This is my last post for
To Kill A Mockingbird. This post is about Tom's trial. The pressure in the jury is because Tom is black. In the time that To Kill a Mockingbird is set in there is still discrimination against black people by the whites. All of the people decided Tom was guilty because he was black. I think that even if the jury had a silent vote the outcome would have been the same because Tom was black. If Tom hadn't had been black then the jurors wouldn't have given in to peer pressure or group bias for the fear of being ostracized because of their beliefs. “Judge Taylor was polling the jury: 'Guilty... guilty... guilty...guilty...'” The children knew that Tom wasn't guilty because of the nature of the people that accused him and the evidence. “It was Jem's turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. 'It ain't right,' he muttered.”
I watched a video about conformity and have found that people tend to go with the crowd, even when they know perfectly well that the crowd is wrong. In the first part of the video there are six people being tested, but only one of them is an actual test subject. The other five have been told to answer incorrectly on some of the questions. When the other people answered incorrectly the test subject also answered incorrectly. First, because he was worried about what the other people would think of him, and secondly, because there were five of them and one of him.
4 comments:
You have hit the nail on the head about "group" mentality. This is why it is important to verify the truth and not be influenced by other people when you know you are correct. I also like the quote, particularly the child's quote, because it shows the inablity of those who are considered not as wise to make a difference. However, someday they will if they keep to their beliefs.Good work!
Great blog post Anna Marie! I love how you said "If Tom hadn't had been black then the jurors wouldn't have given in to peer pressure or group bias for the fear of being ostracized because of their beliefs." Too many people follow the crowd even if the crowd is not doing the right things.
Group mentality is something that CAN lead to the worst kind of actions. Have you ever read A Wrinkle in Time? There conformity--absolute conformity leads to lack of thought and lack of individuality.
However, group mentality is not something we can escape--from how we look to what we do. But reading books like this and recognizing facets of how we are affected and how we've been affected in our past is the best way to be able to accept or reject certain facets of the group mentality. And often it's children who haven't been as affected by our culture or society who can recognize the absolute wrongs created by that society as in the case of Jem.
Good post!
Very insightful, Anna Marie. (And your friends' comments are super insightful, too!) Great analysis of both the text and the video.
Post a Comment