Diary Entry Of Scout Finch

Dear Diary,

I am really proud of my father. He has really surprised me with his action today. I have always thought of him as boring and "lame" in a way. He does not fish, drink, play cards but instead just sits in a corner and simply reads. I was not really proud of him as my father.

But after witnessing him shoot the dog calmly and accurately, my perspective of him has changed to a total new direction. Now, I can only tell you just how proud of him I really am. He handled the gun really well without much of a problem.

"Bang!" The dog was dead. All it took was one shot. Even Jem could not believe his eyes! It was really unexpected that our father could be such a great shooter. No wonder his nickname is One-Shot Finch! But why did he not tell us? Never mind, maybe he just forgot to tell me.

Oh well, that is it for today. Bye Diary.

My Speech

'Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertillized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.' -taken from Charlotte Bronte

'Courage is saying, 'Maybe what I'm doing isn't working; maybe I should try something else.' -taken from Anna Lappe.

Good morning one and all. Today i am going to discuss the question 'Is Maycomb a good place to live in?'

I believe the answer is no. The reason i felt so is the very reason I stayed inside the house, people lack courage to accept something or someone different. They fear the unknown, which then turns into ungl hatred. Take for the black people living amongst the white community, the discriminating stares and treatment they never fail to receive wherever they go. Be it shops, buses , trains, schools and even toilets, there are distinct differences in treatment for the coloured-folks and whites.

The Tom Robinson triail is another display of Maycomb's ungly human nature. Before the trial, a mob of people went to Tom Robinson's jailhouse and tried to lynch Tom Robinson. There was not any proof at that time which could truly convict Tom Robinson of the crime and therefore they should let him go through the trial. In fact the entire case of rape was actually based on the words of Mayella Ewell and nothing else. In the end, Tom was still guilt of the crime he did not commit showing how racist the community is.

Then there is also me, Boo Radley. People fear and think of me as a monster just because i stay inside the house and rarely come out to the miserable reality, having seen all the horrible human natures which exist in Maycomb. They are all two-faced hypocrites, believing in fairness and yet showing none to the discriminated who were not given a choice as to what race they were. People in Maycomb also stereotyped the blacks to be dishonest and hence no blacks can be trusted.

In conclusion, Maycomb is not such a good place for living due to all the prejudice and the lack of courage to stand up for what one believes is right, even if it meant to go against the flow. Fair treatment ceases to exist in Maycomb and so I would like to leave you with this final point: All man are created equal, but treated diferently in Maycomb.

Hence I conclude that Maycomb is not a good place to live in due to the cowardly, blind and racist people who live in it. The ugly human nature is simply unbearable.