To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapters 22-26
Episode 16
This week Professor Pipes is discussing chapters 22-26 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, which cover the aftermath of Tom Robinson’s trial. Get ready for some hypocrisy and some big ol’ jerks!! Oh, and some cake, too! Yummm...
TRIGGER WARNINGS: Death, Murder
Transcript
Introduction:
Hello and welcome to Piper’s Paraphrases. I’m Professor Pipes, and today I’m discussing the aftermath of Tom Robinson’s trial in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Oh! That would be chapters 22-26. Let’s get right into it!
Summary:
In Chapter 22, we immediately see Jem’s disappointment with the verdict. The next day, the Finch house is overwhelmed by food given to Atticus from the Black community. The kids are called over to Miss Maudie’s house, where she gives them cake. And tries to make Jem see the fact —SORRY! The talk of cake made me hungry for dessert! Anyways, she tries to tell Jem that Tom’s trial has been a baby step in the right direction, because the jury took a long time to make their decision, meaning they at least considered finding Tom innocent. Obviously, that doesn’t change things for Tom, but it might mean that change is coming. She also points out that there are a few people fighting the good fight where they can, like Judge Taylor choosing Atticus to defend Tom. As the kids leave her house, those same neighbors call them over to ask if they’ve heard the news that Bob Ewell accosted Atticus, spat on him, and said he’d “get him”! Uh oh!
In Chapter 23, Atticus says it isn’t an uh oh, because Bob Ewell just needed to vent his anger at someone, since he was humiliated in court, and Atticus would rather that he took the brunt of his anger, instead of Bob’s kids. Atticus also tells his kids that Tom is at a prison that’s far away from town, and his wife can’t even visit him, but he’s hopeful that they’ll be able to win on appeal. Lawyer jargon alert! Appeal is what’s on a banana. Just kidding! It’s when you get another trial at the next court up in the system. Jem gets mad at Tom’s jury, and the whole jury system, since he can’t figure out how Tom could have been found guilty and why the jury chose death as his punishment. Atticus points out that if there had been more people like Jem in the jury, Tom would have been acquitted, and then reveals that there was a Cunningham in the jury, and he wanted to find Tom innocent. When Scout says she wants to invite over Walter Cunningham, Aunt Alexandra shuts that down real quick because his family is trash. Some things never change. Scout and Jem end up talking about types of people. Jem is trying to figure out why people hate each other and has decided that maybe there are four types of people and each type hates the other. So there are people like the Finches, who hate people like the Cunninghams, who hate people like the Ewells, who hate Black people. Scout says she thinks “there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”
In Chapter 24, Scout is very uncomfortably attending a missionary tea hosted by Aunt Alexandra, and all the ladies are talking about a poor African tribe that needs their help while they simultaneously complain about the African Americans in town who are upset about the court case. Oh the hypocrisy. When Miss Stephanie tries to insult Atticus for taking on the court case, Miss Maudie shuts her up by pointing out that she’s in his house, enjoying his food. Don’t ya just love Miss Maudie? Soon Atticus arrives and tells Scout, Calpurnia, Aunt Alexandra, and Miss Maudie that Tom was killed. He apparently tried to escape prison and was shot. Atticus leaves with Calpurnia to go break the news to Helen Robinson. As soon as he leaves, Aunt Alexandra breaks down because she’s worried about Atticus, and Miss Maudie reminds her that Atticus is doing what is right.
In Chapter 25, Scout thinks back to events that Dill told her about, which occurred right where we had last left off. He and Jem ended up hitching a ride with Atticus when he was on his way to see Helen, and he told Scout that as soon as Helen saw Atticus, she fell to the ground. She just knew. Scout says that people around town only seemed to care about Tom’s death for two days, and mostly just enough to claim that trying to escape was “typical” behavior for a Black man. But then Mr. Underwood wrote and published an article saying that Tom’s murder was wrong. He was a physically disabled, innocent man, and his death was wrong, like the killing of songbirds by schoolchildren. The chapter ends ominously, since apparently Bob Ewell’s reaction was to say that Tom’s death made “one down and about two more to go.”
