The character to face a struggle is Tom Robinson. During this time there was a large amount of racism. People were strongly judgemental. They just wanted to see the people of another race to suffer for something.

    Racism was very big during the 1930’s. Peoples opinions were influenced by racism. They wouldn't  judge a person by their personality, but by their skin color. Most of the people down south were racist. There was even a group of racist people called the, “ Ku Klux Klan.” Also known as the, “ K.K.K” . It was unfair, people wouldn’t give people of another race a chance. They would just be judged. And also be called cruel names. But there were some people that didn’t judge people by the color of their skin. They gave people a chance.

Tom  Robinson was  accused rape. And the jury was all  white. So their opinion was influenced by his skin color. But his lawyer was white. He was one of the few people down south that wasn’t a racist. And I believe the jury’s opinion was influenced. They didn’t care about his opinion. They just wanted to see Tom behind bars.

I believe this was an unfair trial. They should have people of both races, black and white. Then there would have been more of a chance for Tom to be innocent instead of guilty. Something that was very powerful about this book is Tom’s lawyer was white. He didn’t care that Tom was black. He wanted to prove to the jury that his client is innocent. But the jury wouldn’t hear any of it. They were probably scared of Tom. Not only is he black, but he is accused of rape. The want to see him in jail.  

Tom Robinson had a difficult obstacle that he couldn’t overcome. And he ended up going to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. People were very judgmental about blacks. And for him to be accused of rapeing a white woman definetley made him more hated by the jury. They didn’t know that he was a nice guy. And they didn’t care either. They wanted to see him in jail and that was it. It was an unfair trial and Tom ended up paying the price. He lost against racism basically. The trial would have gone differently if there were people of both races.

Summary

The Struggle

Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Scribner Paperback Fiction,1952 Genre: Fiction

The story is about a cuban fisherman named Santiago. He has gone 84 days without catching a single fish. He was trying to catch a large fish to bring back to his village for a large sum of money because Santiago was also poor. he had tension on his pole and his boat started to be pulled. It had to be big. Santiagos boat was pulled for three days. Until he threw a spear and killed it. He had to pull it in quick before a group of sharks would show up. By the time he managed to pull the fish out of the water, it was just mostly bones. And the large fish was a marlin. He was so disappointed. He then returned to the village. And all of the other fishermen were actually proud of him.

“Aside from a few short stories, "The Old Man and the Sea" is the first Hemingway book that I have read. Of course, I am familiar with his persona, and the idea of the "Hemingway man," and was well aware as his stature as one of the greatest writers of modern times. But I had never read his books.”

Zack Davvison Amazon reviewer

I chose this because it is the first time a person has read something by Hemingway. So their opinion won’t be influenced based on his other work.

Short story

The Walking Dead: The Road to Atlanta

I’m  John Walsh, and I am a captain in the U.S Marines. It was the third day back from my deployment overseas. And I was glad to be home to see my family. I had just reached the gates when I heard the sirens go off. There have been weird reports the past couple of days of people dying and coming back to life. They would eat people too .On the news they were being called Walkers and biters. There were walkers had starting to breach the walls on the east side of the base. My commanding officer told me to head to the armory. I started to speed to the armory. I loaded my pickup with plenty of weapons and ammo. I couldn’t stay without getting my family.

              

      When I got to my house all I could hear was gunfire and screams. I found my wife and son under the bed. She had packed enough clothes and food to travel. I started to go out the door when I saw a group of walkers at the house next door. I told my wife to load the truck while I clear the way.  I ran past a few to grab an assault rifle from the bed of the truck. In the news reports, it said to aim for the head. It is the only way to kill them. We all got in the truck and drove back to the base.

              

      On the way back to the base, there were houses burning and walkers were everywhere. The base was in complete chaos. We finally reached the base and drove up to the airfield. It was deserted and walkers were coming across the airfield. The base was lost. We weren’t prepared for something like this. Sure one walker may not be much. But when there’s a pack of them all riled up and hungry, you better watch your back. They don’t run out of energy, but we do. I took one last look at the base before we left to get on the highway.

              

         A few hours before the base was over run, people have been talking about this refugee camp in Atlanta. It would be safe and the National Guard would be there with plenty of weapons and ammo to keep us all safe.

              

        We managed to meet up with a convoy of other people. They were also some Military personnel. Also some people from the army and navy. We pulled over for the night to make camp. We all had plenty of military grade weapons. Some of the members of the groups were Army ranger snipers. I felt confident with them taking the first watch. With the amount of skill they have is amazing. Luckily most of us pack our night vision goggles. The rifles they were using had suppressors.  Noise attracts the walkers.

              

       It was 6 a.m. when we packed up and hit the road. The next stop was Atlanta. We were started off to a good start until we had to stop for a traffic snarl less than twelve miles from the camp. We had a few guys go through to make sure it was clear. There were screams a minute later. I got out and stood on the hood of my truck. Two of the three men that went through were bit…. We had to kill them so they wouldn’t suffer. Everyone in the group understood why we had to do that. “We have to keep moving, they knew the risk” I said. We needed to keep moving. Everyone packed up and drove away. We would have a service for them when we reached the refugee camp. But now was not the time.

               We were about twenty minutes from the city when one of the vehicles ran out of fuel. It was about seven in the morning and we had to put fuel in one of the SUV’s. It didn’t take long and we were back on the road in five.

              

             We had finally reached the city. It was secure and it looked like we would win the war against this virus. We were all relieved to finally be safe and not to be worried. Or so we all thought.

               It was nightfall when I heard screams. Then there was gunfire. My wife ran up to me and yelled, "John,  walkers are in the city we need to go!" I was just confused. I couldn't believe that we worked so hard for this, and we lost people to get here. And it's being lost. I ran to my pick up and grabbed my assault rifle and ran to help. But when I looked back, my wife and son were bit and screaming on the street. I didn't see a point of surviving anymore. The reason I came here was to keep my family safe. And to see them die was the breaking point for me. If I was going to die, I was taking as many walkers as I could with me.

I managed to take out about thirty walkers. I went back to my truck to get another weapon, but as I was grabbing it, a walker bit my wrist. I got it off of my and looked around. The rifle had fallen under the truck. I grabbed my sidearm and went to seek refuge in an Abrams tank. I put my sidearm on the seat
.

   
           Seconds later I heard explosions. I got up to look out the top hatch and they were dropping napalm in the streets. And there were still survivors. They were killing people and walkers. I knew I wasn't getting out of this city alive. I just sat there and waited to die of blood loss. There was no point of killing myself, I basically locked my self in a cage. I wish my son could have had the childhood I had. The world we live in is hell. There is no salvation. All we can do now is... Survive.