Characters in a Courtroom

As you followed the action in the courtroom, which character did you empathise with most? Least? Explain.

As I folllowed the action in the courtroom, I empathized with Atticus Finch the most. He was fighting for a good cause that everyone else should have been supporting, yet, it was unlikely that the judge would support him and in the end, the judge still found Tom Robinson guilty. I have been through this experience many times - I would have a good idea and am trying to promote it but in the end, very few or no people would support it and instead, support another less effective initiative which in the end, does not prove as effective. In fact, most people have also gone through this experience before, a situation where they fight for something where they know they are unlikely to achieve, or where they would try to get people to support something that they believe will work very well, but which no one would listen to until perhaps later on, when the other plan which they listened to, has failed. This is a rather frustrating experience surely for all of us, but even more so for Atticus since a man's life depends on him, instead of trivial objects and matters.

The person I empathise with the least is Mayella Ewell. I think that instead of being scared of being beaten up by her father and thus, telling a lie to the court, she should have more honour and pride and not lie about such matters. A person's life depends on her, how could she have just ignore that fact and lie just to save her own skin? Even her life is not in danger, she is just in danger of being beaten up, so how could she sacrifice a human life just to spare herself discomfort? If she had not lied to the court and told the truth, they may have even detained her father and she would not be in danger at all! That is the part I do not empathise with her, that is, her cowardice. People may fear many things, and try to do whatever they can to avoid facing that fear, that is understandable, but how can one sacrifice someone else's life in order to avoid one's own fear? That is not moral, how could Mayella not feel guilty at all? And even if she did, why did she not repent and admit to the judges that she lied if she truly felt guilty and sorry for what she had done?