In Chapter 26, the kids head back to school. Scout isn’t scared when she passes the Radley house anymore and instead wishes she could just see Boo and say hello. In school, Scout’s class has to discuss current events, and Cecil Jacobs talks about Hitler’s persecution of Jewish people in Germany. Miss Gates says that Hitler is a dictator, but the US is a democracy and that’s why there’s no prejudice in the US. Ummm… what rock have you been living under, Miss Gates?? Back at home, Scout asks Jem why Miss Gates was happy that Tom was found guilty, asking “How can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home?” Instead of answering, Jem freaks out and tells Scout to never talk to him about the trial again! Woah. Ok. Scout goes to talk to Atticus, who comforts her and says that Jem is still trying to process everything, so he just needs some time.
Characterization:
These chapters show quite a bit of growth in several characters.
First, let’s talk Jem. It is very clear that Jem is starting to learn a lot about his town and who they are as people as well as who he is as a person. He wants to tackle big issues in the world, like injustice within the justice system, systemic racism, and inequality in his hometown. Miss Maudie recognizes this and sees that the trial forced Jem out of his childhood and into young adulthood, and she symbolized this by baking him a large cake, rather than a small one. Jem is no longer a child. He can’t be, now that the innocence of his childhood has been shattered. The problem is, he still doesn’t know how to make sense of any of it or how to fix these huge problems when he’s just one person. I feel you there, Jem. We see this confusion and frustration when he lashes out at Scout for asking him questions he can’t answer yet.
Jem, it seems, has begun to see the world in a way that Scout can’t at first. She watches the court case like she would watch any case, and she accepts the verdict. Just like earlier in the story when she asked why Atticus was taking on the case if everyone says it’s wrong, she assumes that the majority of people must be right. It isn’t until she reads Mr. Underwood’s article that she realizes that just because Tom had a trial didn’t make it a fair trial, because in the “secret courts of men’s hearts,” Atticus had no case. Tom was guilty the minute Mayella screamed. Throughout the story, Scout has also struggled to figure out what it means to be a “lady” and these chapters offer a little more insight for her. After Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie hear the news about Tom, they are able to hide their tears and return to the missionary tea. Scout says that “if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I.” Now this doesn’t mean that Harper Lee is telling women to hide their emotions! Smile, ladies! No, instead Scout has learned that being a lady means having mental and emotional strength, so that you can carry on even through the toughest of times.
We see some growth in Aunt Alexandra’s character, or at least we see more depth to her. She is certainly a round, or complex, character, with lots of layers. It was perhaps surprising to see her suddenly break down and cry when she heard what happened to Tom and was worried about what all of this pain and struggle would do to her brother. She isn’t just a callous, racist, sexist jerk whose sole joy is in torturing Scout. She does care, but she really hides it, and we’ll get to some of the reasons why in our themes section.
Finally, we have to hit on the symbolism of the mockingbird. It is pushed in front of us multiple times in these chapters to remind us that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Harper Lee first hints at it when Jem tells Scout not to kill a bug because it isn’t harming anyone, and then that’s driven home when Mr. Underwood says that Tom’s death was like “the senseless slaughter of songbirds.” In case we haven’t realized it yet, Harper Lee is trying to clearly point out to us that Tom’s murder was wrong and that he is one of the symbolic mockingbirds in this story: innocent, harmless, kind, and vulnerable.
Analysis:
These chapters hit on lots of themes, and I just don’t have the time to chat about every single one, so I’ve narrowed it down to three. Let’s start with the coexistence of Good and Evil. We really see this in the form of hypocrisy. There are numerous characters in these chapters who claim to be doing good, while simultaneously not seeing their own evil. Obviously, we see this in Miss Gates. She is very clearly racist and condones the persecution and death of African Americans, but at the same time is horrified by the persecution and deaths of Jewish people in Germany. She assumes that her country is a perfect democracy and is blind to its, and her, faults. We also see this hypocrisy at the missionary tea, particularly in the character of Mrs. Merriweather. She goes on and on about those “poor Mrunas” in Africa that she wants to help and then moments later starts complaining about how her Black servant was upset about the trial and how the entire African American community just needs to get over it because she forgives them. Them? Ummm… it was only one man on trial, not “them.” Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll get there.
