Tuesday 24 February 2015

How is Atticus's remark to Jem about why Tom was convicted similar to Dolphus Raymond's?

In Chapter 22, Atticus explains to Jem, when Jem cannot understand how the jury could convict a clearly innocent man, that "They did it before, they did it tonight, and they'll do it again and when they do it--seems that only children weep" (243).


In Chapter 22, the children leave the courtroom because Dill can't deal with how nasty Mr. Gilmer is being to Tom Robinson on the stand, and they encounter Mr. Adolphus Raymond,...

In Chapter 22, Atticus explains to Jem, when Jem cannot understand how the jury could convict a clearly innocent man, that "They did it before, they did it tonight, and they'll do it again and when they do it--seems that only children weep" (243).


In Chapter 22, the children leave the courtroom because Dill can't deal with how nasty Mr. Gilmer is being to Tom Robinson on the stand, and they encounter Mr. Adolphus Raymond, known for being a miscegenist with "mixed children" and an incurable alcoholic. Mr. Raymond offers Dill something to settle his stomach and Scout is horrified that he would corrupt a child, but it turns out that what Raymond is drinking is only Coca Cola. Scout is fascinated with why anyone would "deliberately perpetrate fraud against himself" (228), so she asks him why. He explains that people would never understand that he lives the way he does (being married to a black woman) because he wants to, but "it helps folks if they can latch onto a reason," like their belief that he's "in the clutches of whiskey" and "can't help himself." She asks him why he's telling them, then, and he says, "Because you're children and you can understand it." He says "things" haven't caught up with Dill yet, which is why he is crying, but when he gets older he won't. Dill says, "Cry about what?" and Raymond says "Cry about the simple hell people give other people--without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, even without stopping to think that they're people, too" (229). 


Both Atticus and Raymond are observing that only children haven't yet been hardened by the world to the point that they no longer see the innate unfairness and horror of racism and bigotry. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Is there any personification in "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

Personification is a literary device in which the author attributes human characteristics and features to inanimate objects, ideas, or anima...