Death of Loved one

Alexandra Smith

Ms.Varin

World Discovery Seminar English I

21 November 2016

Death of a Loved One

    In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee with Atticus, Jem, Scout, Dill, and Calpurnia go to Helen Robinson’s house to tell her that her husband is dead. He died by getting shot 17 times trying to escape the prison, so he wouldn’t get the electric chair. Tom, who was convicted of rape, is also black. This passage is significant because they are telling Helen her husband was shot and killed trying to run from something he didn’t do. It was a very scary and sad situation for everyone. “Sam was trotting behind his mother when they came up. Dill said Helen said “ ‘evenin, Mr.Finch, won’t you have a seat?’ but she didn’t say anymore. Neither did Atticus. “Scout,” said Dill “ She just fell down in the dirt, like a giant with a bigfoot just came along and stepped on her, Just ump-” Dill’s fat foot hit the ground. “Like you’d step on an ant (page 240) I can empathize with Helen’s fear of realizing her husband was really dead when they came.

    I, too have felt the fear and realization of a loved one’s death. This summer my dad had to tell me that my Umi (mom) had passed. There’s no real words to describe a mother’s or husband’s death. It kind of feels like taking the most sensitive part of your heart and smashing it into little pieces with a hammer. I understand what Helen is going through because I was in the exact situation a couple months ago. It was two days after eighth grade ended. My mom passed from bad health with smoking, and drinking. She passed at age 53, she would have been 54 nine days after. The day I found out my dad got me a plane ticket to Georgia