Chapter 23 Chapter Twenty-Three

"I wish Bob Ewell would stop chewing tobacco," was all Atticus had to say on the matter. According to Miss Stephanie, Atticus was leaving the post office when Mr. Ewell walked up to him.This Mr. Ewell was swearing at him, spitting in his face, and threatening to kill him.Miss Stephanie had already repeated twice that she herself had been there and had witnessed the whole thing—she had just come out of the Jitney Jungle and passed the post office at the time, and it was all true.She said Atticus didn't even blink, just took out his handkerchief and wiped his face, and stood there while Mr. Ewell yelled.The scolding was extremely ugly, and she would not repeat it even if she was killed.Mr. Ewell was a veteran of an unknown campaign, and Atticus' calm behavior made him even more aggressive.He pressed, "You bastard who sympathizes with niggers, are you so proud that you don't bother to fight?" Atticus replied, "No, it's because you're too old." Then he put his hands in his pockets , continue to walk forward unhurriedly.Miss Stephanie commented that you have to admire Atticus Finch, sometimes he has a really dry sense of humor.

Jem and I didn't think it was much fun. "Anyway," I said, "he was a famous sharpshooter in the county. He could..." "Scout, you know he can't carry a gun. He doesn't even have a gun..." Jem said. Like me, carrying a gun is like inviting someone to shoot you." "It's different this time," I said. "We can ask him to borrow one." We expressed our thoughts, and he only replied with four words: "Nonsense." Dill had his own opinion, he said, be kind to Atticus, be sensible, and anyway, if Mr. Ewell kills him, Jem and I will starve to death unless Aunt Alexandra is in full custody, and we all know that one of the first things she'll do is fire Calpurnia, and she'll do that before Atticus' rests in the ground.Jem said maybe it would do me a good cry, because I was young and a girl.This trick also failed.

Still, Atticus noticed that we wandered listlessly around the neighborhood, had no appetite for food, and showed little interest in the things we usually liked to do, and he knew from this how deep our fears were.One night he charms Jem with a new football magazine.Seeing that Jem turned it over a few times before throwing it aside, he asked, "Son, what's bothering you?" Jem said flatly, "Mr. Ewell." "What happened?" "Nothing happened. We were frightened for you and thought you should do something about him." Atticus smiled wryly. "What measures? Sign a peace treaty with him?"

"When a guy says he's going to get back at you, it feels like he's going to do what he says." "He really meant it," said Atticus. "Jem, see if you can put yourself in Bob Ewell's shoes. I destroyed what was left of him during the trial." One last bit of credibility--if he has any. One has to pay back when one takes a hit, especially a man like Mr. Ewell. So he spits in my face and threatens me Threats or threats, if it saves Mayella Ewell from a beating, I'd be more than happy to take the insult. He's got to find someone to take it out on, and I'd rather have him take it out on me than his room full of kids .can you understand?"

Jem nodded. Aunt Alexandra came in just in time to hear Atticus say, "We needn't be afraid of Bob Ewell, he's done blowing up that morning." "Atticus, I'm not so sure," she said. "He's the kind of guy who'd do anything to get himself off the hook. You know what they're like." "Sister, what can Ewell do to me?" "It's a trick in the dark," said Aunt Alexandra, "you just wait and see." "It's not so easy to pull tricks in Maycomb," Atticus answered flatly. Since then, we have been less afraid.Summer vacation is passing day by day, we have to hurry up and have fun.Atticus reassured us that Tom Robinson would be fine until a higher court reviewed the case, and that he was likely to be acquitted, at least his case would have a chance of being reopened.Tom was held on Enfield Prison Farm in Chester County, seventy miles from us.I asked Atticus if Tom's wife and children would be allowed to visit him, and Atticus said no.

