Arezou Esmaeeli

Bryan Dunn

English 2, 6th Hour

15 April 2016

To Kill A Mockingbird Journal 2

After Bob Ewell’s death, Atticus and Mr. Tate talked about what could have happened to cause Bob Ewell to die. Atticus wanted Jem Finch to be put on trial in order to show for sure that Jem is innocent after Mr. Tate says he is. “Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open” (366). This is said by Atticus to Heck Tate because he wanted to convince Mr. Tate to have Jem be put on trial even after Mr. Tate insists that Jem didn’t do it. Mr. Tate continues to insist that Bob Ewell fell on his own knife and killed himself. Atticus, being a lawyer, has a nice sense of fairness and doesn’t want Jem to be given any special treatment because he is his son. Atticus already has a bad reputation among the townsfolk due to him defending Tom Robinson, a black man. Although Atticus and Mr. Heck Tate both know that Jem isn’t guilty of killing Bob, Atticus wants a trial. If Jem goes on trial and is told to be innocent, rumors about Jem being the killer will cease and the Finch family reputation won’t worsen. Atticus doesn’t want his son to be put under any suspicion for something he didn’t do, so he figures a trial is the best way to remove any rumors or suspicions.

Junior high seems to be the place where gossiping and rumors were a big deal. The transition from elementary school to junior high is a big deal. Children begin to feel as they are more grownup and are so much cooler now that they are junior high students. The definition of cool for a junior high student is, “gossiping about everyone and everything.” Junior high is the awkward transition but also many students feel as though they have the right to be jerks because they are a teenager. Not all students are like this. I used to be a bit of a gossip myself until I made it to high school and realized how horrible it is. However, junior high had a lot of petty gossip about who likes who and whatnot. High school has people who have learned the ways of manipulation. I’ve met people that know perfect ways to ruin peoples lives. I’m really close friends with these girls, but I didn’t get a chance to hang out with them so much freshman year due to me trying to adjust myself to the different atmosphere. One day I was told that these girls are gossiping about me. Instead of saying, “No, they aren’t,” I was shocked and upset. However, after about a week, I decided to confront them. I didn’t want to go on like this, and I wanted to hear it from them if what I was told was true. After the confrontation, the girls looked confused and asked me who said that preceding to mention that they would never have said any of that and instead the person that told me would go and gossip about me to them. The best way to end rumors directed towards you is to go on living life, and if someone were to confront you about them...tell the truth or in my case, try to take action to clear your name or your worries. Sometimes it isn’t any of their business, but if it’s something that is affecting how people’s views on you, make sure to clear the air. I’ve had a bad connection with someone and after the connection broke, rumors spread like crazy out of her mouth. Before the connection broke, she would already spread lies but it became much more after the friendship stopped. Just like Jem, I was put into a dangerous situation where people may begin to stop trusting me because of the way life turned around. However, similar to Atticus’s judgment, I made sure to not act like nothing ever happened but instead be very sincere about it all.  I was very honest towards everyone that came up to me wondering about it, not many people believed her because I have maintained a good reputation as an honest person. I believe that giving everyone an honest and sincere explanation allowed for rumors that she spread to disappear faster. However, those that didn’t know me as well found out what was true or not by talking to me or studying me as a person. I like to believe I come off as an honest and trustworthy person. Fairness is taking into consideration both sides of the story.