be so embarrassed and that they messed up. Due to this, Mrs. Lafayette Dubose is very conniving, even though it didn’t affect her at all; she just wanted to hurt the kids. How conniving and intelligent she is also shown when Mrs. Dubose te...
Calpurnia instills the important lessons of manners, and respect towards others in Scout’s every day life. This lesson especially stands out when Walter Cunningham goes to the Finch hours for lunch during school one day. Walter started pouring syrup all over his food, and got Scout yelling at him, Calpurnia scolded Scout about her judgments, “’There’s some folks who don’t like us,’ she whispered fiercely, ‘but you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t. That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him you hear?’”(32). This quote signifies the importance of the lesson Calpurnia is trying to teach Scout through her scolding of Scout’s disrespect towards Walter. Scout was questioning Walter’s ways of living, and Calpurnia teaches Scout th...
In the novel Caleb Williams by William Godwin, prison is depicted as a form of domicile to those dejected by the society, wherein it emphasises the humanity of its dwellers (the so-called others) and the absence of empathy from society. Upon entering the prison, the narrator and protagonist, Caleb Williams, described the place to be something “new” to him with “massy doors, resounding locks, gloomy passages, grated windows” (Godwin 171). The adjectives such as ‘massy,’ ‘resounding,’ ‘gloomy,’ and ‘grated’ are negative connotations, which suggest desolation and hollowness. What is interesting with these adjectives is that they parallel the “characteristic looks of the keepers” whom Caleb described to be “accustomed to reject every petition
Scout Finch, the youngest child of Atticus Finch, narrates the story. It is summer and her cousin Dill and brother Jem are her companions and playmates. They play all summer long until Dill has to go back home to Maridian and Scout and her brother start school. The Atticus’ maid, a black woman by the name of Calpurnia, is like a mother to the children. While playing, Scout and Jem discover small trinkets in a knothole in an old oak tree on the Radley property. Summer rolls around again and Dill comes back to visit. A sence of discrimination develops towards the Radley’s because of their race. Scout forms a friendship with her neighbor Miss Maudie, whose house is later burnt down. She tells Scout to respect Boo Radley and treat him like a person. Treasures keep appearing in the knothole until it is filled with cement to prevent decay. As winter comes it snows for the first time in a century. Boo gives scout a blanket and she finally understands her father’s and Miss Maudie’s point of view and treats him respectfully. Scout and Jem receive air guns for Christmas, and promise Atticus never to shoot a mockingbird, for they are peaceful and don’t deserve to die in that manner. Atticus then takes a case defending a black man accused of rape. He knows that such a case will bring trouble for his family but he takes it anyways. This is the sense of courage he tries to instill in his son Jem.
Scout deals with a lot of discrimination during her childhood. Her and her family all have dealt with