One night, I asked another question: "What happens if he loses his appeal?" "Then he'll go to the electric chair," Atticus said, "unless the Governor commutes his sentence. It's not time to worry, Scout, we've got a good chance." Jem was lounging on the sofa with a copy of Popular Mechanics.Hearing this, he raised his head and said, "It's not fair. Even though he committed a crime, he didn't kill anyone. He didn't take anyone's life." "You know, rape is a capital offense in Alabama," Atticus said. "Yes, but the jury didn't have to sentence him to death—if they insisted on conviction, they could have given him twenty years."

"Jem," said Atticus, "you have to take into account that Tom Robinson is black. In the world we live in, no jury in a case like this would say, 'We think you're guilty, but Not very serious.' The result is either an acquittal or the death penalty." Jem shook his head vigorously. "I know it's unfair, but I can't figure out what's wrong—maybe rape shouldn't be a capital offense..." Atticus dropped the newspaper beside the chair.He said he had no objection to the rape law, but he was concerned that the prosecution had called for the death penalty and the jury had reached the verdict when there was only circumstantial evidence.He glanced at me, saw that I was listening, and said to us in simpler terms: "I mean, one or two witnesses should be found before a man is found guilty of murder. Someone has to testify." Said, 'Yes, I was there and I saw him pull the trigger'."

"And yet, with only circumstantial evidence, many people were hanged—hanged," said Jem. "I know, and a lot of them probably deserved what they did - but without witnesses, there's no doubt, and sometimes people's doubts are just vague and vague. Legally it's called 'reasonable doubt' , I would argue that the defendant is entitled to what is called a 'reasonable doubt.' No matter how improbable it may be, there is a possibility that he is innocent." "So it's back to the jury question. We should abolish the jury." Jem said firmly.

Atticus tried his best to restrain himself, but he couldn't help laughing. "You are being too hard on us, son. It seems to me that there may be a better way. Change the law. Only judges have the power to pass the death penalty." "Then go to Montgomery and change the law." "You don't know how hard it is. I won't live to see the day when the law is changed. If you can live to that time, I'm afraid you will be an old man." This remark obviously did not satisfy Jem. "It won't work, sir. They should abolish the jury. Tom didn't commit a crime, and they're going to charge him."

"Son, if you were on that jury, and the other eleven were boys like you, Tom would be a free man now," said Atticus. Nothing in it will interfere with your reasoning. Tom's jury was a dozen reasonable people, but you could see that there was a layer between them and reason. That night, at the gate of the prison You saw the same situation before. The gang left in the end, not because reason prevailed, but because we stayed there. In this world we live in, there is always something to lose Sensible — even when they try to be fair, it backfires. In our courts, when it’s a white person and a black person, the white person always wins. These things are ugly, but that’s how life is.”

