The quote shows that although the trial is over, it will never be forgotten by the people of Maycomb. After school starts again for Scout and things start to go back to normal, Scout tells us that Atticus said, "Things had a way of settling down, and after enough time passed people would forget that Tom Robinson's existence was ever brought to their attention." (Lee 326) This shows that Atticus is trying to erase these events from the children's minds and have them go back to the families normal lifestyle. He doesn't want them to be stuck in the past dwelling on the trial and its outcome.
Scout understands her father's point of view, but sees a different thing happening in Maycomb. She says, "The events of the summer hung over us like smoke in a closed room." (Lee 326) This shows how the events of the trial haven't been forgotten by anyone in Maycomb. This shows the significance of the trial and the overwhelming impact it had on the people. The quote also has a lot of meaning and is a very powerful metaphor. The events of the trial are the trial. The smoke trapped in a closed room is like the memories of the trial trapped in Maycomb. Atticus wants people to forget about these events and let the events "leave the trapped room" so they can move on with their normal lives.
Although Atticus wants to move on and forget about the trial, the people of Maycomb will always remember the events that happened over the summer.
The quotes that Jack refers to in his post are very insightful, specifically when matched with their respective characters. Atticus and Scout have very different interpretations of how the aftermath of the Tom Robinson trial will play out. In the fall, following the trial, Atticus notes that "things have a way of settling down, and after enough time passes people would forget that Tom Robinson's existence was ever brought to their attention" (Lee 326), insinuating that he believes the trial which consumed so much of his family and all of Maycomb County will simply fade away and be gone from people's memories. This further represents Atticus' deep desire for the attention to move away from his family and his children. It seems that his belief is that because Tom Robinson was a Negro man who is now dead, things will simply go away. However, his daughter, Scout represents a different point of view in her understanding of the aftermath of the trial, when she indicates "the events of the summer hung over us like smoke in a closed room" (Lee 326). This is a powerful statement by Scout and a direct contradiction to her father's point of view in thinking that things will simply blow over. Scout believes that like smoke in a closed room, the aftermath of the trial's emotion will hang and not clear from Maycomb. Smoke in a closed room can't escape, and Scout seems to feel that she too will be trapped and held in the grips of the aftermath of the Tom Robinson trial. This is a heavy feeling for a young girl, and represents a different point of view from the seemingly dismissive point of view that her father holds. These two quotes further represent how different interpretations can be of the same situation, especially when considering the perspective from which they originate (adult vs. child).
ReplyDeleteThe trial had a big impact on the people in Maycomb. And it also brought out the worst in characters such as Miss Gates. The events of the summer impacted how many people viewed the Finch and Ewell families. Some people, mainly the people in the black community, looked up to Atticus for what he did. But many people also we angered by it. In the text it says, "the events of the summer hung over us like smoke in a closed room" (Lee 326). This describes the events of the summer to be not talked about often anymore, but it will always have a lasting effect of Maycomb for years that will not escape people memories completely. Just like how smoke in a smoke-filled room cannot escape. In the text it says, "If Mr. Ewell was as forgotten as Tom Robinson, Tom Robinson was as forgotten as Boo Radley,"(Lee 333). People may have forgotten about these characters. But they still exist and are in the back of peoples minds, just like the trial.
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