Resisting a Lynch Mob
September 23, 2018, 12:03 am
Atticus Finch resisted, but the Democrat lynch mob won.
When it was published in 1960, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird won the Pulitzer Prize for literature and became an instant classic. In 1962, it was made into a movie starring Gregory Peck, a role for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor.
The story is based on Lee’s childhood in rural Alabama during the 1930s. The narrator is six-year-old Jean Louise Finch. The protagonist is her father, Atticus, who is a small-town lawyer appointed by the court to represent Tom Robinson, a black man who has been charged with raping Mayella Ewell, a young white woman. Despite the community’s near universal condemnation, Atticus defends Tom in and out of court.
One night, Atticus sits vigil outside the county jail where Tom is being held. A lynch mob arrives, and, while Atticus blocks their way, little Jean Louise appears and sweetly greets some of the lynchers by name. Shamed by her innocence, they back down.
At the trial, Mayella testifies unconvincingly that Tom raped her. When Atticus gently cross-examines her, she breaks into tears and angrily repeats her claim.
Under questioning by Atticus, Tom convincingly protests his innocence. After Atticus’ closing argument, it is clear to the reader that Mayella is lying and Tom is innocent.
But facts and logic do not carry the day. The jury quickly convicts Tom. While Atticus is visiting Tom’s wife to discuss the appeal, word comes that Tom has been shot and killed while trying to escape.
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https://spectator.org/resisting-a-lynch-mob/