"That's still not fair," said Jem stubbornly, beating his knee lightly with his fist. "Never convict a man with that kind of evidence-never." "Arguably no, but they did. You're going to see more of that as you get older. The courtroom is supposed to be a place where people are treated fairly, regardless of the color of the person, but the jury There are always people who bring personal grievances into the group box. When you grow up, you will find that white people deceive black people every day, but I want to tell you a word, you must keep in mind-a white person Whoever he is, or how rich he is, or how noble he is, whoever he is, whoever he is, or how rich he is, whoever does this outrageous thing to a black person is a scumbag." Atticus's voice was calm, so at the end of the day, the word sent our eardrums twitching.I looked up to see an angry look on his face. "There is nothing in the world that I hate more than inferior white people taking advantage of black people's simple ignorance. Don't kid yourself - these behaviors accumulate day by day, and sooner or later we will pay for it. I hope it's not your generation to repay." Jem scratched his head.His eyes suddenly widened. "Atticus," he said, "why don't we sit on the jury with people like Miss Maudie? We've never seen anyone in Maycomb on a jury--they live in the woods." Those who take over." Atticus leaned back in the rocker.For some reason, he seemed a little beaming at Jem's questioning. "I've been wondering when you're going to realize that," he said. "For a number of reasons. One of them is that Miss Maudie can't be a juror because she's a woman..." "You're saying, in Alabama, women can't..." I burst into rage. "That's right. I suppose it's to protect the vulnerable women from nasty cases like Tom's. And besides," Atticus grinned, "if the ladies come As a juror, I suspect the case would never end—they'd be interrupting and asking questions." Jem and I laughed.If Miss Maudie had been in the jury box she would have been impressive.I pictured old Mrs. Dubose sitting in her wheelchair at the trial—"John Taylor, stop knocking. I want to ask this man a few questions." Perhaps our forefathers were wise to set it that way. Atticus said: "For people like us--it's our duty. We deserve a jury like this. First of all, the citizens of Maycomb are stubborn, Not interested in jury service; secondly, they're intimidated. And then, they..." "Afraid? Why?" asked Jem. "How should I put it, if—let's make an analogy, suppose Miss Rachel hit Miss Maudie with a car, and Mr. Link Dees decides the amount of compensation. As a shopkeeper, Mr. Link doesn't want to lose any money. a customer, isn't he? So he told Judge Taylor that he couldn't serve as a juror because he had no one to take care of his business while he wasn't in the store. So Judge Taylor had to grant his request. Sometimes he was It was answered with anger." "Why does he think one of them won't buy from his store again?" I asked. Jem said: "Miss Rachel will, Miss Maudie won't. Jury votes are confidential, though, Atticus." Our father smiled. "You've got a long way to go, son. By rights, jury votes are supposed to be confidential. But when a man is serving as a juror, he has to make up his mind about a case, and Make your point. People don't like to do it. It's not pleasant sometimes." "Tom's jury should come to a verdict sooner," muttered Jem. Atticus reached for the pocket watch. "Yeah, they've been dragging on for a long time," he said, more to himself, "that's one thing that got me thinking, how can this be a faint beginning ...the jury took hours. If the verdict is definitive, they usually only take a few minutes. But this time..." He stopped suddenly and looked at us. "You may want to know, One of them took great pains to delay the verdict—he pushed for an acquittal at first." "Who is it?" Jem was astonished. Atticus rolled his eyes. "I shouldn't have said that, but I'll tell you. He lives in Old Sarum, and he's a friend of yours..." "One of the Cunninghams?" cried Jem. "One... I didn't recognize it had... You kidding." He squinted at Atticus out of the corner of his eye. "It was a relative of the family. At the time, I didn't cross him off the jury list, it was pure instinct. I could have crossed his name off, but I didn't." "Jesus!" exclaimed Jem, devoutly, "they're trying to kill him one moment and acquit him . . . I'll never understand them." You have to know them well, Atticus said.He said the Cunninghams had never taken anything for nothing since they moved to the New World.Another characteristic of them is that once you have earned their respect, they will go through fire and water for you.Atticus also said that at the time, he had a feeling that it was just a guess—that they left the prison with a deep respect for the Finch family that night.This sudden turn of events, combined with the persuasion of another Cunningham, caused one of them to change his mind. "If there were two of those guys, the jury would be deadlocked." Jem spoke very slowly: "You mean you put on a jury the man who tried to kill you the night before? Atticus, how