Review of TKAM

One of the things I learned about in To Kill A Mockingbird was that before judging someone you should look at the situation from their point of view, or as Atticus said walk around in their skin. Also, I realized that case with Tom Robinson is similar to the Emmit Till case in that a unpopular white family was heavily supported in a case against a black man. This showed that Single stories of race trumped the single stories of socioeconomic status. I also realized that today there is more gender discrimination than just unequal pay. I would feel better about my grade if the zero on my Invisible Privilege paper was removed since I turned it in. Performance-wise, the semester is less than half over and their is still time to improve. One single story that comes up a lot in To Kill A Mockingbird is that Blacks are always looking for trouble. A way people can lose this single story is by getting to know an African American, or looking at the world from their point of view. Someone like Link Deas, Tom's employer, was able to get to know him over the years that Tom worked for him and knew that Tom would never try to get into trouble. However, you could also get to know an African American that does fit the single story, so it doesn't always work. The second option is likely what Atticus did when he came to accept African Americans, which is to see the world  from their point of view. He could see that they are people just like everyone else, so some are going to be good and some are going to be bad. Then, in addition to getting to know Tom Robinson, he was able to tell what kind of person he was not because of his skin color but because of his personality and actions.
#endsinglestories
 

Is Tom Robinson Guilty?

I do not believe that Tom is guilty because there is no way that Tom could be beat Mayella that badly on her right side with his crippled left arm. In addition, Bob and Mayella both have different stories about the same thing that happened even though they are on the same side, so they are likely lying. I do not think that Mayella has a single story about blacks in this situation, but is being motivated by society to say what she does. She is also motivated by the fact that she kissed him. She doesn't want anyone to know so she tries to get rid of him. She most likely lost her prejudices after how nicely she was treated by Tom, and that's why she found it okay to kiss him. Bob has the same prejudice as most everyone else, which is that black are liars that are nothing but trouble. This single story is dangerous to Tom because he could go to jail for it, and it is dangerous for the other blacks in Maycomb as well because they could be falsely accused and be killed or sent to jail as well. Atticus wants to disrupt this single story by showing how nice Tom is obvious it is that Tom is guilty to show that it isn't the black man, Tom, who is lying, but the white family, the Ewells. This would show that black people aren't always lying, and white people aren't always telling the truth. He could also show that blacks can be nice and aren't always mean and causing trouble. It was shown through people like Tom's employer that that single story wasn't going to affect their opinion. #Bobisguilty

Atticus' Parenting

I believe that as a parent Atticus does not want to be a hypocrite when teaching his kids. If he did not chose to defend Tom Robinson because of his race, he would be doing the opposite of what he tells Jem and Scout to do. He would be affected by single stories, which is what he tells Scout not to do, but instead to walk around in their skin and see the world from their view. He would also want to be leading by example, so he can show Jem and Scout that he also fallows what he teaches, no matter what. By representing Tom Robinson he shows that he, too, walks around in a person's shoes before judging them. #leadingbyexample