Journal #7 - Chapters 26~29 - Perspective: Scout

Today for the Halloween festival I am playing the part of a ham. Great. My assessment led me to believe that I didn't see a real significance of me being a ham, apart from being related to the agricultural theme, I still wanted to play the part after rehearsing for quite a while. After me bringing up the court case and Jem getting mad at me, I didn't think he would have consented to talking to me for a little while, let alone willing to take me to the pageant because Atticus was too tired to go and Aunt Alexandra was also too tired from setting up the pageant all day long, or at least that's what she wanted us to think. So Jem and I walked to the pageant in the dark, something that used to be scary but not anymore, we were both too old to get scared. Or so I though until Cecil Jacobs popped out of the trees to scare us and we both flinched. 

 

All the inconveniences of my ham costume made it very hard to walk, especially when I had chicken wire stabbing into my skin each time I took a step forward. Even though the outfit was somewhat uncomfortable, it looked exactly like a ham. The chicken wire covered my body from my waist up and covered my head. On the outside of the chicken wire was fabric that had been painted to look identical to a real ham. I was glad that I was able to walk because I didn't want to make a real fool out of myself if I tripped on the stage. Also, I had to little holes that were cut perfectly where my eyes were so that I was able to see everything that was going on, except in the dark, which was when I started tripping over all of the tree roots and bumps in the uneven ground. 

 

When the pageant finally started, I was very tired of standing and had to wait in line for a while until my name was called, so I decided to sit down. The next thing I knew I was fast asleep and I could tell the show was almost over. So instead of staying behind the curtains, I went out onto the stage to join the rest of all the agricultural foods. I thought that going out onto the stage late was better than not going on at all, but apparently I had made a bad decision because everyone was laughing at me when I came out, even Judge Taylor. I completely embarrassed myself. After the pageant was over, everyone was persecuting me for ruining the show just because I came out late, which made me feel very humiliated, knowing that the whole town saw me mess up. When everyone was leaving the show, Jem was nice enough to stay with me and waited until most of the town was gone so no one would see me or laugh any more than they already had. 

 

As Jem and I were walking home in the dark, Jem kept stopping to listen for some noise that he was hearing, although I was talking so I didn't hear a word except what was coming out from my talkative mouth. Finally Jem told me to stop talking altogether, and I could tell that he was getting very paranoid because apparently he would hear the noise when we were walking, but not when we had stopped. The noise was getting louder and louder and Jem's frightening expression spread over my face as well. 

 

All of a sudden I hear a cracking sound and then unexpectedly our visitor allegedly came up behind me and grabbed me, as if he was trying to strangle me to death. A wave of fear flew across my body and I couldn't speak or scream for help and I certainly wasn't able to move. I was so scared as I heard the fabric on my ham costume being torn off and the chicken wire pressed even closer to my skin, making hexagons all over my skin from the shape of the wire. When the attacker had let me free, I knew his job wasn't over. I wondered where Jem was but all I heard was faint screams and I couldn't tell at all what was happening. Finally I regained my ability to see, even in the darkness of the night and saw that someone was carrying Jem towards our house. Then I went into the streetlight and on towards my house to find that Jem's arm had been broken and that the attacker was Bob Ewell, who was now laying under a tree with a knife jabbed into his ribs. 

 

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

Today brought up some very unfamiliar emotions for me. Stress was taking over my mind, which didn't help with the nervous feeling I had felt all morning and the previous night. After getting out the house this morning and seeing the whole entire town there gave me an overwhelming feeling that just made me want to back out and lie at the fact that Tom Robinson was guilty, which in fact he isn't and It was going to be my job to prove him innocent and free to go home and live a normal life with his wife and three kids. 

 When the trial started I was very unsure about any of the upcoming events. After not being involved with any cases lately, it was a big step for me to defend Tom Robinson, even though I knew I was going to be hated for it, I know it was and still is the right thing to do. With prejudice opinions surrounding me all through the room, I got a wave of anxiety. 

 Recapping on all techniques was all I could do to prepare myself, besides read over my questions. I knew that I was going to win, mostly because I had all the facts to prove that Tom Robinson never raped Mayella Ewell. When Mr. Heck Tate was up at the witness stand, it was confirmed that he saw nothing of the rape after rushing to Mayella’s house. My first questions were intended to just cover the basics, in which I would hopefully be able to rule out some of the obvious conclusions or possibilities.

 When Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father came up to testify, I started by asking him questions that were apparently irrelevant, according to Mr. Gilmer, which was the reason for him objecting. After the objection was overruled, I continued with my correlation between the fact that Bob Ewell used his left hand to write, meaning that if he were to have given her the bruise, then it would have been on her right side of her face, in this case it was.

