Mrs. Merriweather makes the comment, “I tell you there are some good but misguided people in this town” (Lee 311) at a Missionary Circle meeting hosted by Aunt Alexandra in Atticus’ home. Mrs. Merriweather’s indirect implication is that Atticus Finch’s choice to defend Tom Robinson has stirred the Negro population in Maycomb, and further insinuates that despite seeming like the morally right thing to do, defending Tom Robinson was actually a bad decision by Atticus. Mrs. Merriweather’s comment was made after she and other “Christian” women complained at the Missionary Circle meeting about how the trial and verdict in the Tom Robinson case stirred the Negro population in Maycomb. When Scout asks clarifying questions regarding her comments, Mrs. Merriweather says, “the cooks and field hands are just dissatisfied, but they’re settling down now--they grumbled all next day after that trial” (Lee 310). Mrs. Merriweather further complains to Mrs. Farrow “I tell you there’s nothing more distracting than a sulky darky. Their mouths go down to here. Just ruins your day to have one of ‘em in the kitchen” (Lee 310). Mrs. Merriweather describes her annoyance by the behavior of her servant Sophy, and how Sophy needed to be set straight regarding her reaction to the plight of Tom Robinson. It seems that Mrs. Merriweather needs to blame someone for Sophy’s lack of productivity and sulking, and her target, despite sitting in his home, and eating his food, in front of his sister and daughter, is Atticus Finch, the defense attorney for Tom Robinson.
Mrs. Merriweather’s claim is that despite it seeming like a good idea for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson because of his high morals, the outcome of the trial and the subsequent behavior of Negroes in Maycomb County as a result of the guilty verdict actually caused more problems for the town. Mrs. Merriweather continues to drive home her point at the meeting by saying, “folks in this town who think they’re doing right, I mean. Now far be it from me to say who, but some of ‘em in this town thought they were doing the right thing a while back, but all they did was stir ‘em up. That’s all they did” (Lee 311). The conversation in the meeting is halted by the Finch’s neighbor Miss Maudie who quickly and indirectly, calls out Mrs. Merriweather on her hypocrisy of sitting in Atticus’ house and eating his food, while questioning his decision to represent Tom Robinson, “His food doesn’t stick going down, does it?” (Lee 312). The comments by both women are strong indicators of just how difficult the Tom Robinson trial has been for the town, and just how high racial tension is in Maycomb, Alabama.
I agree with Tyler about how Mrs. Merriweather's comment refers to Atticus and his "misguided decision to defend Tom Robinson. For example, when she makes this comment, she mentions how her own servant was affected by the trial. She says, "I tell you if my Sophy'd kept it up another day I'd have let her go" (Lee 312). Mrs. Merriweather is especially mad at Atticus because the black community had become very depressed, and she is being personally affected by it. However, this moment is very selfish and hipocritical as she is in Atticus' home and accepting his hospitality while she says this.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I forgot to close the quotation for "misguided".
ReplyDeleteMrs. Merriweather believes that Atticus Finch's intentions were true, but he still missed the mark in the execution of those intentions. After Tom Robinson being found guilty, she decided that Atticus "thought they were doing the right thing" but in her mind, all he really did was "stir 'em up" (Lee 311). Mrs. Merriweather knows that Atticus was defending Tom Robinson but the case didn't change anyone's views on Tom Robinson, it only agitated the African American community.
ReplyDelete