could you take such a risk? How could you?" "You analyze it and you know it's not a risk. There's no difference between a person who wants to convict a defendant and another person who wants to convict a defendant, right? But a person who wants to convict a defendant and a person with a heart Someone who's upset, there's a subtle difference between them, right? He's the only one on the jury list who has uncertainty." "What relation is that man to Mr. Walter Cunningham?" I asked. Atticus stood up, stretched, and yawned.It wasn't time for us to go to bed yet, but we knew he wanted to use the time to read the newspaper.He picked up the newspaper, folded it, and tapped me on the head. "Let me see," he said to himself in a low voice, "remember. They're double cousins." "how can that be possible?" "Two sisters married two brothers. That's all I'll tell you—figure out for yourself." I racked my brains and finally came to the conclusion that if I married Jem and Dill married his sister, then our kids would be double cousins. "Hey, I figured it out, Jem." Atticus had left the living room by the time I realized it. "They're a bunch of weirdos. Do you hear that, Auntie?" Aunt Alexandra was crocheting a rug and didn't even look at us, but she was listening.She was sitting in a chair with a sewing basket beside her and the rug she was crocheting spread across her lap.I'll never understand why women would want to crochet wool blankets on sweltering summer nights? "I heard." She replied. I was reminded of that catastrophic event long ago--I rushed forward to free Walter Cunningham, Jr.Now I'm glad I helped out at the time. "As soon as school starts, I'll invite Walter to lunch." I completely forgot that I had secretly made up my mind to fight him as soon as I saw him. "He can come and play with us after school, too. Atticus can drive him back to Old Sarum. Maybe he'll stay over at our house some day, don't you think, Jem?" "Let's see when the time comes." Aunt Alexandra's words were always hidden, threatening, and never agreed.I was taken aback, and turned to look at her: "Why not, aunt? They are good people." She glanced at me over the glasses she always wore when she sewed. "Jean Louise, I don't doubt they're good people. But they're not our kind." Jem interposed, "Scout, what Aunty means is they're vulgar." "What do you mean vulgar?" "Oh, it's just uneducated. Like to listen to ditties or something." "But I also..." "Don't be silly, Jean Louise," said Aunt Alexandra. "The thing is, you can wash Walter Cunningham spotless from head to toe, and you can put shoes and new clothes on him. clothes, but he'd never act like Jem did. Besides, they're all heavy drinkers in the family. The Finch girls don't have the slightest interest in that kind of guy." "Auntie," said Jem, "she ain't nine years old." "She'd better learn something now." Aunt Alexandra's utterance reminded me of the last time she expressed her firm disapproval, and it was so fresh in my memory.I never figured out why.That's when I really wanted to go to Calpurnia's house--my mind was full of curiosity and interest, wanting to visit her house and see how she lived and what kind of friends she had.Speaking of which, I also want to see what the back of the moon looks like!Aunt Alexandra's strategy was different this time, but the purpose was the same.Maybe the reason she came to live with us in the first place was to help us choose friends.I'm going to argue as hard as I can: "If they're nice people, why can't I be nice to Walter?" "I didn't say you couldn't be nice to him. You should be friendly and polite to him. You should be polite to everyone, my dear. But you don't have to ask him to your house." "What if he is a relation of ours, aunt?" "Actually, he is not a relative of our family, but even if he were, my answer would be the same." "Auntie," began Jem, "Atticus said you could choose your friends but you couldn't choose your family, so they're all related to you whether you admit it or not, and don't admit it will Makes you look stupid." "Your father's thing again," said Aunt Alexandra. "I'll say it again—Jean Louise couldn't have Walter Cunningham in her house. Cousin, he's not welcome in the house, unless he's coming to talk to Atticus. Well, it's settled." She made it clear and non-negotiable, but this time I want her to give a reason. "But Auntie, I just want to play with Walter, why not?" She took off her glasses and stared straight at me. "Because-for-he-is-scum-scum, so you can't play with him. I won't let you near him, lest you get all his dirty bad habits. You have enough to make your father I have a headache." I don't know what I'd have done if Jem hadn't stopped me.He grabbed me by the shoulders, wrapped his arms around me, and dragged me into his room as I burst into sobs of rage.Atticus followed, poking his head through the door. "It's nothing, sir," said Jem stiffly, "it's nothing." Atticus walked away. "Scout, here's a piece of this for you to chew." Jem reached into his pocket and pulled out a Troll's Bar.I chewed for a few minutes before the piece of candy became