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First of all, the student will want to peruse the passage in Chapter 25 so that she will be familiar with the points which he has made. Of significance, too, is the fact that these points are a departure from Mr. Underwood's characteristic path of thought. So, the editorial that is created must contain the main theme of the cruelty of oppressing the helpless:
He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children....
While Mr. Underwood may still believe in the Jim Crow laws, he obviously now takes exception to gratuitous malice. A handicapped black man such as Tom Robinson, like a mockingbird, has done people no harm and, therefore, should not have been make a scapegoat for Bob Ewell's violent acts. In the editorial, therefore, the student can elaborate on these two points; namely, the harmlessness--even goodness, because he risked his own safety to help Mayella--of Tom Robinson, whom the jurors know to be a decent man, and the unconscionable acts of Bob Ewell as well as his and Mayella's false testimony. Ignoring these two conditions, the jury of twelve men condemned Tom in "the private court" of their hearts, a despicable action.
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