Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Journal #6 - Chapters 16-19 - Perspective: Atticus

Atticus' Journal

It all started about a week ago. That morning, at breakfast, Scout was telling me about how Mr. Cunningham wanted to hurt me. She was really worried about it, and her face showed it. She was also interested into why the mob would want to hurt me. She wouldn't understand at that age, but I had to tell her that they're still people. People sometimes lose their minds, and you have to set them right again. That's what Scout did that very night, she made Mr. Cunningham realize what he was doing, and how I felt. Scout's a good kid, and she'll grow up to be a fantastic person one day. I'm just a bit worried about her self control. She said she was gonna beat up Walter, and I really hope that doesn't happen.
In the morning, I had helped picked the jury for the Tom Robinson case. Subsequently, it was time to go to the actual case. I heard murmurs about me defending a black man, but I'm fine with it. If I won't try for this case, no one else will. I hold equality as my highest value, which is why I took this case. In the courthouse, I thought I caught a glimpse of Scout, Dill, and Jem, but it might have just been my imagination.
Anyways, this is getting irrelevant. We started off with Heck Tate, and Mr. Gilmer started asking the questions. Tate explained the story. He found Mayella on the floor, found out Tom supposedly had committed rape, and took him into custody. I asked if he called a doctor. He replied no, so that would suggest no serious injury. This is a big fraud, because she obviously had bad injuries by Tate's description. She also had her right eye banged up, which led to stealthy clue. Also, there were finger marks all around her throat.
Next up was Bob Ewell. He had testified that her daughter was screaming, and he came to the source of the sound. He also states he found Tom Robinson raping Mayella. Lastly, he stated that the room looked like there could have been a fight there. Right after, I decided to make a cross-examination of my own. I asked again if he had called any doctors, and his reply was no. This caused a predicament. Considering her physical condition, I would think that someone would call a doctor in order to remedy Mayella's injuries.
Next, I asked if he could read or write. Gilmer had objected to irrelevance, but was overruled. This led to a big chance. He signed his name with his LEFT hand! This could easily suggest that Bob Ewell beat up Mayella. However, I still had lots to prove. Next up to the stand was Mayella.
Mayella had disclosed a little information to Mr. Gilmer before she stopped. She was afraid of me, which I perfectly understand. She has the misconception that I'm a bad person. However, shortly afterwards, she resumed. She started talking about how she fought back against Tom without prevail. It was my turn next. I had cross-examined to find out a little bit about her family life. She seemed like a tough girl, and I asked why she didn't put up a better fight, and why the screams didn't bring any of the children. However, I had to point out that Tom was crippled: his left arm was useless, and her right eye was bruised. This was highly improbable, and it was an important fact. I pleaded her to accept that Tom was innocent, but she simply refused to answer any more questions. The prosecution rests, and I call up a single witness.
Tom Robinson is now on the stand. He has agreed with everything so far, but started disagreeing at the day of the incident. Supposedly, Mayella was actually trying to admit her love to Tom. She was hugging Tom and asking for a kiss. However, at that moment, Bob was at the window and started treating Mayella with verbal punishment. Tom had fled the scene, supposedly in fear of punishment. Right after, Link Deas interrupts. He is Tom's white employer, and states that Tom is a good man and hasn't done any wrongs. This helped my side, but Deas was then expelled from the court room. Gilmer proceeded the cross-examination, and discovers that Tom was once arrested for disorderly conduct and that he has enough strength to choke a woman with one hand. He then started bothering Tom by asking about what his motives for working for Mayella were. He states that he felt sorry for her, but it was hardly believable because of all the prejudice.
Anyways, this is only half the case. I still have the rest of the case to fight for. I'm hoping that Tom will be conceived as innocent, because I'd hate for someone to get convicted of a crime that we're not even sure happened. With these clues so far, we have a higher chance of winning. It might not be much, considering that Tom is black, but we just might win.
~Atticus

2 comments:

Wade *-* said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ethan said...

Wade said:
Great post!
I loved the attention to detail and the feelings you portrayed in the character. Good job


-Wade
I don't know why the comment got deleted, so I reposted it :]