Did the ending of the novel surprise you? If you were the author, would you have ended the story differently? Explain.
Yes, I was really surprised at first for the sentence that Tom got in the trial. But thinking back at it now, I think that this ending was the only suitable one. In our society, we all go by the concept of justice and nothing else matters. After much influence from our society, we tend to forget that some places like Alabama are still highly prejudiced. After that unfaultable defence Atticus gave, I would have expected that Tom would be acquitted. Well, but now thinking back at it, I feel that this is the only feasible way a judge there could act. I think that judge Taylor could not act otherwise as it might lead to protests, and unrest in the community. There would be riots and unrests, so to prevent this, the judge had no choice but to vote in favour of the whites.
However, I feel that this ending is just perfect to for this book to showcase how hard it is to change the minds of people. It reflects the stupidity of societies which are prejudiced against certain races, even though the people of those races could be much more valuable than the race that the society supports.
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Dear Nicholas,
ReplyDeleteSorry but may I ask you a question? When the blog prompt calls for your response to "the ending of the novel", does it not mean that our answer should be with regards to the conclusion of the story and not just restricted to Tom Robinson's trial?
Anyway, I agree with you on your stand that the jury should be more interested in abiding by justice and the judicial court of law. I also support your point that Judge Taylor, no matter how he felt about the trial, had no choice but to find Tom Robinson guilty.
I believe that is the core reason why Singapore's judicial system allows the judge to have the final say, instead of the jury as what the American court of law has. This is because the judge can be said to be more impartial than the jury, as can be seen from the story "To Kill A Mockingbird", where the jury was made up of racists.
However, I find it strange that you were surprised about the trial's results. This is because I thought that the previous chapters had suggested the rampant existence of racism within the county of Maycomb. So, I found that the trial's results were not at all surprising!
On the whole, I find that your article was quite well written, and you have clearly expressed your feelings and opinions! Good job!
Best Regards,
Nathan :)
Thanks :D
ReplyDeleteActually I found it quite surprising that Tom got convicted because I expected a happy ending. You know most books usually end happily, and I think I was too influenced by that.
And it really didnt occur to me to write about the other ending parts of the novel :O
This article was not really ready to be publish too.. Will add in more soon.
Nicholas
I agree with what you say.
ReplyDeleteIf Tom Robinson had not been judged guilty and acquitted instead, it would have displayed that the men in the jury were still impartial. But as we know, the people in that time were racist. In order to invoke our feelings, Harper Lee had to write it this way. If there truly was a happy ending, what would it mean to us? Harper Lee wanted to show the reality of the situation: that the moment Tom Robinson was brought to court he was doomed. White people's words weighed a gazillion more times more than a black man's words. There was no way, even with Atticus defending him, that Tom Robinson could make his way out of the courtroom officially acquitted.
Wen Hong
Dear Nicholas,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the ending was quite surprising. In novels such like this, the protagonist usually succeeds and triumphs over the antagonists, however, in this case, the supporting protagonist died. I also agree that this ending was the only suitable one. The author, Harper Lee, is trying to spread a message about prejudice to the public, had Tom Robinson been acquitted and Mayella found guilty, the impact would not have been as large and the message would not have been passed on as effectively. However, I also think that you should touch on the death of Bob Ewell as that is also part of the conclusion of the story, and not just the trail of Tom Robinson. Perhaps you could have mentioned whether the death of Bob Ewell was surprising or not. To me, that ending was also rather surprising as I had not expected the antagonist to die such a sudden death, instead, I had expected the law to do something about Bob, instead of him accidentally dying.
Regards,
Chong Kai En (2i106)