Maycomb County Jail

During the winter, Scout wakes up to snow and is scared since she has never seen it before. Her father reassures her and she goes to play with Jem in the snow. School ends later that year and dill come to play with them during the summer. During the Summer Atticus accepts to defend Tom Robinson in court. Tom Robinson was a black man who had been accused of raping the daughter of a wealthy man named Mr. Ewell. During the trial, Scout learned racial equality was a necessity that people needed to learn for a man with a white skin is just as valuable than a man with a black skin. Atticus does not win the trial, since the jury cannot convict a white man against a black. This cause a feud between the Ewells and the

Atticus is guarding the jailhouse to make sure no one hurts Tom Robinson before his trial, when he is approached by Walter Cunningham and his fellow goons. Atticus shows his bravery by standing his ground for what he believes is right in front of his son. When Scout lashes out to her father’s side, Jem holds onto her and tries to stop her from interfering. Then Jem refuses to go home and stands up for his father’s side although the odds were against them, while trying to protect his sister from harm. In page 152, chapter 15, Scout says, “... but from the way he stood, Jem was not thinking of budging.” This shows us that Jem has matured from the boy who would do anything if dared, to a young man who can barricade his emotions and proceed with reason in difficult situations.

First Mr. Tate and a group of men came to Atticus’ house to talk to him. Then Atticus went to the jail in the middle of the night to protect Tom Robinson. While he was there, a mob of men including Mr. Walter Cunningham circled around Atticus. Mr. Underwood even had to be inside armed with shotgun.

Tom Robinson had been accused to raping Bob Ewell’s daughter, Mayella. Although Atticus provided all the evidence that proved he was innocent, the jury declared him guilty and he was sent to a prison. There, he was shot dead by the guards after allegedly trying to escape. But this is all suspicious since Tom knew that he might still have a good chance of being released. It is also skeptical because the guards shot him seventeen times, an unnecessary amount, Atticus said “seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much” (Lee 268). Atticus realizesDill dares Jem to run up to the Radley’s door and touch it, which is a big deal to them. Scout’s comments and reactions aided in triggering her older brother to accept Dill’s dare. Scout teases and mocks him about being scared. She says that “in all his life, Jem had never declined a dare”, and he wasn’t about to now (Lee 14).When he hesitates, she laughs at him. He can’t admit that he’s scared, especially not to his little sister who would never let him live it down.

During this time, Atticus, who is a lawyer, takes on a very difficult case. He is defending Tom Robinson, who is an African American man being charged with raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. At the trial, Jem and Scout try to find seats, but they are all taken. Reverend Sykes, the reverend of the African American church, runs into Scout and Jem and tells them “There’s not a seat downstairs. Do you all reckon it’ll be alright if you all came to the balcony with me” (186)? The children happily take his offer and travel to the balcony where “Four negroes rose and gave them their front-row seats” (186). As time passes, Jem becomes very engaged in the trial. Scout says that “Jem seemed to be having a quiet fit. He was pounding the balcony rail softly, and once he whispered, “We’ve got him” (202). Jem is very confident that they have won the case, and thinks that Tom Robinson will not be convicted to be guilty. Later in the book, when they take a break from the trial, Jem

Atticus was assigned Tom Robinson in the case against Bob Ewell, and in the process he was an example to both his children and the town as an honorable lawyer. When Bob Ewell brought a case to court claiming his white daughter had been raped by black Tom Robinson, almost everyone assumed the jury would charge Robinson guilty; however, Atticus hoped for a different outcome. Atticus firmly believed his client was innocent, contrary to the public’s beliefs. Because Atticus was highly respected as a lawyer, this case caused a riff between the town. As Tom awaited his trial in the county jail, Atticus spent the night guarded the door to the cell. A group of perturbed men soon ambushed Atticus and demanded to see the prisoner. “You know what we want,” another man said. “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch (153).” In this situation, Atticus displayed honor through risking his life so an innocent black man was not killed. Even though he lost respect among his some neighbors, Atticus was honorable in his actions and stayed true to

“One single personal voice who reminds a mob of its individuality can disarm it,” is the central theme for chapter 15 in the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird.” This is shown in the three literary elements; setting, conflict and character which all help develop the theme.

On the Sunday evening Atticus travels to the jail to stand guard and protect Tom Robinson as he was notified of possible “trouble and disturbance at the Jail’. When Jem and Dill run into the crowd, led by Scout, they are suddenly aware that they have walked into a bad situation. Though Jem realises the situation is precarious, he made a decision to stay and help Atticus protect Tom even after his father’s thorough protests. Dill and Scout on the other hand, are still too young to completely understand what is going on. They stand and fight with Jem though, knowing what he is doing will be what is right. Atticus continues to plea, order, threaten and at times, almost beg in a desperate attempt for the children to go home. He realises what a dangerous situation this is and could become if the mob turns violent so wants to protect them from this.

