Can someone help me summarize my answer for my To Kill A Mockingbird essay.?

Question

I have to write an essay for To Kill A Mockingbird. I have got my entire essay planned out, except for one thing, the first sentence. In the first sentence, I have to answer the main question, which will provide a basis for the rest of my essay. I need someone to give a semi-broad, general answer to the question. Remember, you don't have to get into a ton of detail, I've already done that in the body. Thanks and here's the question.

How are the people of Maycomb able to think of themselves as good people after what they did to Tom Robinson?

Only has to be 1 sentence

Answer 1

"In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Robinson was a victim of the racism so ingrained into the people of Maycomb that it was never questioned or considered at all, the racism that was so much a part of life that anyone who did not share it was considered radical and subversive. "

Maybe that will work.

Answer 2

The reason that the people of Maycomb are able to think of themselves as being good people after what they did to Tom Robinson is because they do not care about Tom Robinson and they do not care what happend to him, they think that he means nothing to the community.

Hopefully this helps, I read the book along time ago, so this is the best I could come up with...

Answer 3

This was the south in the 1950's. Blacks were persona non grata. Tom Robinson raped a white girl (or so they thought), and the fact that he got shot while trying to escape from prison was no more than he deserved by their estimation. And in all fairness, they'd probably have shot a white criminal trying to escape back in those days. They just figured that a criminal got what he deserved. If you believe that, you're not going off on any guilt trips no matter who you are or what time period you live in. Hope that helps you think of an opening sentence.

Answer 4

The people of Maycomb think in that time that they are doing the right thing by putting Tom Robinson in jail and his death eventually, and back in that day it was normal for slaves to be treated that way.

Answer 5

The people of Maycomb thought of themselves as good people because they had given Tom Robinson a fair trail and passed a fair verdict. They had not lynched him others had.

Answer 6

dude the movie of this book will help cuzz movies just hit on the main points of the book, so if u watch the movies, u'll be able to write a good essay, but u still have to reread the book tho

Answer 7

Scout Finch lives with her brother, Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus, in the sleepy Alabama town of Maycomb. Maycomb is suffering through the Great Depression, but Atticus is a prominent lawyer and the Finch family is reasonably well off in comparison to the rest of society. One summer, Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill, who has come to live in their neighborhood for the summer, and the trio acts out stories together. Eventually, Dill becomes fascinated with the spooky house on their street called the Radley Place. The house is owned by Mr. Nathan Radley, whose brother, Arthur (nicknamed Boo), has lived there for years without venturing outside.

Scout goes to school for the first time that fall and detests it. She and Jem find gifts apparently left for them in a knothole of a tree on the Radley property. Dill returns the following summer, and he, Scout, and Jem begin to act out the story of Boo Radley. Atticus puts a stop to their antics, urging the children to try to see life from another person’s perspective before making judgments. But, on Dill’s last night in Maycomb for the summer, the three sneak onto the Radley property, where Nathan Radley shoots at them. Jem loses his pants in the ensuing escape. When he returns for them, he finds them mended and hung over the fence.

The next winter, Jem and Scout find more presents in the tree, presumably left by the mysterious Boo. Nathan Radley eventually plugs the knothole with cement. Shortly thereafter, a fire breaks out in another neighbor’s house, and during the fire someone slips a blanket on Scout’s shoulders as she watches the blaze. Convinced that Boo did it, Jem tells Atticus about the mended pants and the presents.

To the consternation of Maycomb’s racist white community, Atticus agrees to defend a black man named Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white woman. Because of Atticus’s decision, Jem and Scout are subjected to abuse from other children, even when they celebrate Christmas at the family compound on Finch’s Landing. Calpurnia, the Finches’ black cook, takes them to the local black church, where the warm and close-knit community largely embraces the children.

Atticus’s sister, Alexandra, comes to live with the Finches the next summer. Dill, who is supposed to live with his “new father” in another town, runs away and comes to Maycomb. Tom Robinson’s trial begins, and when the accused man is placed in the local jail, a mob gathers to lynch him. Atticus faces the mob down the night before the trial. Jem and Scout, who have sneaked out of the house, soon join him. Scout recognizes one of the men, and her polite questioning about his son shames him into dispersing the mob.

At the trial itself, the children sit in the “colored balcony” with the town’s black citizens. Atticus provides clear evidence that the accusers, Mayella Ewell and her father, Bob, are lying: in fact, Mayella propositioned Tom Robinson, was caught by her father, and then accused Tom of rape to cover her shame and guilt. Atticus provides impressive evidence that the marks on Mayella’s face are from wounds that her father inflicted; upon discovering her with Tom, he called her a whore and beat her. Yet, despite the significant evidence pointing to Tom’s innocence, the all-white jury convicts him. The innocent Tom later tries to escape from prison and is shot to death. In the aftermath of the trial, Jem’s faith in justice is badly shaken, and he lapses into despondency and doubt.

Despite the verdict, Bob Ewell feels that Atticus and the judge have made a fool out of him, and he vows revenge. He menaces Tom Robinson’s widow, tries to break into the judge’s house, and finally attacks Jem and Scout as they walk home from a Halloween party. Boo Radley intervenes, however, saving the children and stabbing Ewell fatally during the struggle. Boo carries the wounded Jem back to Atticus’s house, where the sheriff, in order to protect Boo, insists that Ewell tripped over a tree root and fell on his own knife. After sitting with Scout for a while, Boo disappears once more into the Radley house.
Later, Scout feels as though she can finally imagine what life is like for Boo. He has become a human being to her at last. With this realization, Scout embraces her father’s advice to practice sympathy and understanding and demonstrates that her experiences with hatred and prejudice will not sully her faith in human goodness.

Answer 8

it showed how the legal system was flawed at that time. it also showed that a black man couldn't get a fair trial

Answer 9

Tom was killed... Aticus was upset... Jem, and Scout were attacked by Bob Ewell... Boo Killed Bob Ewell... boom essay!

Answer 10

Because they ARE good people.