Next, let’s talk about the need to Think for Yourself. Atticus mentions that if there were twelve people like Jem on the jury, Tom would have been freed. This is because Jem is willing to follow his own beliefs, rather than those of his society. Similarly, Atticus mentions that one jury member tried to do the same, and it took hours of being worn down by the other eleven jurors before he finally agreed to go along with everyone else. Unfortunately, while he was willing to stand up for his own belief, he was not so strong in his convictions that he could convince anyone else, or maintain them when strongly opposed. Miss Maudie mentions that the town has people like Atticus who are willing to fight for what they believe in. However, Atticus alone was not enough…
...which brings us to our final theme for the day, Social Inequality. Classism and racism are kind of woven together in these chapters, which makes sense because of the severe wealth gap between Black and white citizens. Now, children understand things logically and literally, which is why my niece started whacking the street when her mom said they should hit the road. That’s why it’s so hard for Jem to understand why Tom was convicted. Racism doesn’t make logical sense, so he can’t understand why Tom was found guilty, and 23.8 he tries to justify it by assuming that maybe there are four different kinds of people. He even recognizes a connection between class and levels of education, or the availability of education, as he struggles to make sense of it. Scout, however, naively and correctly states that there’s just one kind of people. And this is hard for Jem to accept, because it means that Tom’s death was senseless because his jury and town are just racist. We see racism in these chapters in other ways, too. Several of the missionary tea ladies are clearly racist. Grace Merriweather acts like she is doing her servant, Sophy, a favor by giving her a job and by teaching her that Jesus never got upset, so neither should she. Umm… don’t know what Bible you’re reading, lady, because I’m pretty sure he flipped a bunch of tables at one point. Anyways, she looks down on people of color and doesn’t see their fears, anger, or grief as legitimate. She also says that “we,” meaning white people, have forgiven “them,” meaning the entire African American community! Even if a person did believe Tom was guilty, which is so wrong, HE is ONE person! Tom’s death itself is clear evidence of racism. Atticus points out that, to the guards, Tom was not special. And when, or if, he tried to escape, they didn’t treat him as an individual, or even as a person. He was shot seventeen times. It doesn’t take seventeen bullets to stop someone. It doesn’t even take seventeen bullets to KILL someone. But, sadly, that’s what Tom got. Finally, I do want to bring up the idea of a white savior narrative, again. If you don’t know what that is, you can always check out my video on chapters 16-21, but really I just want to point out that Tom’s death is largely not discussed in the story. Even Aunt Alexandra seems more concerned about Atticus’ wellbeing than she is about Tom’s death when she hears the news. That’s kind of understandable, since Atticus is her brother and she’s worried about him, but it glosses over the true tragedy, Tom’s death, in favor of bringing attention to the effect that his death will have on Atticus, his “savior.”
Food for Thought:
Before I finish up, I’d like to leave you with some Food for Thought questions to consider as you review these chapters.
First, now that you’ve seen a lot more of her, what are your thoughts about Aunt Alexandra?
Second, we’ve been skipping over the theme of seeing different perspectives for a little while, to make time for other themes, but where do you see this theme in these chapters?
Third, what are your thoughts on the “help” that is being given to the Mrunas. What parts of the charity might actually be helpful and what parts seem mostly self-serving or just ignorant of cultural differences?
Fourth, why do you think Atticus says it’s not ok to hate anyone when Scout asks about Hitler? I would argue that in the “secret court” of Atticus’ heart, he hates Hitler, but why might he choose not to tell that to Scout?
And finally, who might Bob have been talking about when he said that Tom’s death made one down and about two more to go? Who does he have it in for and why?
Thanks for watching this episode of Piper’s Paraphrases. Now go forth, read a bunch, and be good people.
