After a long day in court, Atticus sums up his case defending Tom Robinson, and even shows a new side of the story that was a shock to many people in the courthouse. In chapter 20, Harper Lee showed a sign of courage almost never seen before from Atticus that he wasn’t afraid to defend Tom, and truly wanted to try his best to help him. Atticus spoke strongly about Tom and how he didn’t do anything wrong. It almost seemed as if Atticus was certain that Tom Robinson had not done anything wrong, which helped make his argument even more effective.“‘She(Mayella) was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable;she kissed a black man. Not an Uncle, but a strong young Negro man’”(Lee 272). Atticus points out that Mayella had done something “unspeakable” in her society and it all fell apart and she tried to lie to make it better. Atticus says that Tom Robinson just felt bad for Mayella and so he helped her once in awhile, which makes the reader feel empathetic towards Mayella, but also towards Tom as he had been punished for helping someone out of pure kindness. Atticus ends his argument by saying that every man is equal and shouldn’t be treated differently because of their skin color, leaving a strong message that Tom shouldn’t be guilty just because he has dark skin. Was Atticus correct in defending Tom Robinson so much?
Atticus's argument was so effective because he humbled himself with the jury and began pleading with them because of how desperately he wanted to save Tom's life. Atticus did something very peculiar to Jem and Scout, he loosened his clothing and began sweating. He began acting very differently in the court room because as he has stated before, this case effected him on a much more personal level than his past trials. This case could save a man and families life, and he was desperate not to let Tom or his family down. He also begins leveling with the jury. He is not trying to sugar coat the truth that men are not created equal and Tom was an easy target to accuse purely due to his skin color. Atticus discusses major racial biases in his final statement, "To begin with, this case should have never come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white" (Lee, 271). Atticus was putting his family reputation on the line. He put himself on the line and was willing to give everything he had to save this man. He knew that the odds were highly against him because his defendant was black yet he courageously continued to put his reputation on the line to save an innocent man.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI agree that Atticus showed courage during this trial. When he was making his final argument he gave it his all. Atticus was very moved by this trial. It took courage; Ms. Dubose’s type for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson like he did. Atticus said and stood up for what he believed in. I think that Atticus was right in standing up so much for Tom because it matched his own definition of courage. “ It’s when you know you’re licked before you being but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” (Lee 149) Atticus knew he wouldn’t win this trial long before it happened but he still took on the trial. During the trial he really tried, even knowing he would probably lose. This was a very brave thing to do because at the time the Maycomb community was very racist. To Atticus, he did the correct thing, but the maycomb community generally viewed it as incorrect.