Chapter 21 Summary and Analysis
Calpurnia passes Atticus a note saying that his children have gone missing. It's then revealed that they've been sitting up in the balcony all along. Atticus tells them to go home and eat dinner, and if the jury hasn't come back by the time they return, then they can stay and watch the verdict. The children are gone for about an hour, in which time Calpurnia scolds them, Aunt Alexandra nearly faints, and Jem proudly claims that Tom should be acquitted. Atticus knows that he won't be, but refrains from telling Jem this. When they get back, the courtroom is just as they've left it, and the Reverend has even saved their seats.
Scout nearly falls asleep before the verdict comes back: guilty. She watches as in a dream as her father walks down the aisle toward the door. All of the African Americans stand up as he passes out of respect, and Scout stands with them.
Idiom
Calpurnia uses an idiom when she tells the children she'll "skin every one of [them] alive."
Motifs
Swimming. Once again, Lee uses the image of an underwater swimmer to indicate when events happen very slowly (or at least appear to). This time, it's the jury who appear to move slowly as they return to announce the verdict, whereas Atticus, who has been described as an underwater swimmer once before, moves surprisingly quickly after Tom is convicted. The speed with which he leaves might indicate that he's upset about the verdict.
Personification
An example of this is the the courthouse clock "suffer[ing]" the strain of keeping time.
Pun
One example of this would be when Scout refers to Jem as Calpurnia's "precious Jem," punning on the phrase "precious gem," which is meant to indicate how highly Calpurnia thinks of Jem.
Simile
Scout uses a simile when she says that the feeling in the courtroom was the same as that of a cold February morning when everything went still, even the mockingbirds. This stillness is a result of both anticipation and fear, as Tom and the spectators await the verdict.
Symbols
Calpurnia's Apron. When Calpurnia arrives in the courthouse, she's wearing "a fresh apron." This is notable for two reasons: that the apron is fresh, meaning that she must've changed it to go out in public, and that she wears it even inside the courthouse, though she's only required to wear it inside of the Finch house. Her apron is thus a symbol both of her servitude and of her pride, because she makes sure to always look clean, fresh, and proper. She might be a servant, but she's a respectable (and very formidable) woman, and that is clear from the way she wears her apron.
Themes
Time. Lee continues to build on the theme of time by slowing it down while everyone waits to hear the verdict. She draws on the motif of swimming and swimmers to indicate that time is moving very slowly and that Scout's perception of time is affected by her physical and emotional state (she is worn out after the long trial). It's telling that nearly every scene where time has slowed down for Scout corresponds to an event that she has trouble understanding: the trial, her father's skill as a marksman, and Mrs. Dubose's fight against addiction.
Expert Q&A
What crime does Atticus identify in chapter 21 of To Kill a Mockingbird?
2 Educator Answers
Quick answer:
Atticus refers to Tom's alleged crime as an offense that has been committed. He also refers to Mayella as having transgressed a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with. Atticus repeatedly states that Mayella has no right to put an innocent man in the position she has put Tom in.In Chapter Twenty, Atticus addresses the jury at the end of Tom Robinson's trial. In his summation he veers away from the crime that Tom Robinson is supposed to have committed. He instead focuses on Mayella Ewell and what she has done. It is clear that Atticus does not see her as a victim but as a perpetrator and, therefore, depicts her as such.
Atticus does not directly state that Mayella has committed a crime, but through careful and meticulous wording, suggests that, firstly, Mayella has transgressed an unspoken code. This code is found on racist principles which prohibit any intimate contact between whites and blacks. In the society that she lives, it is absolutely taboo for there to be anything but superficial associations between whites and blacks. Atticus says:
My pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man’s life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt.
He is clearly suggesting that Mayella's actions are criminal. Atticus refers to her actions with regard to her liaison with Tom Robinson as an "offense" and states that:
She knew full well the enormity of her offense, but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it.
Mayella obviously knows what she is doing but feels compelled to persist in accusing Tom Robinson. She fears rejection by her own kind and does not want to be shamed and ridiculed. Atticus suggests that she is driven by guilt.
I say guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her. She has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with.
The crime that Atticus is, therefore, alluding to is the fact that Mayella Ewell is implicating an innocent man and putting his life at risk. She does this to save herself from being hounded out by her society. She wants to break away from being held responsible for her so-called offense and the only way she can do so is by getting rid of Tom Robinson, as Atticus states before making his final closing remarks:
She was no child hiding stolen contraband: she struck out at her victim—of necessity she must put him away from her—he must be removed from her presence, from this world. She must destroy the evidence of her offense.
It is tragically sad and disparaging that Atticus's most ardent appeal to the jury to apply common-sense, and his request for them to invoke the principle of equality, fall on deaf ears for, in the end, Tom is found guilty and sentenced to death.
It was in Chapter 20 when Atticus mentioned the "crime"--however, he called it a "code" rather than a crime that was broken.
"She has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with."
