19. Ch 23

Write a 4+ sentence analysis of AT LEAST TWO of the following questions OR respond to the last question TWICE. Respond to each other whenever possible.

Atticus says, “Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does” (292-293). Atticus asks Jem to stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes and try to understand him. Can you put yourself in Bob Ewell’s shoes? Is Bob Ewell at all worthy of sympathy? Explain. (This will be a good question to disagree with each other about, probably.)

Atticus says, “‘If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man’…‘So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process’” (295). What has “interfered” with the jury’s reasoning abilities, and why hasn’t it “interfered” with Jem’s?

Atticus, Aunt Alexandra, Jem, and Scout reveal their very different views on types of folks, family background, and “trash” in this chapter. Quote and analyze one or more of these opinions.

28 thoughts on “19. Ch 23”

  1. Brendan Gallivan said:

    Atticus says, “‘If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man’…‘So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process’” (295). What has “interfered” with the jury’s reasoning abilities, and why hasn’t it “interfered” with Jem’s?

    Atticus is saying that Jem and the children are the few none racist people left in Maycomb. The racist thoughts of other people have iterated with the Jury. Those thoughts haven’t been taught to Jem so they aren’t in his mind. That is why Jem would have seen Tom as innocent.

  2. Brendan Gallivan said:

    Bob Ewell is not worthy of sympathy at all. The laws are bent for him but he still does not show any gratification. He beats his daughter and he is basically murdering Tom. I can not put myself in his shoes.

    • I agree with Brendan that Mr. Ewell is not worth of any sympathy. He shows no thanks for anything that the people do for him. Many people don’t even like him and they help him out anyway. He is trying to put Tom Robinson to death just so he doesn’t get in trouble for the beating of his daughter, and probably because he is racist.

    • I agree with Brendan because Bob shows no thankfulness about people bending the laws for him and his kids. Also he beats his daughter but blames it on Tom because he thinks that everyone will believe him since Tom is a colored person and most people are racist in Maycomb. A lot of people in Maycomb don’t like him because he lives behind a dump but also, he is an alcoholic who spends his money on drinks instead of his own kids who work hard for there money to help support there family.

  3. The thing that has interfered with the jury’s concience is racism. The jury is more racist than Jem because they have lived longer and have had to give up their slaves and such. Jem is only 13 and he hasn’t experienced the racism the adults have. It is a good thing that Jem isn’t racist.

    • I agree with Marissa that the jury has been through a lot more experience with racism and how to go with the flow, and would like to add on that Jem has been cooped up in a house and family where racism has been taken care of. He also has more connections with black people, thanks to Calpurnia.

  4. Bob Ewell is worthy of some sympathy. In my mind people are born then there formed. Bob Ewell has been raised and led along the path of the rest of his family before him. It’s not completely his fault and unfortunately it will probably happen to his kids too until someone breaks the mold.

    • Rudy Poirier said:

      I agree with Adam. We’ve all been brought up knowing that racism is wrong. Bob Ewell was told it was okay as he was raised, giving him his current beliefs. As far as abuse, it probably runs in the family, starting with one of his ancestors, and beating eachother all the way down the line until it is Bob’s turn. Probably the same with the drinking. In other words, the things he did were definitely wrong, but to him they were just normal activities in his family. It’s kind of like you being put on trial for taking a shower.

  5. Scout and Jem have not been bred to be racist because of Atticus. Maycomb and almost everyone in it with some exceptions are racist. The Jury has been curupted by hundreds of years if discrimination. They all have been programmed from the day they were born Jem, Scout, and Atticus have all broken the code and can see clearly enough that there is no difference between them and people like Calpurnia.

    • Rudy Poirier said:

      Similarly to my reply to Adams other post, I agree with this. Another similarity lies with the fact that this sort of thing begins at an early age. I agree with the fact that the people of the town were raised to be racist, and I agree with the fact that Scout and Jem were brought up without that racism.

  6. Atticus says, “Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does” (292-293). I could not put my self in his shoes. He is just a person that is rude and does not deserve anything. He would get any sympathy because is a no good rotten person to everyone and just terrible.

  7. Bob is not worthy of sympothy. He was to one who beat his own daughter, an the one who framed Tom. Bob Ewell is a terrible man that does terrible things and sympothy is the very last thing he deserves. When Bob spit in Atticus’s face, he showed that he was strong enough to fight back for himself and doesn’t need the sympothy of others.

  8. Atticus says, “‘If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man’…‘So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process’” (295). the interfance was racism. At this point in time it is idiots he is not guilty but the jury and the white community are racist against blacks so racism totally takes over there discussion and there final verdict.

  9. Racism has interfered with the jury. The only reason they convicted Tom is because they are all racist and believe every blck man is guilty of any crime he is charged of. Jem hasn’t been effected by this yet because he is so young. Atticus says tht 12 jurors like Jem would make Tom a free man becuase Jem is not racist.

