This is not a film review. I just want to record what Atticus said in court, which is very exciting. It is worth keeping in mind.
i have nothing but pity in my heart, for the chief witness for the state.
I have only sympathy for the main witness of the prosecution.
She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance.
She suffers from poverty and ignorance.
but my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man's life at stake, which she has done in an effor to get rid of her own guilt.
But my sympathy cannot tolerate her deliberately pushing a person's life to despair in order to get rid of her own shame.
now i say "guilt",gentlemen,because it was guilt that motivated her.
Gentlemen, what I am talking about is "shame". Because she was forced by shame.
She's committed no crime.
She is innocent.
She has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society.
She just broke a long-standing harsh law in this society.
a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with.
A law is so harsh that no matter who offends it, it will not be tolerated by others.
She must destroy the evidence of her offense.
She must destroy the evidence.
But what was the evidence of her offense?
But what is her evidence?
Tom Robinson, a human being.
Tom Robinson, alone.
She must put Tom Robinson away from her.
She must get rid of the thorny eye of Tom Robinson.
Tom Robinson was to her a daily reminder of what she did.
Tom Robinson reminded her of what she did every day.
And what did she do?
So what did she do?
She tempted a Negro.
She seduced a black man.
She was white, and she tempted a Negro.
She is white but she seduced a black man.
She did something that in our society, is unspeakable.
Her behavior is ashamed of the world.
She kissed a black man.
She kissed a black man.
Not an old uncle, but a strong young Negro man.
Not an old uncle, but a strong young black man.
No code mattered to her before she broke it.
If she doesn't break the stereotypes, nothing will happen.
But it came crashing down on her afterwards
But once it is violated, there is no escape from condemnation.
The witness for the state with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentleman, to this court, in the cynical confidence, that their testimony would not be doubted.
Except for the mayor of Maycomb, the witnesses of the prosecution have shown you with a cynical confidence, and have shown to this court that their testimony is beyond doubt.
Confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption.
This self-confidence involuntarily won your approval and believe in this hypothesis.
The evil assumption that all Negro lie.All Negro are basically immoral beings.All Negro men are not to be trusted around our women.
This sinful assumption: all blacks are dishonest. All black people are despicable by nature. All black people are not credible to ladies.
An assumption that one associates with minds of their caliber,and which is ,in itself,gentlemen,a lie.Which I do not need to point out to you.
This hypothesis involving personality issues does not require me to prove that it is a complete lie in itself.
And so,a quiet,humble,respectable Negro,who has had the unmitigated temerity to feel sorry for a white woman,has had to put his word against two white people's.
However, this little-spoken, humble, and upright black man expressed his sympathy for this white woman very candidly. His own words have shattered the lies of two white men.
The defendant is not guilty, but sombody in the courtroom is.
It is not the defendant who is guilty, but certain people here.
Now gentlemen,in this country,our courts are the great levelers
Now gentlemen, this court is the fairest in this town.
In our courts, all men are created equal.
In the court, everyone is equal.
I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system. That's no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality!
I am not an idealist who believes in the fairness of the court and jury system. That is unrealistic. Not in line with the status quo.
Now I am confient that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence that you heard come to a decison.
I believe that you will reject the impulse to judge the testimony you hear, and you will make the correct verdict.
And restore this man to his family.
Release this man to go home.
In the name of the god, do your duty
Do your duty in the name of God.
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