Because Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, Jem and Jean are always being looked at and talked about when they go out. Jean asks Atticus what rape is and this leads to Aunt Alexandra saying the children cannot go to church with Calpurnia. Jem and Jean get in a fight, and Jean is sent to her room. She looks under her bed, and she sees Dill. Dill ran away from his house because his mother and her new husband did not give him attention. Jem tells Atticus,, and the feed him before going to tell his Aunt next door that he was

In chapter sixteen, Scout, Jem, and Dill learned how serious Attics’ situation with Tom Robinson is, more about some of their neighbors, townspeople’s opinions on the trial, and some of the Finch family history. First of all, Scout and Jem learned how they helped Atticus the night they went outside the jail. A group of men, including Mr. Cunningham, came because they wanted to hurt Tom Robinson. Scout started a conversation with Mr. Cunningham about his son and his entailments. This conversation stopped the gang from doing anything to hurt Atticus or Tom Robinson. It stalled the gang until Sheriff Heck Tate got there. In addition, Dill learned about some of the Finch’s neighbors in Maycomb. For example, Mr. Jones voted straight Prohibition

Tom Robinson’s trial was a hard one to watch, but it was so intriguing for the kids. Jem, Dill, and Scout just had to watch, so they left their house without permission to go see their dad defend Tom Robinson against Mayella Ewell. Jem thought that Atticus had a good chance at winning due to his cross-examination questions and the evidence he had. Once all of the jury’s votes came in unanimously as guilty, Jem started to realize what a twisted thing racism was. “I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: “Guilty … guilty… guilty...guilty” I peeked over at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them” (Lee 282). This quote really shows that Jem cares deeply for the trial and Tom Robinson. He does not understand why people are so rude to black people just because of skin color and he just wants everything to be equal. “It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. “It ain’t right,” he muttered” (Lee 284). Jem’s anger reflected the unfairness towards Tom Robinson and the fact that justice was not served. During the trial Jem never seemed too phased by Bob Ewell’s attorney Mr. Gilmer clearly showing that Tom was worthless, because he thought that his dad was a

After the jury deliberates longer than expected, they come back and announce that Tom Robinson is guilty of all charges. Bob Ewell, who is the one who accused Tom Robinson of rape vows to take his revenge out on Atticus a black man. It comes out in the paper that Tom Robinson tried to escape prison and ended up being shot. During the night of Halloween when Scout and Jem are coming home from a school event, they start to feel like they are being followed. It turns out to be the Bob Ewell and he starts attacking Scout and Jem. Boo-Radley ends up stabbing Bob Ewell to help the children get away. The book ends with the sheriff convincing Atticus that Bob Ewell’s death will be one that was an accident caused by himself.

Jem starts to challenge the decision of the jury in the case his father took on. The case was where a black man, Tom Robinson, was convicted of rape with no hard evidence. Jem has a hard time understanding how racism can carry over in the courtroom and Atticus opens up and admits that "There's nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who'll take advantage of a Negro's ignorance" (Lee 252). Atticus confesses his disgust for white men taking advantage of black people. Atticus teaches Jem and Scout to be kind and treat everyone the same no matter their skin color or financial situation.

Before the trial, Tom was moved from the county jail to the prison in Maycomb. Many of the white men in the town were still angry that Tom was still alive and they wanted swift “justice” to be served. Atticus knew that this was coming so he alone went to the prison to stand in the way of the mob. When the mob came Atticus stood alone against a group of men with guns, who were dead set on killing Tom “‘You know what we want,’ another man said. ‘Get aside from the door Mr. Finch” (Lee 151). After being asked to move Atticus stayed. Going to the prison in the first place takes an immense amount of courage but to stay in that situation takes an unimaginable amount. Atticus continues to stand up for what he believes in and if he had not been saved by Scout it is likely that he would have been severely injured, “This was the second time I heard Atticus ask this question… it meant somebody’s man would get jumped” (Lee 152). Atticus knew what was coming but he didn’t back

We started to leave when 4 suspicious dusty cars drove up to the front of the jail. Atticus started to put away his newspaper when they arrived. I said, “Follow me, we need to be as close as possible!” We ran as quick as the speed of light and stopped at the Tyndal’s Hardware. The men started coming out of the vehicle and asked Atticus if Tom Robinson is inside the jail. I was thinking to myself that they came for the purpose of killing or hurting Tom Robinson.