Monday, March 26, 2007

Tommy Boy

When Tom Robinson tried to escape from Jail, was it really a necessity for the prison guards to shoot him 17 times in the back while he tried to climb over the fence? Why did Tom try to escape when he had a fairly good chance of winning his appeal in a higher court? I think that Tom realized he would never get a fair trial in a state as racist as Alabama, and his best chance to get back to his wife and kids was to make a run for it, and flee the state. Still, he should have stopped after the guards fired warning shots at him.

5 comments:

Malachi said...

I think he ran because the author wanted him to run, we need to remember that this is just a book. If it were to happen in real life though he would probably been running because he knew he stood no chance of getting a fair trail in such a racist place and just gave up hope. He was scared and irrational so he did the only thing he thought he could do he ran as fast as he could. and he almost got away.

Anonymous said...

I believe this was Tom Robinson's last stab at trying to have a fair life. In the book Atticus relays that if it weren't for Robinson' busted arm, he would have made it over the fence. I would think even if he had made it over that fence, he would end up back at square one. Perhaps Robinson's realized that if he were re-caught it would be something to added to his re-trial. In some way or another this act of "acting out" would be contorted into him really being guilty of the rape charges. Could he have thought that it would be the easiest act of suicide?

The World's Greatest said...

I think that Tom kept running because of several reasons. Yes, he knew he would never get a fair trial because of the color of his skin. But, when the guards warned him that they would fire I think he just thought , "what else do I have to live for?" If he would have gone back, they just would have beat him. That was his last chance to see his wife.

Rashad said...

Well, now that he tried to run away there was no way that he was going to be considered innocent. He already had an unfair trial.

thegoldenone said...

I think Tom Robinson thought that his second trial would go like the first and either way he didnt have a chance. I think that he thought that he wouldnt be able to escape without getting killed anyways so he just gave it a try. He probably just wanted for it to be the end for him because he was tired and feeling like he would never win so he probably just wanted the suffering to end. The guards shouldnt have fired 17 times i think that is a bit uneccessary, the guards didnt really have any other choice but to shoot unless they chased after them, they gave him 2 warnings. If he didnt want to die then he would have got off the fence and went back when they warned him.