Journal #6 chap 16- 19 (Tom Robinson)

I can’t believe this is happening to me. I’ve done nothing wrong, yet I’m being prosecuted for raping a nineteen year old ignorant girl! I’m the defendant to some girl trying to land me in prison, or get me hung.

I’ve always been nice to her, every time she asked, I’d come in and help her do whatever little task she needed help with. I thought it was a little odd every time- me, a cripple, a negro with only one working arm, to help an able bodied girl who does almost everything else. No matter, I helped her with anything she wanted, to be courteous, nice, and to perhaps get her on my side, if I were to ever need it.

But no, now, she’s charging me with rape. Even though she was the one who wanted me, I’m the one that’ll end up dispelled. That’s my bet. I’ll be the one in jail… or dead.

I worry mostly about my family. If I do end up in the slammer, my family will suffer because I’m not there. Now, while I’m in a holding cell and being tried, they’re being supported by the church, First Purchase. I worry about if and when I’m not there to protect them.

Basically, theirs and my entire future depend on this trial. Atticus Finch is my lawyer, and I trust him entirely, the amiable, loyal man, but I’m still not sure how this is going to end up. He’s been doing a great job interrogating Mayella Ewell. He was getting every scrap of information that he could out of her. Too bad all those scraps were lies. She complacently told the whole entire town of Maycomb and the all-important Judge Taylor (who was indulging himself in a cigarette) that I had come into her house and raped her, but that was a complete fib. She claimed that the ‘rape’ was the first time I’d ever been in her house before, but she’d made me on several occasions. Mostly, they were just little odd-end jobs like chopping up a chiffarobe, clearing wood, moving heavy things, and this time, she called me in to fix a broken door. When I got in there, the door was completely fine. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it. I was really confused, then she asked me to get something at the top of a different chiffarobe. I stood on a chair and all the sudden she’d grabbed hold of my legs. I jumped off the chair and it fell over (by the way, the only thing that I ever damaged or hurt in the entire predicament). She grabbed my face and kissed the sides of my face. She told me this was the first time she’d ever kissed a man, and it might as well have been me, a nigger. I was completely dumbfounded at her remark, and it threw me off balance. I tried to get out of there, but she blocked the door. I tried to push her aside, but in a kind manner, but she wouldn’t move. She asked me to kiss her back, but why in the world would I do that? Anyway, Mr. Ewell then came in, and started calling me dirt and yelled so I ran for it while I had the chance. I couldn’t believe Mayella would stoop that low. I don’t even know what her motive was, or how long she had been planning to sabotage me, but her ambush wasn’t really well planned out. She might have just wanted the satisfaction of my hanging, or whatever money she might get, but either way was a complete cliché of ignorant white trash. They all drive me crazy. Except for the good eggs like Atticus Finch and his chillun. That’s why I’m glad that he’s my lawyer, and he’ll actually try to help me out, unlike other racist lawyers that would not even try at the trial.

I hope I get out of this one alive,
Tom Robinson

Journal #5 ch 13-15 (Dill)

Dear Journal,
My parents are so boring. I can't believe what little they do. They just sit, read, read, sit, and barely ever do anything with me. It kinda drives me crazy. My new step father promised me we'd build a boat and take it fishing all summer, that's why I didn't go to Maycomb and visit Scout and Jem. But I guess all that boat talk was just to get me to stay in Meridian this summer, and it worked, so now, there's nothing for me to do but play with all the toys I have. I know it sounds fun, but trust me, when that's all you're stuck with for a whole summer, it gets a little dull. I was sick of it after just a couple weeks.
After those couple weeks of boredom, I decided it was time I do something about it. So I stole thirteen dollars from my mother's purse, caught a nine o'clock train and ended in Maycomb Junction. From there, it was about a fourteen mile walk. About ten miles in, I jumped on the backboard of a cotton wagon and clung to that the remainder of the way. Being as secret-agent-y as physically possible, I crept into Scout's room and wedged myself under her bed. It never occurred to me that we weren't playing hide-n-seek, they weren't looking for me, so it took about two hours before Scout and Jem found me. That was a complete surprise to me, seeing as I hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before, and my stomach was yelling at me for that. Loud enough that I was pretty sure someone would have heard it. But I was thrilled when Scout and Jem did find me, they fetched me some food, and when Jem called Atticus in, he had them give me even more than just the cold cornbread they'd gotten me in the first place. However, when Atticus did first come into the room, I was half scared to death that he'd tell Aunt Rachel or call my mother. He did eventually, but he made it so I wouldn't get into any trouble with any of my authorities. That's one thing I really liked about Atticus. He was so open to anything I wanted to do- he never told on me, he was very carefree, and I really liked him. I stared to get jealous of Scout and Jem the second summer I came. I never told anyone, but I wanted Atticus to be my father, but I soon got over that.
This summer was a pretty good, yet pretty dull. Jem had somehow grown up. He wasn't really interested in much that Scout and I was doing, he mostly just read his football magazines. Occasionally, he'd come out and play a while with us. He'd toss the ball around, play tag, but after about an hour of playing with us, he'd retire to his magazines. One thing that came from that was I got to know Scout better- I was going to marry her someday (I am looking forward to that), and I need to know my wife. Anyway, we spent a lot of time talking in Deer Pasture. It's really fun to talk to Scout, she's got a whole different perspective on things. I'm not really sure what it is, but I really like listening to what she has to say.
One night, Scout and Jem came and woke me up and night and we went to town. I still don't have the faintest idea why. It was the craziest night. First of all, they came to get me at ten o'clock at night! Then we snuck all the way to town, and found Atticus sitting out front of the jail. I was somewhat asleep at this time, so I hardly remember it, I do remember a couple cars pulling up to the jail and a bunch of men filing out. They seemed to be hassling Atticus in some way. I think it was about that Tom Robinson guy that Atticus is representing in court. Scout told me all about it in one of our long talks in Deer Pasture. Anyway, the men seemed to be trying to get into the jail, or trying to get someone out, I'm not really sure, but all of the sudden Scout ran out and burst through the crowd and run to Atticus. I didn't know why, but Jem started running toward Scout, so I followed. Before I knew it, we were being sent home, and Scout just started talking to Mr. Cunningham. After almost deliberately disobeying Atticus, we were sent home. After that, I was gone, my mind drifted into fuzz and I don't remember anything else. I think that's why Scout had to tell me the whole thing. The day after. Like I said, it was a crazy night.
Dill