Discussion Topic
Men's Motives at Maycomb Jailhouse
Summary:
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the men at the Maycomb jailhouse are a lynch mob, led by Walter Cunningham Sr., intending to kill Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white woman. Such actions were common in the Jim Crow South, reflecting racial tensions and fears of race mixing. Atticus Finch stands guard at the jail to protect Tom, and the situation is defused when Scout, Jem, and Dill arrive, with Scout's innocent conversation prompting Walter Cunningham to disperse the mob.
In Chapter 15 of To Kill a Mockingbird, who are the men at the Maycomb jailhouse and why are they there?
The people who come to meet Atticus at the jail are definitely there for trouble. They are coming to meet Tom Robinson, because they want to skip the trail altogether and just kill him. They are a lynch mob.
The men arrive in “four dusty cars” and there are quite a few of them, because they are described as getting out “in ones and twos” to confront Atticus. Atticus addresses one of the as Walter Cunningham, so we know that he is one of the leaders of the mob because he addresses Atticus. This is Walter Cunningham, Sr. not Scout’s friend. We also know that the rest of the men smell like whiskey and pigpen, and that at the fact that they are dressed in “overalls and denim shirts buttoned up to the collars” makes them farmers. Scout does not know them.
Scout, Jem and Dill add a unique...
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twist to the situation. The presence of children at a lynch mob does not make sense. Scout diffuses the situation by jumping right into the middle of the mob and talking to Mr. Cunningham. Everyone is completely shocked, but then Mr. Cunningham comes to his senses and he leaves, taking the crowd with him.
Why do the men come to the jail in "To Kill a Mockingbird"?
A mob of drunken men, under the leadership of Walter Cunningham Sr, has descended upon the jailhouse with the express purpose of lynching Tom Robinson, who's being held there in custody. At that time in the South, lynchings of African Americans were depressingly common. In particular, they were often carried out against African American males accused of raping white women, as in the case of Mayella Ewell. In fact, even if a black man so much as looked at a white woman or spoke out of turn to her in any way, he could find himself being subjected to summary execution by a baying lynch mob.
Most white southerners were deeply afraid of race mixing. To that end, the races were to be kept strictly separate, and African Americans needed to know their place and remain in a position of subordination to whites. This explains the serious punishments, both judicial and extra-judicial, that were meted out to those suspected of any kind of sexual involvement with white women, whether or not it was consensual. Either way, this was a crude method of social control which had nothing to do with justice.
Tom is wholly innocent of all the charges made against him, but it doesn't matter to the restless mob outside the jailhouse. He's an African American male accused of raping a white woman, and far as they're concerned, that means he's automatically guilty. As it comes out later on in his trial, Tom's also guilty of what's widely regarded as another "crime"—feeling sorry for a white woman. It says a lot about racial attitudes at that time that a simple gesture of decency and humanity is perceived as a threat because it momentarily places a member of the dominant race in a subordinate position to a supposed inferior.
Why do the men visit the jail in To Kill a Mockingbird?
The mob has come to the Maycomb jail where Tom Robinson is being held before his trial. They want to be sure there is no trial.
Harper Lee based the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell loosely upon the 1931 arrest and trial of the Scottsboro Boys of Alabama. Nine black teenagers were riding on a freight train in search of employment. There were also white men who were on this train, and some of them tried to force the black men off, declaring the train "a white train." When they were beaten in the ensuing fight, some of the white men jumped off the train and falsely reported to the authorities of Paint Rock, Alabama, that they had been attacked by "Negroes."
There were also two white women who stepped off the train. These women, who were suspected prostitutes, falsely accused a group of the black men of rape. (They were later examined by doctors and no signs of rape were found.) These women may have lied about being raped to protect themselves because they could have been arrested for violation of the Mann Act by crossing a state line "for immoral purposes." In similar fashion Mayella lies when she accuses Tom of raping her because her father does not want anyone to know that she has kissed Tom.
In the 1930s it was not uncommon in the Jim Crow South for lynch mobs to
come after any black men who were suspected of raping a white woman. A lynch
mob arrived in Scottsboro, demanding that the arrested teens be released to
them. But the sheriff stood in front of the jail door, threatening to shoot
anyone who tried to take them.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch sits in front of the jailhouse
door, and when the mob arrives, he tries to keep them away from the door. The
Old Sarum bunch demand that Atticus hand over Tom, but he refuses. Fortunately,
little Scout, who has followed her brother and Dill to the jail, recognizes Mr.