  10. Rachel Smith said:

    I believe that Bob Ewells does not deserve any sympathy. He lied to the court and he is a Big reason why Tom Robinson is in jail and is most likely going to be killed due to a crime he didn’t commit. Bob Ewells also threatened Atticus which is a very low thing to do if he do anything to Mayella.

    • I agree with Rachel. A man with bad intentions as in beating your own creations, shows bad character that doesnt deserve anything.

    • bob ewell doe not deserve anything from anyone in this world. Why?, becauss this man used his selfish reason to put a innocent man to death. As well as do it because he is covering for beating his daughter. Jem should keep the hatred for bob because that kind of man deserves it.

  11. Atticus says, “Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does” (292-293). Bob is not worthy of sympathy because he is still trying to say that Tom Robinson raped his daughter but also, he thinks Atticus ruined everything he had left. Also, he tried to fight Atticus because Bob is mad that he said that he abuses Mayella which Bob knows is true but he is scared to admit it. Bob also, lied in court and in front of everyone and he is trying to make Tom Robinson seem like a bad person but Tom helps Mayella out a lot with cores so how can he be a bad person. Last Bob is trying to blame people for things he has done which means he is very immature and is trying to get away with thing but someone will get back at him for it.

  12. Atticus says, “‘If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man’…‘So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process’” (295). What had interfered with the jury’s reasoning abilities is that they all do not like colored people. They think that since someone is colored that they are different and not the same as white people. Jem thinks differently he watched the whole case he knows Bob is innocent. Jem thinks of colored people the same as white people because he knows they are the same. Jem can tell that Tom is innocent due to the evidence and the questions Atticus asked throughout the trial.

  13. I believe the thing that interfered most with the reasoning is the jurys narrow mind about racism. These people unlike Jem were born into thinking that a black man is always up to no good. These men made the decision even before the trial began and this is because the strength of hatred for a race is too strong. Jem is the opposte of this he sees the equality aspect.

  14. The thing that is interfering with the jury’s reasoning process is the fact that they are in a time where a white man always trumps over a black, no matter how much better the black man is. This horrible code that Maycomb and other countys go by is what makes the jury and the jurys before and after them vote Tom Robinson guilty, even though he is clearly not. The reason Jem was so surprised to see them vote guilty was because he was always taught that everyone has a chance, even black people, as he has always grown up with Atticus’s wise lessons.

  15. I do not think that Bob Ewell deserves any kind of sympathy from anybody, no matter how Atticus might look at it. I think that his own moral code and the concern for the safety of himself and his children are in a clash, and his morality is winning. Mr. Ewell has not ever done anything for anyone but himself. He has even beaten his own daughter over something that he should take care of a different way, not violence and pretty much killing the man she has had any love for.

  16. Mariano Rodriguez said:

    1.) No, I do not feel sympathy for Bob. Reasons why are because of the fact that he blantantly abused his daughter, and signs showed this as well. Also, the fact that he knew entire case with Tom was a lie and that he was the one that was guilty, and acted like he did not and sending another man to jail is not right, or fair at all. I cannot put my self in Bobs shoes because I am not that type of person, and I cannot see how he views things in the right way at all.

    Atticus says, “‘If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man’…‘So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process’” (295).

    2.) What has interfered with the jury’s reasoning abilities is the fact that Tom is black, and that a white mans word always overruled a black mans in Maycomb. Also, the fact that he is black basically means he is already guilty to begin with because of the racism that goes along with the people, it hasn’t interfered with Jems reasoning abilities because his father is Toms lawyer, and because his father (Atticus) always taught them good morals, and how to think about things in different perspectives. Also, because of the fact that Mayella is black, they don’t see, them differently, and they have been around black comminuties when they went to her church.

  17. Racism was a it problem that interfered with the juries decission. All of the men were racist and because if that they didn’t really care if Tom was innocent or not. Children were not that influenced in racism so they didn’t really think that. Tom should have been convicted. Children especially Jem still didn’t know much about Maycomb and the amount of racism.

  18. I cant put myself in Bobs shoes because I can’t imagine the humiliation he is facing right now. His family was already known to be like trash, but now it’s even worse. But really there isn’t much sympathy for him since he did this to himself. Mow his family is disgraced.

  19. Tyler Gnerre said:

    I think that Bob is not worthy of sympathy. He beat his own daughter and is the one who ultimately killed Tom Robinson. Bob Ewell has done terrible things and doesn’t deserve sympathy. When Bob spit in Atticus’s face, he showed Atticus that he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Even though he knew he was wrong with both his actions and his accusations, sympathy isn’t just given out to anybody who dies.

  20. Tyler Gnerre said:

    The majority of the jury was full of racist people. They convicted Tom because it was a black mans word against a white mans word. Jem hasn’t been effected by racism yet because he is to young to understand it when it happens. If the jury was full of people like Jem (non-racist human beings), Tom would have been set free and still be alive.

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