To Kill a Mockingbird "Point of View" Assignment by Cole Cousineau

Entry 1: Murder is a game...

Perspective: Jem Finch

For the past three-plus years or so I've always gotten a sick feeling to my stomach whenever I see Bob Ewell and the rest of the Ewell family. I never in my life thought that I would ever kill a man let alone see a man that was so significant to my life lay dead in front of me. I still don't understand why Atticus and the town would assume that I would be the one to kill him. That's beside the point! The fact of the matter is that Bob is dead and somebody saved Scout and I the night of her pageant. I'm just getting an ill feeling that the man or woman who saved me is lurking in the shadows like some kind of furtive investigator. I wish that I wasn't hit unconscious so I could see the hero in the blood and flesh that he or she is. All I can say now is, murder is a dangerous game.

Entry 2: Meet your Maker

Perspective: Tom Robinson

This man, Bob Ewell, wants my blood on his hands; he wants to see me cease. Thirty suns and thirty moons have passed the horizon since I've last seen my wife Helen or been able to sleep in my own bed. I pray and pray night after night to God to help me become a free man once again, but it seems, he may be too busy to answer a black man's cry for help. I sit here in this jail cell for hours on end just to show my face back in that courtroom of hell and get mocked by the jury, the defendants, and the spectators. Looks like she didn't have nobody to help her. I felt sorry for her. I guess this what I get for being a black man in the heart of Maycomb County, Alabama. All I can do is tell the truth, but its one black man against a jury full of white folks them. I did not, sir!

Entry 3: House Arrest

Perspective: Boo (Arthur) Radley

For the past fifteen years, I not lay a foot outside of the house. The people, my neighbors, they fear me; but why? I hear them, talk about me, my family; it hurts deep down, but they don't know the truth, they don't understand the true Arthur Radley. the kids next door, Scout and Jem, made a new acquaintance; his name his Dill. the three of them, I hear them mock me with their games, say I eat cats, have yellow teeth and what not. Every day when the come home from school, I hear them run past the house as if it were going to kill and eat them. My brother bought me some knickknacks to keep me company from the shops the other day. I think I'm going to share them with the children in hopes the understand the big, bad Boo Radley may not be so bad after all.

Entry 4: This ain't no Justice

Perspective: Bob Ewell

I sit here in this court and realize how much the Finches jus' a buncha n***** lovers. How could you defend such a disgusting waste of God's powers? I outta teach ole Atticus Finch a lesson. Ain't no way the Finch family are human and I can guarantee it! Try to prove me wrong and embarrass me in front of the townsfolk? You're playing a very dangerous game Atticus Finch; a very dangerous game indeed. Boy, i outta teach you and your filthy kids a lesson. Just you wait Atticus Finch, it's gonna hit you all like a freight train on a hot summer's day. Then after I get yer kids, I'm coming straight for you. I will have my revenge and the entire town will fear me. I'll have you know Atticus Finch, that this ain't no justice until I'm through with you and your little mutts that you call children.

Reflection

What have I learned from doing this point of view assignment? The main characters in a story or a literary piece of work are not the only characters that matter. While reading To Kill a Mockingbird, it focuses more than the standard amount of attention on characters that most would consider minor characters that may or may not be important to the overall story and plot. For example, I wouldn't consider Boo (Arthur) Radley a major character for the reason that we only saw him once in the story while in the rest he was just a rumor. Boo then did the unthinkable and killed Bob Ewell and made his mark at what I think is the mosy significant part of the story for him to show up. This story reminds me of The Rot and Ruin which is a book that I read over the summer. In The Rot and Ruin, all of the minor characters have a significant role in the story where they are able to make their marks or show their importance throughout the story. I say the purpose of this assignment was to see how the other half lives, hence Atticus' quote “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee 87)

Credits:

Created with images by Sew Technicolor - "To Kill a Mockingbird 4"

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