 Being a lawyer is difficult because you have to have strategies in order to determine whether someone is telling the truth or making up stories or thing that indeed never took place. One of my strategies was to listen rather then watch because even the most subtle changes in voice or hesitations can lead to conclusions of true or false. When Mayella got to the witness stand, that’s when some of the real answers were uncovered. Her stealthy movements and hesitations definitely gave me a sign that she wasn’t telling the whole truth, something she swore on the bible to do.

 At the end of my interrogation was when I really started to surprise her and uncover the truth, in which she reacted stiffly to, trying to hold in her emotions I could tell. The predicament that she was in and the facial expressions she was giving off told me that something wasn’t right about her story and that she knew that she was busted. After supposedly “mocking her” Tom was up at the stand, which gave all of us a different perspective on the situation, as Tom’s story was extremely different, and truer at that.  Asking Tom the questions only helped me to prove he was innocent.

 Today’s trial seemed to go very well as expected. I felt much more confident about the case and was pretty sure that I was set to win by this point. Mr. Gilmer was being very rude today, which made me angry, but I know the turnaround will be different once I win.

 

Journal #5 - Chapters 13~15 - Perspective: Aunt Alexandra

When I got to the house after my trip from the landing, I sat there on the porch simply waiting for someone to return home. Atticus and I had discussed that it was time that Scout and Jem, Scout especially, needed someone in their lives with a more feminine influence on them. After discussing, we decided that I would come down to spend some time with Scout and Jem for quite a while. In my mind I would call it a temporarily permanent stay. I sat on the bench for a while, gazing around across the wide streets just trying to get a feel for the neighborhood and what the houses were like. From my observation, all the houses seemed to be very eclectic. Some houses were small, others were big and some were dark and scary, when others were very light and welcoming.

 When Scout and Jem came home later that afternoon, they were indeed surprised to see me. I figured Atticus would have told them about me coming to live with them, but when I asked them they said he never mentioned anything to them. Knowing Atticus he probably let it just slip his mind. After all he's got a lot on his mind dealing with the trial that's up coming soon. 

 While making my trip over here, I was thinking about what it would do to the family if I left for a long time. Figuring that my husband would be able to take over my daily chores, I decided that it would be okay for me to come here. Staying with Scout and Jem would hopefully enable them to act more like adults. Scout will definitely need to start dressing better and acting more like a lady. Right now I look at here and see a hopeless child whose parents don't care about them and haven't been taught any manners what-so-ever. Being here will hopefully make Scout want to bring out her feminine side and be more willing to wear dresses and do activities that don't involve coming home covered in dirt and mud.

 Jem on the other hand is a very kind boy. As far as I've seen, he doesn't need nearly the amount of work that Jean Louis needs. I can already tell that he has not been spending as much time with Scout anymore and has moved onto activities that normal teenage boys would be doing like reading his football magazines alone in his room. I have a feeling that if their mother was still alive, these kids wouldn't act so wild and Scout wouldn't be such a tom boy. It really annoys me that she acts that way she does and who knows what she will turn out to be in the future once she starts liking boys. Hopefully she will be willing to act and dress more appropriately while I'm here. 

 Being here in Maycomb has been a really great experience for me so far. I met almost all of the neighbors, and the whole town for that matter since this town is so small. It seems as though that I belonged here all along. After coffee and tea with my new friends and eating delicious cakes, I feel very welcome here and I hope that it will continue to be that way for the rest of my visit. 

 

 

 

Journal #4 - Chapters 10~12 - Perspective: Calpurnia

That ole Tim Johnson surely scared all of us half to death. You really do never know what a crazy dog like that could do to the neighborhood. Tim was rather well known within Maycomb, as one of the very few dogs that we have around here, so when we see him with a broken leg, limpin' down the street looking like he's about to die, I knew I had to do something. My first instinct was to warn everyone about the dog, which is exactly what I did. The neighbors seemed very surprised at first and then realized how dangerous the dog could have been to all of us. For all we know it could have spread rabies across the whole town. We were all in a great amount of peril at the moment. 

 As the dog came up the street we all really started to panic, especially when it finally reached the Radley's place, which was awfully close to the Finch's. The county sheriff Mr. Heck Tate came and to all of our surprise, he handed his gun to Atticus to shoot the dog. Atticus' reaction was inaudible, and I could tell that he was hesitating. Someone like me who had already known of his hunting and shooting expertise, was put off a little at the fact that he was going to shoot the dog right in front of Jem and Scout. I was scared, as was everyone else, but Atticus seemed to have quickly picked up his skill again because before we all knew it Tim Johnson had rolled onto his side, his final resting place. 

 The days after that we going by pretty slowly and soon Atticus had to go off to the capital everyday for two weeks. That left me alone with Jem and Scout. It was amazing actually taking a step back to look at them and see how much they have grown. Scout has been pretty sad lately after she found out that Dill wasn't going to come back for the summer and Jem doesn't play with Scout very often anymore 'cause the boy just turned 12 and he's apparently got other  things to do that doesn't involve his little sister anymore. 

