Earlier in the story, Braxton Bragg Underwood, editor of
the local paper, silently stood watch over Atticus while he was accosted by the group of
Cunninghams bent on lynching Tom Robinson. He later called down to Atticus from his
second floor perch that he "had you covered all the time, Atticus." When Atticus looked
up, he saw Underwood with a double-barreled shotgun leaning out his window. Atticus
later told his sister,
"You know, it's funny about Braxton," said
Atticus. "He despises Negroes, won't have one near
him."
Racist though he may
be, Underwood nevertheless found the trial and later death of Tom Robinson to be a
miscarriage of justice. In his editorial following Tom's death, "Underwood was at his
most bitter." He declared that it was "a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting
or escaping."
He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter
of songbirds by hunters and
children.
Scout didn't
understand this at first, but then she realized that Atticus had no real defense for Tom
because the social structure had him convicted before the
trial:
Atticus
had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts
of men's hearts, Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened
her mouth and screamed.
The
author used Underwood's opinions to emphasize the meaning of the title. The author also
probably used Underwood's opinion to illustrate the example that most men with even a
speck of intelligent thought--even racists such as Underwood--would have recognized that
Tom was innocent of the charges against him, and that the verdict went against all
principles of lawful justice.
[Students are permitted to
ask only one question at a time. When more than one question is asked, some will be
deleted.]
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