The Death of Tom

In chapters 23,24, and 25 we find out Tom Robinson has been killed. He was hanging on, still hoping that even though the whole jury was white and racist he would make it through. He didn't the jury's final statement was that Tom was guilty. That last little dwindling fire died and Tom Robinson hope of getting out of his predicament was gone with it. There was some foreshadowing of Toms death when he told Atticus , "Goodbye Mr. Finch there ain't nothin' you can do now," right before going off to jail. He had given up and from what he say the verdict had been made and he was going to die no matter what Atticus did. Tom was unjustly accused and shot on purpose when he tried to escape because he was black.

In the book, Jem and Scout are both stunned at the verdict. Being young and growing up in a house where blacks are treated as equals and are always expected. They cant believe that Tom was charged guilty, "Now it was Jem's Turn to burst into tears," Jem sees the racism and he cant take it. He breaks down and Scout tries to comfort him. Seeing the false verdict impacted both Scout and Jem. It showed them the racism at its finest and taught them that blacks and whites weren't born equal because of one difference, their skin.

When Tom was shot in chapter 24, the jailers say they warned Tom to back down and get away from the fence. He did not comply. They then shot Tom 17 times! That is total overkill and the guards should be punished. Even Atticus acknowledged this in the book saying,"They didn't have to shoot him that much." But, Tom was black, so no one cares. All the whites think he got what he deserved for supposedly "raping a white girl." Tom had a sad unjust and not right ending. He deserved better for respecting the rules and helping out white people free of charge. Instead, he got, "Seventeen bullet holes in him."

(Chapters 19-20) Why is Tom Robinson already in trouble when Mayella tries to kiss him and why in court is he not favored to win?

Most of chapter nineteen is Tom Robinson being questioned by Atticus and the plain tiff's judge. When Atticus asks Tom his questions, he is respectful, calm and never racist. When Mr. Gilmer questioned him, he was disrespectful calling Tom a boy and even saying the outrageously racist word nigger. During the trial, Mr. Gilmer asks Tom why he ran. Tom replied,"it weren't safe for any nigger to be in a--fix like that."Tom is talking about interracial interactions witch is not only unaccepted but is also not legal. Tom being black would be physically punished or maybe killed while Mayella just becomes unaccepted by everyone black or white. When Mayella asked Tom to come inside the fence, Tom kindly obliged because he had been let into the fence prior to when Mayella was beaten. But when Mayella tried to kiss Tom, he instinctively backed off knowing what the consequences would be. He runs as fast as he could but not before Mayella's father Mr. Ewell witnessed everything that happened. I believe that Mr. Ewell beat up Mayella. If he had beaten her up he could have easily gotten away with it. Tom was at the scene and who would believe a black man when a white man says otherwise.

When this issue of Tom being inside the Ewells property came up, Mr. Gilmer attacked him for supposedly not being aloud inside the property. Mayella and Mr. Ewells both testified to this being true and as I said before, what is a black man's word against a white mans word. I believe that Tom is being tried unfairly judged, and at this time in history, is being racially targeted by racist whites.

(Chapter # 12 - 13) What do you learn about Aunt Alexandra in chapter 13 in general, and what do you learn about her influence over Atticus and his family?

Aunt Alexandra visits Jem and Scout in Maycomb from the Finch’s Landing. “PUT MY BAG in the front bedroom, Calpurnia, was the first thing Aunt Alexandra said. Jean Louise, stop scratching your head, was the second thing she said (169). Throughout this passage, it is quite clear that Aunt Alexandra is moody and stuck-up. Aunt Alexandra wants the kids to do what she says and act in a certain way that she thinks is appropriate for the Finch’s since she declares “What Is Best For The Family.” Aunt Alexandra takes too much control in wanting to set the right foot for the family.

“Well, your father and I decided it was time I came to stay with you for a while (169). We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence (170).”  Aunt Alexandra comes to Maycomb so she can straighten out Jem and Scout. After the incident at the Finch’s Landing, when Scout punched francis, Aunt Alexandra could see these children needed to be taught manners and good behaviour. One can infer that she talked Atticus into staying with the kids since Atticus is already a good parent and doesn’t need further help with the household. “Stop that noise, Atticus said. I felt myself beginning to cry, but I could not stop. This was not my father. My father never spoke these thoughts. My father never spoke so. Aunt Alexandra had put him up to this, somehow (178).” This passage shows that Aunt Alexandra is changing the ways of Atticus’s household and their living style. She wants to up their standards of life since Scout and Jem aren’t just anyone, they’re Finch’s. Aunt Alexandra isn’t even taking their thoughts into consideration; she is just enforcing rules and expecting for them to get follwed. This change of behavior by Atticus is making scout feel upset since she wants her old dad back. Scout knows Alexandra persuaded Atticus into this, and there’s no going back. Scout and Jem are depressed about the new way they have to act since they find it amusing to mess about and live a normal life.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why might you think Atticus agreed to let Aunt Alexandra stay with them?

2. Why else might you think Scout is upset about being told to behave in an orderly manner?

What does Junior realize about his own identity, his life and Rowdy (these are all different)?

