Thursday, October 4, 2012
16-17 What is revealed that is confusing about Mr. Underwood in chapter 16? How does this relate to one of the themes of the novel? -Bayard Eton
In chapter 16, while discussing last night's events, Atticus says "You know it's a funny thing about Braxton, he despises Negros, won't have one near him" (Lee, 209). Braxton (Mr. Underwood) doesn't like black people like Tom Robinson, however Underwood defends Tom when the lynch mob is coming after him. Mr. Underwood did not suddenly have a change of heart for colored people, he respects Atticus and the law. He is not like Mr. Cunningham who disobeys the law by what he feels is right, Underwood not only obeys the law but he is also helping Atticus defend it. In this scene Underwood is shown as a kind person.
From a different prospective, Underwood may have not been protecting Tom Robinson, but he may have just been protecting Atticus. He may not care less what happens to Tom, but he knows that Atticus is valuable to the community and probably to Underwood as well. Even though Atticus was defending someone that Mr. Underwood may not have, Underwood is still a kind enough person to protect Atticus over joining the mob.
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In my mind the main reason that Mr. Underwood helped Atticus is because of the consequences that would come by not helping him. If Atticus got hurt because Mr. Underwood didn't help Atticus he would become a traitor in the community. Maycomb is, "a caste system" (Lee,175) this means that every person in Maycomb is close together and knows each other. So if Mr. Underwood didn't help a fellow Maycomber he could have gotten ridiculed by the whole town. The other half of Mr. Underwood's decision was influenced by his mental thoughts. If someone was going to get hurt or injured in this scene, Mr. Underwood would be to blame. This could cause guilt and remorse from Mr. Underwood because he could have helped the sutuation. If Mr. Underwood didn't help the situation he would have suffered far more worse had he not helped Atticus and Tom Robinson.
ReplyDeleteMr. Underwood is a different category of person from either Atticus or Mr. Cunningham, as is revealed to us in chapter sixteen. He is shown to despise Negroes, but he has a fundamental respect for the law. There have been identified three types of adult male in To Kill A Mockingbird so far: Atticus is a conscientious man who obeys the law and believes in its sanctity, in addition to not being disillusioned about the so called "inferiority" of Negroes as evidenced by this quote from Miss Maudie, "Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on public streets." (Lee, 51). He is the most "extreme" kind of person in Maycomb, that is, the one who most closely emulates our values of today. The next type of person is represented by Mr. Underwood. He is still very much in line with the misconceptions of the South, and yet he has a respect for the law which shows that despite his personal opinions he will support the laws of the land no matter if they contradict him or otherwise. The third and final type of person is represented by Mr. Cunningham and the mob. They are people who will take the law into their own hands if it is in the interest of what they believe to be morally right and obvious as shown by "you know what we want... get aside from that door, Mr. Finch." (Lee, 172), which just so happens to be everything we believe is morally decrepit today about that time period. These three types of people outline the different worldviews and lifestyles of three men in the book. Are there other types of people in the book? Are they different categories of person altogether or do they fall somewhere in between the three categories outlined above?
ReplyDeleteI think that Mr. Underwood has no more respect for the law than Walter Cunningham, however he believes that keeping a white person safe is worth also protecting a colored person. Atticus says that Mr. Underwood "...won't have [a colored person] near him." (Lee, 209), however, Mr. Underwood has been shown to belong to a different group than many others we have seen so far. He is willing to protect a black person for the safety of others, and for the upholding of the law, setting him apart from either Atticus or Walter Cunningham.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Mr. Underwood was protecting Atticus, but in a way I think that he was also protecting Tom Robinson. Even though, on page 209, Atticus says "You know it's a funny thing about Braxton, he despises Negros, won't have one near him" (Lee, 209), I think that Mr. Underwood was willing to protect Tom, because he knows that Atticus has a right in his opinion to protect Tom, so if Atticus thinks he's innocent, I think he doesn't mind looking through Atticus shoes for a while to believe the same. Why do you think Mr. Underwood, says he hates black people but then is willing to protect them?
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