to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee-pdf-free-download (1)
“Gentlemen,” he was saying, “I shall be brief, but I would like to use myremaining time with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, itrequires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be surebeyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, thiscase should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white.“The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that thecrime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead uponthe testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called intoserious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by thedefendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is.“I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but mypity does not extend so far as to her putting a man’s life at stake, which she hasdone in an effort to get rid of her own guilt.“I say guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her. She hascommitted no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of oursociety, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst asunfit to live with. She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannotpity her: she is white. She knew full well the enormity of her offense, butbecause her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persistedin breaking it. She persisted, and her subsequent reaction is something that all ofus have known at one time or another. She did something every child has done—she tried to put the evidence of her offense away from her. But in this case shewas no child hiding stolen contraband: she struck out at her victim—of necessityshe must put him away from her—he must be removed from her presence, fromthis world. She must destroy the evidence of her offense.“What was the evidence of her offense? Tom Robinson, a human being. Shemust put Tom Robinson away from her. Tom Robinson was her daily reminderof what she did. What did she do? She tempted a Negro.“She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in oursociety is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strongyoung Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it camecrashing down on her afterwards.“Her father saw it, and the defendant has testified as to his remarks. What didher father do? We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicatethat Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusivelywith his left. We do know in part what Mr. Ewell did: he did what any Godfearing,persevering, respectable white man would do under the circumstances—
he swore out a warrant, no doubt signing it with his left hand, and TomRobinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand hepossesses—his right hand.“And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerityto ‘feel sorry’ for a white woman has had to put his word against two whitepeople’s. I need not remind you of their appearance and conduct on the stand—you saw them for yourselves. The witnesses for the state, with the exception ofthe sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, tothis court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted,confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption—theevil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoralbeings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, anassumption one associates with minds of their caliber.“Which, gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson’sskin, a lie I do not have to point out to you. You know the truth, and the truth isthis: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not tobe trusted around women—black or white. But this is a truth that applies to thehuman race and to no particular race of men. There is not a person in thiscourtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, andthere is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire.”Atticus paused and took out his handkerchief. Then he took off his glasses andwiped them, and we saw another “first”: we had never seen him sweat—he wasone of those men whose faces never perspired, but now it was shining tan.“One more thing, gentlemen, before I quit. Thomas Jefferson once said that allmen are created equal, a phrase that the Yankees and the distaff side of theExecutive branch in Washington are fond of hurling at us. There is a tendency inthis year of grace, 1935, for certain people to use this phrase out of context, tosatisfy all conditions. The most ridiculous example I can think of is that thepeople who run public education promote the stupid and idle along with theindustrious—because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you,the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of inferiority. We know all menare not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe—somepeople are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity becausethey’re born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies makebetter cakes than others—some people are born gifted beyond the normal scopeof most men.“But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal—
- Page 147 and 148: until we were in the shelter of the
- Page 149 and 150: pulled firmly down over their ears.
- Page 151 and 152: going home, but I was wrong. As the
- Page 153 and 154: She waited until Calpurnia was in t
- Page 155 and 156: said that’s the way his folks sig
- Page 157 and 158: “Then why does he do like that?
- Page 159 and 160: from long years of observation. Nor
- Page 161 and 162: what grounds, Judge Taylor said,
- Page 163 and 164: as you go in. She was pretty well b
- Page 165 and 166: finger marks on her gullet—”“
- Page 167 and 168: people turned around in the Negroes
- Page 169 and 170: Reverend Sykes’s black eyes were
- Page 171 and 172: “No, I mean her physical conditio
- Page 173 and 174: that he was a Christ-fearing man an
- Page 175 and 176: “Mr. Finch?”She nodded vigorous
- Page 177 and 178: you’ve already said before, but y
- Page 179 and 180: “Except when he’s drinking?”
- Page 181 and 182: good long look at you. Is this the
- Page 183 and 184: No answer.“Did you scream first a
- Page 185 and 186: 19Thomas Robinson reached around, r
- Page 187 and 188: Radley, who had not been out of the
- Page 189 and 190: on me.”“Jumped on you? Violentl
- Page 191 and 192: “Yes suh.”“What’d the nigge
- Page 193 and 194: “I says I was scared, suh.”“I
- Page 195 and 196: 20“Come on round here, son, I got
- Page 197: edged our way along the balcony rai
- Page 201 and 202: 21She stopped shyly at the railing
- Page 203 and 204: “They moved around some when the
- Page 205 and 206: Atticus had stopped his tranquil jo
- Page 207 and 208: 22It was Jem’s turn to cry. His f
- Page 209 and 210: was, said she’da had the sheriff
- Page 211 and 212: “That’s something you’ll have
- Page 213 and 214: “What has happened?”“Nothing
- Page 215 and 216: world that makes men lose their hea
- Page 217 and 218: change his mind. “If we’d had t
- Page 219 and 220: enough of a problem to your father
- Page 221 and 222: of folks. Folks.”Jem turned aroun
- Page 223 and 224: . . who’da thought it . . . anybo
- Page 225 and 226: “I said to him, ‘Mr. Everett,
- Page 227 and 228: and the river. Aunt Alexandra had g
- Page 229 and 230: two good arms he’d have made it,
- Page 231 and 232: 25“Don’t do that, Scout. Set hi
- Page 233 and 234: foot hit the ground. “Like you’
- Page 235 and 236: 26School started, and so did our da
- Page 237 and 238: more deeply that the town children
- Page 239 and 240: know the answer.“But it’s okay
- Page 241 and 242: 27Things did settle down, after a f
- Page 243 and 244: assessment of these events. “That
- Page 245 and 246: took off his shoes until the hounds
- Page 247 and 248: 28The weather was unusually warm fo
“Gentlemen,” he was saying, “I shall be brief, but I would like to use my
remaining time with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it
requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure
beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, this
case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white.
“The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the
crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon
the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into
serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the
defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is.
“I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my
pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man’s life at stake, which she has
done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt.
“I say guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her. She has
committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our
society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as
unfit to live with. She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot
pity her: she is white. She knew full well the enormity of her offense, but
because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted
in breaking it. She persisted, and her subsequent reaction is something that all of
us have known at one time or another. She did something every child has done—
she tried to put the evidence of her offense away from her. But in this case she
was no child hiding stolen contraband: she struck out at her victim—of necessity
she must put him away from her—he must be removed from her presence, from
this world. She must destroy the evidence of her offense.
“What was the evidence of her offense? Tom Robinson, a human being. She
must put Tom Robinson away from her. Tom Robinson was her daily reminder
of what she did. What did she do? She tempted a Negro.
“She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our
society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strong
young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came
crashing down on her afterwards.
“Her father saw it, and the defendant has testified as to his remarks. What did
her father do? We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate
that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively
with his left. We do know in part what Mr. Ewell did: he did what any Godfearing,
persevering, respectable white man would do under the circumstances—