Two Hamburger Style Paragraphs About "To Kill A Mockingbird" Chapters 12-20

As the story progresses, we are seeing development of certain characters, such as Jem and Scout.

At the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout were both naïve. They enjoyed playing games and did not fully understand the consequences of their actions. Now, in these past few chapters we can observe a growing gap between Jem and Scout. Jem is moving away from childhood into maturity, he is pushing away from Scout and what they were merely years before. We also can note a change in his diction; Jem tries to have insightful opinions, as opposed to his prior dialect. Jem’s growth has made him more aware of the situations at hand and may ultimately rob him of his innocence or improve his ability to correctly asses a situation and act accordingly, such as the incident with Dill when he decided to tell Atticus despite the “code”.

Scout does not exhibit the same mature development as Jem, she continues to be the naïve little girl who does not fully understand every situation. In chapter 15 when the mob is prepared to beat up Atticus, Scout starts up a casual conversation with one of the men, which inadvertently helps the situation, "Hey, Mr. Cunningham. How's your entailment gettin' along?" . This innocence may prove to help some of the town’s issues, since she has not been subjected to outside influences, like racism.

The advancement toward maturity may be essential in understanding certain occurrences present in Jem and Scout’s lives. At Calpurnia’s church, Jem and Scout do not fully understand the gap between black and white because they don’t see things in black and white, they prefer to see shades of grey. Although Jem is further along than Scout, there is still much to learn.

The two characters have come a long way since the beginning. Their innocence can both help and hinder their lives. It allows them to have an untarnished perspective, while also obstructs their understanding of the situations at hand.


Tom Robinson's trial is an eye opener for the outlook of the town. The result will come down to truth versus race.

The general views of the town are primarily racist. They display hatred toward people based on their skin colour and even a person’s association with coloured people. The town’s demeanor toward Atticus and his family changed significantly based on his choice to defend a black man in court. Also, the reaction of the court when Tom Robinson said that he pitied Mayella Ewell shows their attitudes toward the stature of black and white. After Tom said he pitied Mayella, it was stated that, "The witness realized his mistake...but the damage was done. Below us, nobody liked Tom Robinson's answer."

In chapters 18 and 19 the trial began and it was revealed that most of the evidence presented by the Ewell’s was either circumstantial or witness based, while Atticus presented a strong case based on fact, such as Tom’s gimpy arm that would prevent him from hitting Mayella on her right side. Atticus presented a much stronger case for Tom than that of the Ewell’s, however, the result of the trial may come down to race despite evidence.

Another factor that may come into play is the fact that if the verdict reveals Tom as innocent, then it would mean the Ewell’s lied and Mr. Ewell beat his daughter. This would a black person was right and a white person was wrong, which is not something I believe the town is ready to believe.

I believe the jury will rule Tom Robinson is guilty, based on their bigoted opinions that white people are better than black people, even if Tom is clearly innocent.