Well sister, I assume you heard of Tom’s death. We told Helen earlier, and it was awful Alexandra, she just… collapsed, I can only imagine what that poor woman is going through, not to mention the children. What if that was me Alexandra, what if? For one, Scout and Jem wouldn’t be tucked up inside… safely distanced from the intolerance and cruelties of this society.
(Pause) Atticus stands up.
By the way Alexandra, I need to thank you for your help with the children. After all, they ‘re the next generation of Finch’s, and who better to teach them the traditions of this family than yourself. Scout is young and impressionable and she doesn’t understand why a lot of things happen, why Negroes are oppressed, why she would be teased for being smart. While Jem on the other hand is growing in maturity and cares dearly for Scout, although he may not show it… yet he finds it difficult to accept many things; that Tom Robinson was convicted, that Boo Radley is reclusive by choice. I have always tried to instil strong moral values and propriety in Scout and Jem, but I can only teach them so much… sooner or later they will grow tired of listening to me and look towards someone else for guidance, someone like you. It’s hard to explain to them that prejudice exists… that most folk think only of themselves and I just hope the past few weeks have been a period of learning for both of them.
Something still bothers me Alexandra, this town may be starting to forget Tom’s trial, but I am certainly not. You know I try never to complain, but what happened in that courtroom just… just doesn’t seem right to me. Tom was more than a decent man… he was a gentleman, and while we may never find out why he ran, we most certainly do know why he was convicted, despite his utter innocence. Now I realise we don’t see eye to eye about everything… but surely you must be irked in some way about what happened to Tom and his family. I don’t know what you believe in, but one thing you must… is justice, and I can tell you now, sister… what was witnessed in that courtroom was nothing remotely close to justice… And yes, I realise Tom didn’t have an entirely perfect criminal record, but when has anyone ever believed a word from the mouth of a Ewell? It’s in the past now though, what’s done is done, but I just hope that someone who witnessed that trial decided to take a walk in Tom’s shoes… and realised how wrong we all were.
The Essay on Do The Right Thing 5
The weather is sizzling hot and tensions are slowly coming to a boil in this Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn neighborhood. Slowly but surely we see the heat melt away the barriers that were keeping anger from rising to the surface. The Blacks and the Hispanics own the streets the Koreans own the corner store and of course the Italians own the pizzeria, the Cops who happen to be all Caucasian, prowl ...