 Since Atticus was gone, I decided to take Jem and Scout to my church for a change. I made sure that they looked extra nice because I didn't want the congregation to think that I'm an irresponsible caretaker for the children. Jem was wearing his nice jacket, slacks and tie combination, while Scout was looking darling in a dress that she's probably only worn once before. Scout's new look was far from inconspicuous. 

 When we got to the church I was immediately approached by Lula, someone who always had something to say to me. This time she was giving me a hard time about bringing white children to a "colored" church, something that contradicted the idea of freedom between all races. All she did every week was treat me almost the same was that Ms. Dubose treats Jem and Scout. It's a sad thing to see that she acts that way even though she goes to church. 

 Church was then over and Jem and Scout had finally stopped bothering me about not having a contemporary church just because we didn’t have hymn books like they did. Then Scout suddenly became more interested in my life outside of their house, little did she know that I even had one. At the end of our conversation, she asked me if she could come to my house one day after work. I agreed happily and was thrilled to see that she was interested and showing off her feminine side a little bit more. Having a closer relationship with Scout will definitely be beneficial to the future.

 

Journal #3 - Chapters 8~9 - Perspective: Scout

This morning was filled with the most excitement that I have had in what seems like forever. It was snowing! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first peeked out the window. The snowflakes were so little and delicate and all I wanted to do was run outside and see what they were really like. I’ve heard of snow before, but never until this morning was I able to actually see what it truly was. I was being so fanatical that I had to run and show Jem and Atticus.

Once I was bundled up in my robe, Jem and I headed outside, hesitating at first at the freezing cold we were about to enter. As I stepped outside I saw our lawn that was found to be covered in little piles of snowflakes forming a thin layer of white. All the adjacent houses’ lawns looked the same—a thin layer of snow, with dirt that showed through and mixed in with the flakes.  Atticus had said that this was the coldest it had ever gotten in Maycomb since 1885. He was surely right about the fact that it was so cold and after stepping the snow with my bare feet I was debating about going back inside.

After that Jem and I built a snowman, made to look like Mr. Avery, our neighbor down the street. Atticus said that it looked exactly like him, which it did because all the dirt had mixed in with the snow, making the snow brown. Since it looked so much like Mr. Avery, Atticus suggested that we somehow disguise him so that Mr. Avery wouldn’t get angry with us. After using Miss Maudie’s sun hat and all the snow from her lawn, her temper began to rise and she wasn’t happy with us after that.

That night was a normal night as usual, except for the fact that it was freezing cold and Atticus had to light the fire in my room so I wouldn’t freeze to death. Lighting the fire wasn’t something that happened, but it was a sure thing we did or else my whole body would have been shaking frantically and my lips would have been blue, just like before the fire was lit.

Everything seemed to be normal, me in my deep sleep and fire blazing in my face making me self consciously take some of the layers off of me, until Atticus woke me up with my robe in his hand demanding me to wake up. I’m sure that my facial expression was filled with perplexity because I had no idea why Atticus was waking me up in what I thought was the middle of the night. Finally when the three of us were all awake, Atticus led us outside. Suddenly fear took over my face as I stared across the street at Miss Maudie’s house burning to pieces from a huge fire.

 Atticus demanded us to find safety by standing over on the Radleys’ porch. I knew that Maycomb was small, but it seemed like it had grown just looking at the amount of people gathered around the house and street. Men were the most prominent because they were all helping control and put out the fire.  Soon after Jem and I were brought outside, there were fire trucks everywhere and men on top of roof trying to help. I was just glad that I wasn’t entrusted with any job that would put me into any danger. I felt so bad for Miss Maudie, but then again I do remember her saying that she didn’t like her house and wanted to build a bigger garden, which might have made this something positive for her. All I know is that this will be a night that I will remember. 

Journal #2 - Chapters 4~7 - Perspective: Miss Maudie Atkinson

Oh how I wish that I could be like the kids, just carefree and happy all day long. Those kids across the street Jem and Scout and then Dill, seem to get together real nicely. I always see them playing and laughing with each other.  Although they are always pretty good kids they can get a little rowdy and suspicious sometimes. That’s why I only let them play around in my front yard. Because with all the hard work and effort I put into making my garden look beautiful, I don’t want any of them to come here and mess it up. Life is very simple for me. I go out into my garden full of peace and tranquility and watch as the kids play games and go off sneaking into the Radley’s yard.

That’s a whole different story for me. Now I feel very, very strongly about how the neighbors and treating the Radley’s. So when I see the three of them making up new games that entail acting like the Radley’s, my gut just wants to yell at them and tell them that they shouldn’t do that because the Radley’s are definitely people that you don’t want to mess with, especially Arthur. I will have to admit that Dill is quite the chameleon when it comes to acting. I see other to staying one person, but Dill’s all over the place taking on character roles and adapting to them so well that he could have been the person himself.  

