In the editorial on pages 320-323 there is a connection between killing cripples and songbirds. Mr. B.B. Underwood writes this editorial for the Macomb Tribune and puts much heart and thought into it. In the editorial he expressed lots of strong opinions about this subject. “ He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children.”[lee 323] This shows how strongly he feels about Tom’s death because it was a sin to kill a mockingbird (songbird). It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do nothing for us but make beautiful music for our enjoyment. He is saying that cripples are like a songbird, calming and peaceful, as opposed to bluejays, that are known to be violent and bothersome. Also, he is comparing the children and hunters to the jurors and the guards that shot Tom. The jurors are the children that do not change their views in the case and had determined the verdict from the start of the trial. The hunters are the guards that shot Tom. They probably could have run and grabbed Tom from the fence because he was so slow getting up, but instead they decided to shoot him over, and over, and over, again.
Aticus once said in the past “shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit’ em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” [lee 119] This connects with the songbird aspect of the article. Mr. Underwood is saying that it is a sin to kill a cripple because they cannot fight back. Cripples are not able to kill you so why would you kill them. Cripples are not a danger to anyone, they are like mockingbirds, they can’t do many things to bother anyone.
I completely agree with what has been stated above, but most people in Maycomb don't consider the killing of Tom Robinson a sin. These people thought that because he was a black man he had raped Mayella Ewell, and he got what he deserved by being killed. Tying back to hypocrites, all the people who believe this are hypocrites because everyone in Maycomb believes that killing a Mockingbird is a sin because they don't do any harm. Then they go around saying Tom got what he deserved even though he was a cripple and could do no harm.
ReplyDeleteI think we can connect african american men and women to killing a cripple versus a mockingbird also. Atticus states on page 295,"whenever a white man cheats a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash (Lee 295). This is relating the concept of cheating a black man, and killing a cripple. I agree when you state, "Mr. Underwood is saying that it is a sin to kill a cripple because they cannot fight back. This is true for a young black man like Tom Robinson in the 1930's. This is why I believe Tom Robinson is one of the mockingbirds of To Kill A Mockingbird. Maybe Tom doesn't sing to the town of Maycomb, but he is helpless and just brings kindness to the community.
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