Cunningham and speaks to him. Mr. Cunningham talks to Scout, whose
innocence convinces him to order the other men to leave. They return to their
cars and drive away.
Link Deas refers to the Cunninghams as the "Old Sarum bunch" because of the area of the county from which they hail. They are a large family who has a reputation for causing trouble when they get drunk together. Atticus asks Deas, ". . . you're not scared of that crowd, are you?" Deas responds with, ". . . know how they do when they get shinnied up" (145). This suggests that there is no evidence that the Cunninghams will cause trouble before the Tom Robinson case, but if they all get drunk together, and get talking about the case, they might.
As a precaution, Atticus takes a light on the end of an extension cord so he can read by the jail the night before the trial. Sure enough, the Cunninghams show up. Since the story is written from Scout's perspective, it is interesting to note that she does not mention seeing a rope, lighted torches, or even guns in the hands of the mob. Those things would probably be the first things a little girl would notice. The point is, even though the Cunninghams seem to be at the jail that night to lynch Tom, they also don't seem very riled up, or as prepared as a serious mob would be. In addition, this might also show that the Cunninghams aren't mean enough to actually carry something like that out. Had they been hell-bent on lynching Tom, no child, attorney, or jail cell would have stopped them. Therefore, it seems as if the Cunninghams weren't very committed their plan when they showed up. Plus, they easily stopped to talk and then listened to a child when Scout spoke. It doesn't seem like they were as organized as they may have intended. When Scout spoke to Mr. Cunningham, he did not stop her, either, as in the following example:
"I began to feel sweat gathering at the edges of my hair; I could stand anything but a bunch of people looking at me. They were quite still. . . I looked around and up at Mr. Cunningham, whose face was equally impassive. Then he did a peculiar thing. He squatted down and took me by both shoulders.
'I'll tell him you said hey, little lady,' he said. Then he straightened up and waved a big paw. 'Let's clear out,' he called. 'Let's get going, boys'"(154).
Whether the Cunninghams would have followed through with the lynching is unknown, but lucky for Scout that Mr. Walter Cunningham seemed to be in charge and easily swayed by his fatherly senses.
As the previous post stated, Walter Cunningham Sr. and the rest of the men came to take Tom Robinson from the jail to hang him. According to Scout's earlier narration, the Cunninghams weren't church goers, and "they experimented with stumphole whiskey." The men were probably drunk--
There was a smell of stale whiskey and pigpen about...
and the alcohol may have helped to screw up the courage to commit murder. Although lynchings don't appear to have been a common occurrence in Maycomb, the crime for which Tom was accused (raping a white woman) would have warranted such action by men like those hailing from Old Sarum, where "an enormous and confusing tribe domiciled" in the rural northern area of Maycomb County--and where few black men probably lived.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, why do Scout, Jem, and Dill visit the jail?
Three of the main characters in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird are Jem (Jeremy) and Scout (Jean Louise) Finch, and Dill (Charles Baker) Harris. The three children spend most of their time together during the summers while Dill is in Maycomb visiting his aunt. They act out stories, they try to catch the attention of their reclusive neighbor Boo Radley, and occasionally they get in trouble for doing things they should not do.
On the night before the three kids go to the jail, Sheriff Heck Tate comes to call on Atticus; outside are other men from town who are sharing their concerns about Tom Robinson's safety. Robinson is being moved to the Maycomb jail tomorrow night, and there have been threats of violence made against him. The kids do not understand everything they hear, but they sense the uneasiness everyone but Atticus seems to feel.
The next night, after dinner, Atticus tells Jem and Scout good-night earlier than usual because he will be gone when they go to bed. This is just the kind of opportunity the adventuresome kids do not want to miss, so they sneak out after they have supposedly gone to bed. Jem and Scout pick up Dill and they walk through town looking for Atticus, though they do not really know where he is or what they might find. They had no intention of going to the jail; they simply do not want to be left out and the jail is where all the action in Maycomb is tonight.
At the jail, Atticus sits calmly right below the window of Tom Robinson's jail cell and reads; a clan of Cunninghams has gathered to cause trouble, though the children do not realize the potential danger of the situation. A slight physical confrontation ensues, but no one is hurt.
In the midst of this strange assembly, Atticus stood trying to make Jem mind him. “I ain’t going,” was his steady answer to Atticus’s threats, requests, and finally, “Please Jem, take them home.”
Jem is older and realizes what is happening, but he refuses to leave. As it turns out, their presence (especially Scout's) at the jail that night is the very thing that diffuses the tense situation.