To Kill a Mockingbird — Chapter 21

About This Passage

This single sentence — 'a jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted' — is something Atticus has told Scout before, and Scout knows the verdict before it is read. Following Quintilian's imitatio, the passage rewards careful copying of Lee's slow procedural relay (foreman → Mr. Tate → clerk → judge), which formalizes the dread that the next sound in the courtroom will be 'guilty.'

Narration Prompt

In your own words, retell the events of this chapter in order: Calpurnia delivering Aunt Alexandra's note, Atticus sending the children home for supper, Reverend Sykes saving their seats in the colored balcony, the cold-February-morning premonition, the verdict polled four times, Atticus walking out the south exit, and the silent standing of the balcony.

Discussion Questions

1. When the jury returns to the courtroom, Scout writes that 'a jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson.' What does this small detail tell Scout — and the reader — before Judge Taylor speaks a single word?
2. Atticus walks out of the courthouse 'not by his usual exit' but down the middle aisle toward the south exit, and Scout watches the top of his head all the way to the door. What does Atticus's choice of route reveal about how he is carrying the verdict home?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide