To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter 19 Summary

In chapter 19 of To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson was being tried up on the stand, and Scout, the main character, was up on the balcony watching from afar, but if the story was told from Judge Taylor’s perspective, the story would have a different twist. The basis of chapter 19 is Tom’s trial. Atticus began questioning Tom Robinson after he swore in to the Bible. Atticus was asking about Tom’s background, what he did for a living, and what Tom’s side of the story was with Mayella. Tom gave his side of the story to Atticus and the courtroom, and said he did not rape Mayella. Then, Mr. Gilmer began interrogating Tom, asking the same questions over and over again, trying to get Tom to say something wrong and mess up. However,

Tom dragged his feet as I gnawed on my cigarette. Atticus began to ask Tom questions about his background and his side of the story. I felt like a statue when I was listening, not moving at all, I only soaked up the information that came from Tom’s mouth. Halfway through Atticus’s questions, Tom stopped dead in his tracks. A few seconds later, after silence had filled the courtroom, I spoke up and ordered Tom to answer. He later said that Mayella hugged and kissed him, and then left the house immediately because Mr. Ewell was coming back home. I pulled the cigarette from out of my mouth, one-third of it was already gone. I actually wanted to believe Tom, he seemed to take things seriously, rather than Mr. Ewell, who acted as if the whole trial did not matter, as if it was some big joke to him. A few minutes later, Mr. Gilmer began to question Tom. I felt the tension in the room multiply when Mr. Gilmer walked up, and at that moment, I heard a shout fill the courtroom. I looked over and saw Link Deas standing on his feet, and before he got the chance to say more, I hushed him and he sat back down in his seat. I told the reporter to disregard what Link Deas had said and motioned to Mr. Gilmer to continue. I listened to the barricade of questions flying from Mr. Gilmer’s mouth, and waited for Tom to answer each one. A few minutes later, I heard sobs up above me, and assumed that a colored child up in the balcony started to cry, and I, then annoyed, waited for the party to depart from the stairs and proceed outside. Harper Lee’s chapter 19 of To Kill a Mockingbird was told from Scout Finch’s point of view. However, the story told could have had a different viewpoint if Judge Taylor’s thoughts and emotions during Tom’s trial were