In To Kill a Mockingbird, what technique does Mr. Gilmer use by repeatedly calling Tom Robinson "boy"?
Mr. Gilmer, the lead prosecutor against Tom Robinson in Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, constantly refers to Tom Robinson as "boy." All of the following dialogue is taken form chapter nineteen where Mr. Glimer is questioning Tom Robinson.
"Had your eye on her a long time, hadn’t you, boy?"
“Then you were mighty polite to do all that chopping and hauling for her, weren’t you, boy?”
“With Mr. Ewell and seven children on the place, boy?”
“You did all this chopping and work from sheer goodness, boy?”
Here, one can see, in question after question, Mr. Gilmer refers to Tom Robinson as "boy." Mr. Gilmer does this for two reasons.
First, by calling Tom a "boy," Mr. Gilmer is lowering Tom's status. Tom Robinson is a man, not a boy. The fact that he keeps referring to Tom as a boy lessens Tom.
Second, when one...
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refers to another as a boy, they are showing that they have power over them (if it is an adult speaking to another adult). Mr. Gilmer wants Tom to fear him, and by calling him a "boy," Mr. Gilmer is showing his power over Tom.
In regards to technique, this is simply a verbal attempt to control another person. In regards to literature, this does not have a term by which it is called.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, what is the implication of Mr. Gilmer calling Tom a boy and why does Dill get upset?
Mr. Gilmer calls Tom a boy to degrade him. This degradation sends an unspoken message to the jury that Tom should not be viewed as a grown man whose testimony could be trusted. Mr. Gilmer intentionally talks down to Tom simply because Tom is black and Mr. Gilmer can get away with it. Also, by speaking that way to Tom, Mr. Gilmer attempts to get Tom riled up so that he will say something he is not supposed to. Dill is upset by this whole thing because of the tension that builds, and because deep down, he sees the injustice of the way Tom is being treated, but he can do nothing about it.