He continues on in Chapter 20 explaining that she knew what she was doing. She didn't plan it from the beginning, but by accusing Tom, she was getting herself out of trouble with her father (and society--although she's already an outcast from society).
"She knew full well the enormity of her offense, but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it."
Explain Jem's misinterpretation of Atticus's statement in chapter 21 of To Kill a Mockingbird.
2 Educator Answers
Jem firmly believes that his father is suggesting that the jury would be deciding in Tom Robinson's favor. He, Scout and Dill have been surreptitiously witnessing the court proceedings and Jem, especially, has been quite impressed by the manner in which his father came to Tom's defense. Atticus had essentially questioned the veracity of both Mayella Ewell and her father's testimony, creating doubt. So convinced was Jem that he, after Bob Ewell's cross examination by Atticus, reacted in the following manner:
Jem seemed to be having a quiet fit. He was pounding the balcony rail softly, and once he whispered, “We’ve got him.”
He believed that Atticus had caught Bob Ewell in a lie and had created reasonable proof that it was he who had beaten his daughter since he was left-handed and Mayella had sustained injuries to the right side of her face. Later, when he saw Tom Robinson's withered arm, he reacted as follows:
“Scout,” breathed Jem. “Scout, look! Reverend, he’s crippled!”
Jem had been engrossed in the proceedings and had even taken to explain the finer points of the trial to Dill. He regularly commented about what was transpiring and clearly assumed that everything would go his father's way. He had told Scout with great assurance:
“He’s just gone over the evidence,” Jem whispered, “and we’re gonna win, Scout. I don’t see how we can’t. He’s been at it ‘bout five minutes. He made it as plain and easy as—well, as I’da explained it to you. You could’ve understood it, even.”
Jem emphatically believed that Tom Robinson was going to be set free when he asked:
"You think they'll acquit him that fast?"
Jem's response to his father's remark about everything being over soon, put Atticus in a difficult position and all he could do was say nothing. Jem's belief illustrates his naivety and his innocence. He could not comprehend and had no real insight into the deep racial prejudices which were rooted into his community. He felt that evidence was enough to prove innocence or guilt and his idealistic notion of justice was shattered when the verdict finally came through, markedly explained in Scout's observation:
I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them.
It is poignantly ironic that Atticus had said, in his summation:
“But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal—there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honorable court which you serve. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal."
For Jem, justice such as this had not come to Maycomb.
At this point in the story, the trial is all but concluded. The jury is still out and the entire courtroom waits silently for a verdict. When Calpurnia enters and alerts Atticus to the fact that his children are missing, he realizes for the first time that they have been in the courtroom all along.
Atticus immediately sends the children home with the promise that if they eat, they can come back to hear the verdict. He is sure, however that "it'll be over," before they get back. To this, Jem replies, "You think they'll acquit him that fast?"
Jem, who has been following the entire trial very closely, is convinced that Atticus has proven Tom Robinson's innocence. He misinterprets his father's words because he is too young to understand the underlying issue of prejudice present. Despite the fact that he tried the case to the best of his ability, even Atticus knows the jury will not rule in Tom Robinson's favor. He assumes a quick verdict of "guilty." His son, hopeful, somewhat starstruck by his own dad, and yet untouched by any societal pressure toward bias and racism, feels confident that "we've won it."
In To Kill a Mockingbird chapter 21, how do the jury and Black community react to Atticus's speech?
1 Educator Answer
Quick answer:
In To Kill A Mockingbird, the golden rule is that people should treat others as they would wish to be treated themselves. After Atticus’s speech in chapter 21, the jury defy this rule by not giving to Tom Robinson the justice that they would have wanted in the same position. The Black community, on the other hand, abide by the rule by standing up as a mark of respect for Tom and Atticus.
In chapter 21, at the end of the trial, Atticus speaks eloquently and convincingly on behalf of Tom Robinson. Jem is convinced, naively, that Atticus has won the case, and that the jury will return quickly with a verdict of not guilty. The jury, however, unanimously declare Tom Robinson to be guilty, and in so doing prove that the jury system is as flawed as the irrational fears and prejudices of the individual jurors. The jury's verdict is not based on reason or logic or evidence, but on the simple racist belief that Black men are inferior, predatory, and mendacious, whereas white people are superior, innocent, and virtuous. The jury do not give Tom Robinson a fair trial and defy the golden rule that people should treat others as they themselves would wish to be treated.
When Tom Robinson is led from the court, the Black community all stand for him, and also for Atticus, as a mark of respect. Scout looks around and sees that "all around us and in the balcony on the opposite wall, the Negroes were getting to their feet." Under the circumstances, this is about as much of a gesture as these Black spectators could have made. By standing up for Tom and Atticus, they are quietly showing to each the respect that they themselves would likely want to be treated with in the same circumstances. With this small but powerful gesture, the Black community show themselves to be much more decent than the white members of the jury who have just wrongly sentenced Tom Robinson to death.
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