These dramatic words are from Atticus Finch's closing
argument in defense of his client, Tom Robinson- a black man falsely accused of raping
and beating a white woman.
Atticus is one of the few people
in Macomb who recognizes no cultural nor racial differences among people. As an educated
man, he knows what weaknesses and strengths every individual possesses. As a learned man
in life, he respects everyone equally.
With these words,
Atticus is merely repeating the common notion of the people of
Macomb:
"........that you gentlemen would go along with
them on the assumption, the evil assumption, that all Negros lie, all Negros
are basically immoral beings, all Negro men are not to be trusted around our
women. An assumption that one associates with minds of their caliber and
which is itself gentlemen a lie which I do not need to point out to
you.
Therefore, what Atticus
actually does is to reflect the mentality of the Macomb folk and expose it for what it
is: A very ignorant, limited, and reduced view of the world which can only be inherent
to ignorant, limited, and reduced people.
Hence, Atticus
uses the views that Macomb has on black people, and turns those views back onto the
people, themselves. As a result, even though the outcome is not rosy, at least
the citizens of Macomb may have experienced for the first time a closer look on their
ignorant perception of reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment