Personal Response
1) What memories of your own childhood come to mind as you read about Scout's experiences?
When I was Primary 2, my classmates introduced me to a haunted place in the school, which was actually a quite deserted sand pit. They told me about how hands would rise from it at night and how people with green eyes would appear too. Claiming that people had actually seen it, I started believing what they said, but with some suspiscion. I did not believe in such things, but it just seemed too real. This was like how Scout believes in what Jem and other poeple say about The Radley's Place.
2) As you followed the action in the courtroom, which character did you empathize with most? least? Explain.
In the scenes played in the courtroom, there were three main characters related to the rape case: Tom Robinson, Mayella Ewell and Bob Ewell. I put their names in such an order because this is the order shows the empathy level for them, in decreasing order.
I empathized most with Tom Robinson. He was questioned and accused by the lawyer, Mayella and Bob Ewell, although he had not done anything wrong. Just because he was a black, the jury also made him guilty although he did not commit the crime. I feel that it is very unfair for him and thus, I empathized with him.
I also empathized with Mayella Ewell. She was the victim of the rape case, and still had to protect the real culprit. Therefore, she accused Tom Robinson. I can see that she did not feel too good about it, but that was her only choice. She was also questioned very severely by Atticus Finch and she still had to protect the culprit. In addition, she was abused by her father at home when he drank too much beer. Therefore, she is also worthy of empathy.
I empathized least with Bob Ewell. I could not even empathise with him! He kept lying during the trial and made Mayella lie too. I feel that the behaviour is very incorrect and untolerable. Therefore, I empathized with him the least.
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You answered the first question well, but I think there is room for improvement for the second question. In this question, what else made you not empathetic to Bob Ewell?
ReplyDeleteI feel that there is more to it then just him lying throughout the trial. If you look carefully at what Malleya says, "Papa used the relief funds to by the whisky", and it is also evident that Bob beats his children regularly. I feel that these are also factors as to why we readers dislike Bob so much.
Also, there is more to it why we readers feel so empathetic hor Tom Robinson. According to him, he helped Mayella all this while without even accepting a penny. Not only was he not thanked, but he was now facing a charge which would most likely end him up in prison. This, I feel, is one of the most important reasons why we feel so empathetic to Tom.
Nicholas 2i122
Bob Ewell spared no thought for the life of Tom Robinson; he himself knew the complete truth, but just to save his own dignity, he was willing to put through any lie he could.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Nicholas' point about how what Mayella says contributes to our attitude towards him. Bob Ewell was a drunkard. His children were unable to feel loved by him. Mayella Ewell wanted to feel loved, and that is the reason why she tempted Tom Robinson. Even though Tom Robinson was black, due to his habit of helping Mayella Ewell out, she felt loved by him and thus tried to tempt him. Indirectly, Bob Ewell's poor parenting was the cause of the whole court case.
Wen Hong (16)