We have just finished the trial. In our reading, Calpurnia gave a note to Atticus from Alexandra saying that the children were missing. Then, Mr. Underwood pointed out they were up in the African American balcony. Atticus told them to eat supper, then come back, because there was no point in letting them not hear the verdict if they heard everything already. Jem, Scout, and Dill ate supper, and then returned back to the court house. Nothing had changed, and it seemed that they had been gone for about an hour. Jem and Atticus thought the verdict would've been delivered in minutes because of the disease of Maycomb. Nothing had changed, however, since the hour had passed. The whole courthouse was still, waiting for the verdict for be delivered. It was 8 pm, and hours passed. Still no verdict. Then the bell for 11pm struck. Scout was napping at the time, and suddenly, she was awoken. Jem was still focused on the idea of Tom being acquitted because there is no evidence. Unlike the jury, Jem had only looked at the evidence. Mr. Heck Tate then announced for order in the court. It was the night, and the jury finally came to a verdict. The jury walks in and no one had looked at Tom. Judge Taylor then read off the verdict as guilty. Jem did not have a good reaction to this. Then, Atticus said his word to Tom and the court reporter, and left for the south entrance. All of the white people of Maycomb had already left because they did not care for Tom or the verdict. It was a solely entertainment value. When Atticus walked by, all of the African Americans stood up. This was sign of respect for Atticus because he had actually tried to defend Tom Robinson.
First of all, this was not a usual case for Maycomb Alabama. Usually, cases involving an African American do not take this long. The jury usually does not take that long to come to a verdict. They are all white men who will vote guilty automatically. Most importantly, this is about an african american man raping a white woman. This will definitely sway the jury in the wrong direction. It doesn't take a couple of hours like this case. This is a very rare scenario and it's a baby step towards the right direction for Maycomb Alabama. Maycomb has the disease of racism, and this is a step towards the right direction because this means that the jury actually needed to think about it. Either someone was holding back or they were actually concerned for Tom. I have a lot of opinions about this chapter. First of all, I honestly thought that Tom was going to be acquitted. It could've been a huge turn around for Maycomb. Since the Ewells are seen as "trash", there was more of a chance that Tom could've been seen as innocent. It also could've shown the people of Maycomb that african americans aren't always bad. There are bad people, but it doesn't matter about race. I also think that the jury should've thought like Jem, Scout, and Dill. They still have their childhood innocence, and they do not think about looks or race. They will only look at the facts, like Jem did. I wasn't too happy about the verdict. Now, Tom will be receiving, most likely, capital punishment. It's an innocent man being put the death, and I'm not very satisfied with it. What do you think about Tom being put to death?
Your first paragraph was a detailed summary of what we read, so good job on that. I agree with you that this isn't a typical case in Maycomb because the jurors were out for 3-4 hours instead of 3-4 minutes, and even though Tom was still convicted, it's a step in the right direction. I honestly thought Tom would be acquitted too, since everyone had to have known that the Ewells are trash and yeah, it would have been a really good thing for Maycomb. What I think about Tom being put to death is that it's sad, he's leaving behind a wife and three kids, even though he's an innocent man.
ReplyDeleteGood job on this blog post, you had a lot of good detail in your summary of what we had read. Same thing as Therese I do not think this was a normal case for a colored man. Atticus said that when a colored man has a trial, and the jury would read the verdict, it will only take the jury five minutes to reach the verdict. The jurors took at least four hours to come to a decision, I thought that Tom was not going to be guilty, and win the case. Because it took longer than unexpected. Tom should have not been guilty, and he has to face the death penalty. Overall good job on your blog post.
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