soft and comfortable in my mouth. Jem was clearing away the clutter that lay on the bedside table.His hair was sticking up in the back and drooping in the front, and I wondered if he could ever grow into a man—if he shaved his head and started over, the new hair would probably be neat and docile.I also noticed that his eyebrows had thickened a bit, and his body seemed to be slimmer—it meant he was growing. He looked back at me, probably afraid that I would burst into tears again, so he said to me: "I'll show you something, but you can't tell it." I asked what it was.He grinned sheepishly and unbuttoned his shirt. "what?" "Can't you see?" "I can't see it." "It's chest hair." "Where?" "Here, right here." For the sake of his thoughtfulness, I complimented him on how nice it looked, but actually saw nothing. "Nice, Jem." "I've got hair in my armpits, too," he said. "I'll be playing next year. Scout, don't be mad at what your aunt said." As if just yesterday, he was gesticulating and ordering me not to make my aunt angry. "She's not used to girls, you know," Jem advised me, "at least not to girls like you. She's trying to make you a lady. Can't you learn to sew or something?" ?” "I don't! She never liked me, that's all, and I don't care. Jem, I can't help but because she just called Walter Cunningham a scum, not because she Said I was giving Atticus a headache. Me and Atticus got it right - I asked him if I was giving him a headache and he said it wasn't a big deal at least he could figure out how to fix it, And let me stop trolling myself over this little thing. Today's purely because of Walter—Jem, he's not scum, he's not like the Ewells." Jem kicked off his shoes, swung his legs, and got into bed.He leaned back on the pillow and turned on the reading light. "Scout, you know? Now I have it all figured out. I've been thinking a lot lately, and I've finally figured it out. There are four kinds of people in this world: ordinary people like us and our neighbors, and There's one that lives in the woods like the Cunninghams, one that lives by the dump like the Ewells, and one that's black." "What about the Chinese? And the Korens who live in Baldwin County?" "I mean in Maycomb County. Here's the thing: people like us don't like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams hate the Ewells, and the Ewells hate and contempt for Negroes." I said to Jem, if that's the case, why didn't Tom's jury acquit Tom and keep the Ewells out?Wasn't this jury made up of people like the Cunninghams? Jem waved his hand as if to dismiss my childish question. "You know what?" he said, "I've seen Atticus tap his feet to a ditty on the radio, and he loves soup more than anyone..." "Then we're just like the Cunninghams," I said. "I don't know why my aunt..." "It's not like that, let me finish—it's about the same, but we're a little bit different. Atticus once told me it was because my aunt kept talking about the family because we didn't have any money." It can be said that only family background is worth showing off." "Oh, Jem, I don't know that--Atticus told me that the talk about ancient families is mostly self-deception, because everyone's family is as old as everyone else's. I asked him, Negroes and British Are people included, he said yes." "Background doesn't mean ancient," said Jem, "I think it means how long your family has been reading and writing. I've researched it over and over, Scout, and that's the only reason I can think of." It is said that there is clear evidence that as early as when the Finch family was still living in Egypt, some of them learned one or two hieroglyphs and taught them to his son." Jem laughed, "You want Think about it, my aunt is actually proud of her great-grandfather who can read and write—women always take some ridiculous things as pride." "Well, I'm glad he can read and write, or who's going to teach Atticus them? If Atticus can't read, we're both in trouble. Jem, I don't think it's a family background." "Well, how do you explain that the Cunninghams are different from us? Mr. Walter can hardly sign his own name—I've seen it myself. We just read and write before them." "You're not right. Everyone has to learn from scratch. No one is born with it. Little Walter is very bright, and he's behind in his studies because he's always cutting to help his father. He's all right. Jem , You are wrong, I think there is only one kind of person in the world, and that is—human.” Jem turned away, and beat the pillow violently.When he calmed down and turned around, his face was covered with clouds.I saw that he was in a bad mood and immediately became cautious.His eyebrows were frowned, his mouth was drawn into a line, and he remained silent for a long time. "I thought so too when I was your age." He finally said, "If there is only one kind of person in the world, why can't they live in harmony? If they are all the same person, why should they despise each other? Scout, I think I'm starting to understand something. I think I'm starting to understand why Boo Radley keeps shutting himself in...it's because he 'want' to shut himself in."