Diary entry of a major character in To Kill A Mocking Bird

Diary entry by Jem
Night after the trial verdict

Diary entry

It ain’t right. It ain’t right! This is not supposed to happen! How could they? How could they do this? The outcome was so obvious… all the evidence… how could they?? Why did it turn out this way? Why!?

Dear diary, I cannot describe what I am feeling now, the anger… the frustration...the confusion… the bitterness... All these emotions are all screaming at me now. I feel lost, lost in this world of evil and confusion… How could the jury make such a heartless verdict? How could they bring themselves to condemn someone when they knew he is innocent? How could they?? Is everyone in this world really that bad? I don’t understand… I just can’t get it…

I had always wanted to be a lawyer, just like Atticus, to be like him… But now, seeing what has happened, seeing that justice and solid evidence cannot triumph the evils of the world, what is the point of being a lawyer? What is the point of it if nothing gets done? What is the point of this if it is the evil who wins in the end??

I am confused… confused by the many evil ways of the world. I just can’t bring myself to comprehend the reasons for such heartless acts. What is the difference between us and the blacks, apart from the fact that they are black in colour? Hasn’t Atticus always said that all men are equal, and that all men, black or white should be given equal rights and freedom? Then what is this? What is this going on? Why is our community split into two like 2 shores separated by an ocean? Why are the blacks so unjustly ruled just because of their skin colour?

After today’s incident, words cannot describe the emotions I am experiencing now. My anger, my frustration… I just cannot describe it. I so wish that this world can become a better place, where I can live together peacefully with Atticus without having to be called “nigger-lovers” and “trash”. Why is this world like that? Why is this world filled with such hatred, contempt, and discrimination that it is tainted so black that it almost cannot be seen? Why…

How I wish that this world will become peaceful and that everyone will live together happily…

Goodnight, Diary.

In the above diary entry that I have written from the point of view of Jem, I made used of many rhetorical questions to emphasize Jem’s complex emotions; anger, frustration, confusion, and sadness. After the trial, Jem was very upset about the outcome of the trial; Tom Robinson being charged. He could not bring himself to accept this fact, this fact that the world was such an evil place. Hence, when I wrote the diary in his point of view, I added a lot of emotive language to try to express what Jem might have been experiencing at that time.