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Good Bones Figurative Language

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In reality, the world is a terrible place. Even though there are tons of bad people in this world, it doesn't mean you have to follow along with their actions. In Good Bones by Maggie Smith and in To kill a Mockingbird, they show how you can confront the world by being a good person and confronting it by facing it. Harper Lee establishes the theme- of confronting the harsh realities of the world through the use of characterization and external conflict and Smith establishes the theme through the use of repetition and figurative language. Smith’s use of repetition and figurative language in “Good Bones” helps to convey confronting the harsh realities of the world. The poem “Good Bones” is about how the world is a terrible place, but how …show more content…

Atticus says “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads-- they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.” What happens in this scene is Atticus and Jem are discussing how in the world it could’ve been fair for Tom to be executed when he clearly didn’t do it. The significance of this quote is that even though the trial against Tom was completely unfair, Atticus still goes through with the trial and makes a great case. How it represents external conflict and characterization is that the conflict is racism towards black men in court and that it affected Tom, Atticus, Jem, Scout, and Jem, and the black people of Maycomb because the people were upset and Atticus made a great case basically proving Tom was not guilty, yet Tom was found guilty and killed. As for the characterization, Atticus doesn’t avoid racism, he faces it head-on by defending Tom in the trial. How characterization and external conflict represent the theme is even though the odds of Atticus winning the trial were 1 in a million, he still took the case and did a great job. But none of that mattered to him. He didn’t give up. The result of his taking a trial during a racist time was the jury deliberated for a few hours rather than a few minutes, and even 1 person wanted Tom acquitted. Tom’s perseverance in confronting the harsh world took a huge step in decreasing the amount of racism. Instead of avoiding it, he took steps in ending a prejudiced jury one small step at a time, but one big step toward equality. How external conflict represents the theme is even though he received backlash from his community and threats from Bob Ewell, he still went on with the

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“Simply because we were licked for a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (Chapter 9, page 101). With this quote, Atticus is attempting to elicit the idea that white people have a distinct social advantage over black people and that the court is representative of that. By Atticus taking this case it demonstrates his goal of proving the prejudice to be wrong and ending the trial in favor of Tom. Regardless of the outcome, the point and the perspective will be shown to the people of

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23, P.295) In this quote, Atticus saying that there's just something about race that makes white people crazy. He also acknowledges, in case it wasn't already clear, that law is not pure realm free of the racial prejudices that plague everyday in life, it's subject to the same problems as society at large. Usually Atticus is a voice of hope for change the idea of racism, but here he flatly says that racism is a "fact of life," suggesting that losing Tom's case severely reduced his hopefulness concerning human nature, or else that, having sat through the

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551 Words | 3 Pages

His voice had lost its aridity, its detachment, he was talking to the jury as if they were folks on the post office corner.” Atticus doing this illustrated that he’s a equivalent to everyone else, doing this gave his argument more impact and put his point across sternly, for example he stated,”Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal...” Atticus verbalizing and demonstrating this saying implies that Tom Robinson is no better or no worse than any man or woman there.

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They were talking if a Negro is going against a white person in a Jury the white person always win no matter who they are. In their conversation Atticus said “ In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always win. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.” (220). This relates to Racial Inequality because when a white person is going against an another white person one of the person should or must be guilty.

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413 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel, we learn about a black man who is being accused of raping a white man’s daughter. We see how the perception of black people was that they were all corrupt no matter what they did. This is a prime example of Atticus’s statement. We all new tom was innocent, but because he was a black man going up against a white man, it was considered immoral

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989 Words | 4 Pages

He managed to make a small step in the right direction of getting the Jury to see Tom as innocent. He did this by giving them enough to think about to keep them out of the court for 4 hours even though they still saw him as guilty. This quote proves innocence is killed because charging Tom with this is going to kill his own innocence as well as many others. Both of these quotes tie together because Atticus is stopping and trying to stop Racism from ruining

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798 Words | 4 Pages

At the end of his closing argument he uses his own opinions, to help convince the jury. “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.” This relates to Atticus's belief that all people should be treated equally especially in a court of law, where people should not be convicted solely the race they are, but rather the evidence against them. Atticus uses this idea, to try to prove to the jurors, that not coming to decision based on the real evidence present, would undermine the true purpose of the courts, to seek justice based on truth. Atticus’s last plea to the jury, trying one final time to persuade them.

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Tom's skin color. Atticus says, "There's nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who'll take advantage of a Negro's ignorance." (Lee 296) By Atticus saying this it shows his strong value of equality and fairness. When he says "There's nothing more sickening to me" it shows his hatred towards discrimination and prejudice. This shows Atticus as being principled because although he knew going into the trial that he would not win because of Tom's skin color, he still saw it through because he sees no difference between the skin colors and believes everyone is equal.

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1557 Words | 7 Pages

When Atticus was defending Tom, he knew they had lost the court case, but he still made a final argument and tried to show the jury how unfair the court case was and that it was only because of prejudice: "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. " At that time, all people in court are supposed to have a fair trial, no matter their race or where they come from. But people do not do that; they carry their hatred and bitterness into the court, and the court is not ruled fairly. Tom was only convicted because of his color and other people’s hatred and bitterness, not because of the truth. Also, a little before the final argument, Jem was convinced they had won because it was shown that it was physically impossible for Tom to rape Mayella because his left arm was crippled and useless.

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This plays out in the book when Jem becomes very upset after the trial. Also, you can see this pearl of wisdom if you look at the judge. The judge, Jon Taylor, hires Atticus to defend Tom because he knows Atticus is a fair and just man. The judge

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1146 Words | 5 Pages

He has to face the challenge of changing the racist mindset of the jury to rule in favor of his wrongly accused client, of raping a white woman. During Atticus’s closing statement, he defends his client and how the jury was unfair during his trial. His speech includes, “I’m no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the jury system—that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality. Gentlemen, a court is no better than each man of you sitting before me on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up” (234) Even though he knows the verdict won’t be in his favor he continues to defend his client who was wrongly accused.

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472 Words | 2 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the verdict is unfair because the circumstances of the trial inherently incriminate Tom Robinson. During the portion of this quote, Atticus Finch is giving his closing statement to the jury, pleading with them to spare Tom’s life. The evidence outlines the fundamental flaw that bedevils the trial — there is little evidence to support either side. Atticus says, “‘To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white.

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504 Words | 3 Pages

“Fair” cases are usually only for white people, so the town gets upset when Atticus is handed the case. Atticus is a man that believes in equality, so he does not only fight for Tom’s freedom but also equality and fairness. By doing so he sets a good example for his kids. Atticus’s view on the world and wanting him to set

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Atticus shows how this quote is wrong because he knew Tom’s case was going too hard, but he still did it and he taught his kids that you never give up on people. Atticus fought hard for Tom, and he talked about his situation, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (Lee 30). Atticus also talks about the trial and how people only believe in Mayella because she’s white. No one knows what happened between them, only they know “People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for” (Lee 30). This shows how Tom was only guilty because of the color of his skin.

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Throughout the book we read that there is a lot of unfairity towards African Americans. In chapter 23 Atticus says, “Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, Tom’s jury, but you saw something come between them and reason.. Thers’ something in our world that makes men lose their heads- they could be fair if they tired. In our courts when it a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always win. They’re ugly, but those are facts of life”(295).

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