I remember the good days when I would call out to Jem and Scout and another neighborhood kid to come get some hot milk in the summer. The milk came right from my very own cow. I almost forgot about the cakes! Those kids had the grandest time ever when I made those cakes. They would scarf them down so quickly that I almost felt bad for making the pieces too small. I love watching their grins spread across their faces. To know that I made someone happy was a great feeling for me, compared to all the other ones I get around here in a house that I hate.

After losing my husband, things really started to go downhill for me, especially my concern about the Radley’s. I knew things were creepy around there. I felt that there was always a malignant spirit surrounding and taking over every house close by. Sometimes I feel real bad for all the dirty pranks and tricks they do to torment them. I just can’t watching them trying to dare each other to go and touch the house or get Arthur, or “Boo” as they call him, to try to come out. I swear that Jem is becoming more and more like his uncle, Jack Finch. He always was a troublemaker and rude at that.

Today I couldn’t believe what had happened. I was just living life when all of a sudden I start hearing a loud commotion over at the Radley’s and next thing I knew Mr. Radley was walking out of his out with a shotgun that he shot up towards the heavens. At that point a couple of the neighbors were gathered and I could assume by everyone’s facial expressions that there was a unanimous decision that the Radley’s needed to be left alone and to warn the children. Being a strong believer in faith, I wasn’t very happy with what had come about this whole idea of trying to get Arthur to come out. For God’s sake, if he wanted to come out of the house he would! I see Jem across the street teetering in hesitation on whether he should go over to the house or not.

Not all things are bad though. I still enjoyed spending time with Scout out on the front porch watching the sunset make the day transition from afternoon, to twilight, to evening.

 

Journal #1 - Chapters 1~3 - Perspective: Ms. Caroline

I never knew that 1^st graders could be so annoying and misbehaved! After teaching here for only two day, I have already come to the conclusion that I can’t take Maycomb anymore, especially the kids. Just yesterday alone I already get this girl Scout, who has been ruining my new type of teaching plan. So what happened… oh I’ll tell you what happened. This girl, Scout, comes into the classroom already knowing how to read! Just to test her out a little bit, I decided to give her the book My first Reader, and then the Mobile Register and she was able to read both of them. I wasn’t exactly sure what expression I was portraying when she finished but I knew for one thing it was not pretty. That father of hers is going to have to stop teaching her to read.

 

After a very long morning, lunch time finally came. I noticed that one of the boys, Walter Cunningham, didn’t bring a lunch so I offered him a quarter to buy some, but her refused, which surprised me. He just said meekly, “Nome thank you ma’am.” I was insisting that he take the quarter but he still refused. All of a sudden Scout comes rambling off about how Walter is a Cunningham. While I’m just thinking what that could possibly mean I realized that because this town is so small it seems that everyone seems to know everyone….except me! Just from Scouts little speech about Walter, I learned that the Cunninghams are a very poor family who lives there lives simply on a farm. Right off the bat I could tell that Walter was poor because of his appearance. He came in on the first day of school with some beat up overalls and very dirty. Also they never take what they can’t give back.

 

Sometimes I get very frustrated but not ever like this. First I have a girl who has already destroyed my new teaching plan, which I have been yearning to use since college! I have only been here for a short amount of time and I can tell I’ve become an outsider. The way I dress, talk and teach! Everything has been eating at me and I’m not sure how long I am going to be able to stay here. I practically broke down and started crying in my lap today….here’s the story:

 

It was just after class was going to be continued when a student name Little Chuck Little, or Burris Ewell comes into class and still has this living creating in his hair! I thought I had nearly passed out at that moment. The creature was small but still it was living inside his head! All the boys, except Burris obviously, rush to my assistance as I started in horror at the insect-like creature that didn’t seem to bug Burris the slightest bit. After I drank a refreshing glass of water, I wrote down Burris’ full name on the attendance sheet and then continued class. But before I did that I demanded Burris to go home and wash his hair thoroughly and then treat it with kerosene. The process certainly seemed reasonable to me with the way that thing creped around. Soon later Burris just pinched the creature with his bare hands and killed it within two seconds. I know my face was terrified but not enough to the point where the kids of the class were scared not by the bug but because of my facial expression.

 

After that I decided to read a nice story to the students to take my mind off of the chaos that had already ruined my first day. I seemed to gather more information about the Ewell family after the incident. Basically the Ewells are a crazy huge family with no mother who only attend school for the first day, and then go help their father on the farm the rest of the year. I wanted to feel bad for them but then decided that it wasn’t worth it. I just wanted to go back to Alabama.