Throughout the novel Junior realizes many things about his own identity and his life.  He also always compares his life to Rowdy’s life.  Junior transferred to Reardan knowing that would help him have a brighter future.  He knew he had to leave the rez to have any chance in life.  He also knew his best chance was in the white world.   “I realized I might be a lonely Indian boy, but I was not alone in my loneliness. ” (217).  Junior notices that he identifies with many groups of people and he knows that he is going to be ok.  By leaving the rez he learned that he could make friends with all different types of people and learned that he had something to contribute.

However, Junior has different predictions for Rowdy.  Rowdy chose to stay on the rez unlike Junior, and Junior sees where that life will lead him.  Rowdy understands this as well, “You’re an old time nomad” (230) he tells Junior.  This leads Junior to feel deep regret about leaving the rez.  Junior is torn about leaving his people and being confident in his ability to search for hope.  At the end of the book Rowdy and Junior play basketball and don’t keep score.  The no score keeping shows the score might be impossible to calculate just because their lives will be very different but they will still remain friends.

Interpret/explain/explore the context and significance of the last line of the book (230).

In the The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, the last line of the book represents the enjoyment of an amending friendship between Junior and Rowdy. In the beginning of the novel, Rowdy declares himself a foe to Junior after he announces his departure for Reardan. Rowdy has been unable to forgive Junior for the transition and discovers it even more challenging to amend the once inseparable bond. One day, Rowdy walks into Junior's house and requests him to play basketball. Together they practice for hours, however neither keeps track of the score, "We didn't keep score" (230). This illustrates how Rowdy and Junior are not playing to win the game. They are stepping up to issues in the past, and decide to play for friendship. This is evidently hinted as their competitiveness wanes towards the final pages.
Towards the end of the novel, Rowdy mentions reading a book about old-time Indians. When practicing basketball, Rowdy says to Junior, "'You're an old-time nomad…'" (230). Rowdy chooses to enjoy the remaining years as a friend to Junior, which demonstrates his forgiveness. He and Junior strive to parallelize each other. This small action will strengthen their friendship as it encourages internal growth for dealing with upturned relationships. Rowdy and Junior are exposing themselves to opportunities that will allow both to ameliorate their fractured friendship.

1) If you became Sherman Alexie and you were requested to write The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian sequel, what would you write about? What would you name the book? What would be the theme, plot etc.?

2) Describe the flow of high's and low's for Junior and Rowdy throughout the story.

3) At the end of the novel, Rowdy walks into the door unexpectedly. What do you believe Rowdy was thinking about when he walked in?

4) Did you enjoy this story? Why or why not?

5) Did you like how Sherman Alexie ended the novel? Why or why not?

Interpret/explain/explore the context and significance of the last line of the book (230).

In the last page of the book I think something beautiful has happened. Rowdy and Jr. Make up and do the one thing that they both love and that is playing basketball. The last paragraph talks about how they play together and don't talk and play and lose time. They didn't keep track of the score which means that Rowdy and Arnold got over their rivalry and could just play together and have fun. Jr. Said that they "Played for hours". I think this is significant because both Jr. and Rowdy agree that they can be friends and play one on one and not argue which is a major turning point in the book because Rowdy and Jr. are friends again. I think this is the climax of the book because Jr. and Rowdy made up and I feel that it is the climax because this is what the story has been leading to. when Jr. Says "we didn't keep score" in the last line of the book it is really significant because both Arnold and Rowdy are friends enough to not even be competitive against each other. Being competitive is a huge part of both of their IDENTITIES. So they must really be friends if they didn't keep track.

Do you think that Rowdy change his mind or do you think that he was serious about just being bored and do you think Jr. is happy with the way life is?

PART 2: What does Rowdy say to Junior? Why does he say this? Do you think there is truth in this?

In the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, during pages, 209 - 211, Arnold talks to his old best friend, Rowdy, about the death of Arnold's sister.  Based on past events, Rowdy hates Arnold.  Arnold left the reservation to go to school at Reardan, because Arnold wants a better future fro himself and he believes that he will get one by doing so.  Rowdy gets extremely mad and punches Arnold in the face.  He yells at Arnold, "you always thought you were better than me!!!"  Rowdy has hated Arnold ever since.  After Arnold starts to attend Reardan, his sister, Mary, feels inspired to leave the reservation as well.  Soon, she meets this guy that she falls in love with.  They move to Montana and live in a crap trailer.  Way after these crazy events, Mary gets too drunk and burns to death with her husband.  After the burial ceremony, Arnold can't take all the deaths he has been through so he runs into the woods, only to find Rowdy spying on him.  Rowdy then gives him a lecture as to why Mary's death occurred, and blames it all on Arnold.  He says to Arnold, "your sister is dead because you left us.  You killed her."  Arnold hadn't thought about it this way before and then agree's with Rowdy.  He thinks to himself that Rowdy is 100% correct.  Actually, I kind of agree, but not exactly.  I think that it was Arnold's fault because his sister felt inspired by him to move away from the reservation.  Also, it wasn't his fault because if you keep going on with the cycle, you would get it is Junior's parents' fault because they created Arnold.  Then you would get its God's fault for creating the universe, and its also not Junior's fault because he has no control over how drunk people get.  Its not Junior's fault for being Indian where everyone gets drunk and killed in some way.  In all though, there is some truth involved with what Rowdy says to Junior.

Do you think that Rowdy should have kept his emotions to himself?  If so, do you think that Junior would have ever thought about the idea?
Do you think that Junior will ever recover from the idea?
Will Junior ever be face to face with Rowdy again? If so, will they make up?