TOM ROBINSON. Tom's escape
attempt that resulted in his death is probably the best example of the extreme pressure
he was facing. Atticus tells his sister that
"I guess Tom was tired of white men's chances and
preferred to take his
own."
ATTICUS.
Atticus faces great pressures from defending Tom Robinson. The night at the jail when he
faces the lynch mob is one example. When Jem, Scout and Dill show up unexpectedly,
Atticus shows a rare example of emotion.
Atticus got up from his chair, but he was moving
slowly, like an old man. He put the newspaper down very carefully, adjusting the creases
with lingering fingers. They were trembling a
little.
SCOUT.
Scout is pressured by Atticus to stop fighting or "he would wear me out." But "Cecil
Jacobs made me forget" when he claimed that "Scout Finch's daddy defended niggers." When
her cousin Francis accused Atticus of a similar trait, Scout's fists flew once
again.
MISS CAROLINE.
Scout's first grade teacher faces many of the same pressures as new teachers face today.
After Miss Caroline "whipped" Scout with her ruler, the class broke into frenzied
laughter; when the teacher threatened the class with the same punishment, they only
became louder. It disrupted the class next door, and the veteran 6th grade teacher, Miss
Blount, threatened them all.
"Miss Caroline, the sixth grade cannot
concentrate on the pyramids for all this racket."
... Miss Caroline watched
the class file out for lunch. As I was the last to leave, I saw her sink down into her
chair and bury her head in her arms. Had her conduct been more friendly toward me, I
would have felt sorry for her. She was a pretty little
thing.
BOO
RADLEY. No one knows how Boo felt about his life of exile within his own
home, but following Bob Ewell's death, instead of becoming a more visible presence in
the neighborhood, he retreats inside his house for good. But first he asks Scout to walk
him home.
"Will you take me home?"
... I
would lead him through our house, but I would never lead him
home.
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