Taking A Stand

To take a stand means to make a declaration for or against something. Many groups/ organization are taking a stand nowadays. A few examples would be: people for or against homosexuality, immigration, and many other social issues faced by this nation. In my opinion Tom Robinson takes a stand for himself when he is at court and tells the truth about Mayella wanting him. He was defending himself and thus, taking a stand. However I do not believe Tom Robinson took a stand for himself when he tried to scape prison. He was not making a point with his actions. All he was doing was trying to get himself killed. By trying to climb the jail's fence to freedom he was not stating his innocence. I believe Tom already knew he was done for and that he had no chance of winning the trial, so he dicides to get it over with and he basically commits suicide. Tom had one alternative, he could have waited for the jury's final decision, which most likely convicted him. If He hadn't run the outcome would have still been the same. Tom would have been killed either way. There was really no way for Tom to take a stand for himself. He would have died one way or another.