Анализ текста "To Kill a Mockingbird" из Аракина

Analysis

The text under the study is an extract from a famous novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by a well-known American writer H. Lee. This is her first and the Pulitzer Prize winning novel.

The extract itself depicts a trial of a young Negro, Tom Robinson, who was charged with raping a poor white girl, Mayella Ewell on the grounds of false testimony given by the girl and her father. The defendant’s testimony was not taken into account at all. At the trial Tom Robinson was defended by a smart lawyer Atticus Finch. And although Finch managed to prove the defendant’s innocence, Tom Robinson was found guilty of a crime he hadn’t committed.

The story is presented in the first person, and the narrator is Finch’s younger daughter, Jean Louise, who is seven. She tells the story in detail and gives a very precise report of her father’s speech and the following events. Jean Louise is chosen as a narrator to focus the reader’s attention on the behavior and manner of speech of A. Finch.

The extract can be divided into three parts: Atticus’ speech to the jury, the climax of the story (when they are waiting for the verdict) and the denouement of the story. The author uses straight-narrative presentation.

The first part is Atticus’ speech to the jury in the defense of Tom Robinson, it’s a monologue, which is written in an emotional key and is interrupted by Jean Louise’s narration that shows her father’s behavior during the speech and his manner of speaking. The writer places emphasis on the actions that Atticus is not in the habit of doing, but does so at court: unbuttons his clothes, loosens his tie, takes off his coat, perspires a lot. The similes, used by his daughter (‘this was the equivalent of him standing before us stark naked’, ‘he was talking to the jury as if they were folks on the post office’) create an impression of unexpectedness in his behavior. The writer uses also different kinds of repetitions: anaphora (‘…some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral…’), epiphora (‘…but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it’), and anadiplosis (‘…she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe…’; ‘A court is only as sound as its jury, and the jury is only as sound as the men who make it up’). Repetitions are used here to draw attention to the most important points in the speech. These repetitions are used here to emphasize an idea that the defendant is not a criminal, but a victim, that Tom Robinson is innocent and it is Mayella Ewell who is to blame. Atticus also uses different epithets when speaking about Mayella and Tom. Tom Robinson is portrayed as a ‘humble’, ‘quiet’ and ‘respectable’ man. The description of Mayella’s actions is more vivid and expressive. Atticus emphasizes ‘the enormity of her offense’, her ‘cynical confidence’ with which she acted. He uses a number of metaphors and similes to characterize her: she has ‘broken the social code’, ‘the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance’, ‘she struck out at her victim’; ‘she was like child hiding stolen contraband’. The author also uses such stylistic device as gradation when Atticus speaks on the idea of equality of all people: ‘…that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…’; ‘…some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women – black or white’; ‘There is not a person in this court-room who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without a desire’.

The climax of the story is rather short and is also written in an emotional key. The author uses the repetition of the word “guilty” and simile (‘shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them’) to emphasize the atmosphere and express the effect the verdict produced on all the people.

The last paragraphs are devoted to the way the jury returned their verdict. Jean Louise just describes the events that take place after Tom Robinson was found guilty. In contrast with vivid Finch’s speech, the following events seem insipid, the author uses here parallel constructions: ‘The foreman handed a piece of paper to Mr. Tate, who handed it to the clerk, who handed it to the judge…’ And Atticus’s ‘lonely walk’ through the court-room and all the Negroes getting to their feet is an important detail that expresses their deep respect for the brave and honest lawyer who tried to break the system.

Racism is a main theme of the novel. Even those who believe in Tom's innocence would never stand up for him, Tom Robinson’s life is now gone because of white man in the jury being prejudiced against a black man. Atticus’s says that all men are equal, that a man can be good or evil but it does not depend on the color of his skin, and that is the message of the story.