Even though we did not watch finish the whole movie, the first part made me understand and emphatize with people at that time. The FBI agents fully understand the risks of undertaking this mission, but they carry on with it. Once, the FBI agents were under attack by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in their motel. When Agent Alan Ward runs out of the motel, he sees a burning cross, put there by the Klan to intimidate them.
The FBI agents' are similar to Atticus. Atticus fully understands that defending Tom Robinson will result in being viewed as an enemy by the KKK, and thus come under their attack. Atticus came close to being attacked by the Cunninghams, but fortunately, he is highly esteemed by them, and they do not want to hurt him.
I feel that the civil rights activists, especially the white civil rights activists have extremely admirable traits. They support the rights of the blacks, even though they do not actually have anything to benefit from it.
Hi Wen Hong,
ReplyDeleteI read your post but I'm a bit confused by it. How does Atticus become an enemy of the KKK in any way?
The burning cross represents the KKK as its their symbol. I agree with you that the FBI and Atticus have similarities. However, I think that their motivations are different. I think that the FBI agents are driven more by a sense of duty towards the civil rights activists. However, Atticus is more motivated because he wants to show his children the injustices to blacks in the community.
I agree that we can learn from civil rights activists, as they work to benefit others without gaining for themselves. I think that that kind of spirit is extremely important.
Cheers :)
Kenneth Pay (20)
Dear Lam, overall your points are quite good. You provided an accurate comparison between Atticus and the FBI agents. I do agree that we should follow our conscience instead of blindly following the crowd all the time. Also, we shouldn't give people superior status over others simply because of skin colour.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would like to point out that the KKK is only mentioned once in the entire book, which is when Jem asks his father about the KKK at the county jail after the men had left the scene. I also think that Atticus' message is slightly different. The FBI wanted to send across the message that they would punish the murderers of the three civil rights activists, otherwise they would have never gotten involved in the affairs of the people of Mississipi. Atticus simply wanted to send across the message that discrimination against blacks was unfair, otherwise he wouldn't have stood up to the men that wanted to lynch Tom Robinson.