Jim Trueblood is
frowned upon around town because he impregnated both his wife and his daughter.
The sense of regret the narrator feels upon arriving at Jim Trueblood’s house
shows that the man has gained a suboptimal reputation. The narrator says, “I was
sorry that I had blundered down this road” (46).
Trueblood’s story relates, in part, to the story of Tom
Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird. Though distinctly different characters,
their stories share a common thread. Robinson is tried for the rape of a young
girl, and because of the racism in Maycomb County, he is not triumphant in the
court even though he is innocent. The town shows immense hatred for Robinson
and his race plays a large part in this. Similarly, people denounce Trueblood
because of a sexual occurrence, though his actually happened.
Trueblood is
disliked because he is not part of the population of blacks that live near the
school and aim to please the white man. The others were embarrassed by him
because they believed “he brought disgrace upon the black community” (46) and
“did everything it seemed to pull [them] down” (47) while they constantly tried
to pull up those like him. They believed this even before the incident with his
daughter occurred.
Tension between the races plays a
large part in the perceptions of both characters within their communities.
Blacks aiming to please whites resent Jim Trueblood and a lot of whites in
Maycomb detested Tom Robinson. Discrimination and perception alter the views of
these two men’s lives.
I really like how Abby connected Trueblood's story to Tom Robinson's story. The similarities between the two characters are the discrimination and hate they receive in their own community because of one (alleged) mistake along with their skin color. While Robinson did not rape the young girl, the white citizens living in Maycomb were prejudice to believe he did because of his color skin. However, Abby’s statement about how Trueblood is seen as an embarrassment not only because the action of impregnating his daughter but “he is not part of the population of blacks that live near the school and aim to please the white man.” How are blacks able to live freely if they are constantly being push to the corner by whites?
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ReplyDeleteThis was a great comparison. I never thought about Tom Robinson while I read this part of the book but now that you've pointed it out, their situations are similar. The men are brutally condemned because of their race. Both stories take place around the late 1940's- early 1950's and show how prominent inequality was for blacks during this time period.
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ReplyDeleteConnecting the events in the Invisible Man with the court case in To Kill a Mockingbird is really thinking outside the box. It never occurred to me that the two had any similarities. The reason they're linked is also important to note. While Robinson was accused of rape while Trueblood certainly did it shows that whites did have their reasons for discrimination against some blacks in both stories. However, the whites assumed that such an action was something any black would do so they discriminated on all of them all of the time.
ReplyDeleteConnecting the events in the Invisible Man with the court case in To Kill a Mockingbird is really thinking outside the box. It never occurred to me that the two had any similarities. The reason they're linked is also important to note. While Robinson was accused of rape while Trueblood certainly did it shows that whites did have their reasons for discrimination against some blacks in both stories. However, the whites assumed that such an action was something any black would do so they discriminated on all of them all of the time.
ReplyDeleteI really like this connection between the two characters. They are really similar in their situations. Both are looked down upon by certain people and discriminated against. Both characters are also separated from society because of the prejudice put on them. Tom and Jim are innocent and regretful.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great connection between two seemingly different works. Both pieces show the racism and prejudice between the races-even within the black community. In The Invisible Man the black community pushed away Trueblood because he did not help their cause but the community gathered around Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird even though that was not the favorable thing to do in the white's eyes.
ReplyDeleteIn both stories, black people are discriminated against heavily, this is obvious. However now that you mention the comparisons, you can also see how it is so different. In the invisible man, the other black people condemn his actions for not upholding the white mans standards, where as in to kill a mockingbird it's a white man defending him and his right to do so. If I had to compare the differences, I would say the invisible man has even more racist themes than to kill a mockingbird
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