Judge John
Taylor comes across towhen she first sees him as the stereotypically down-to-earth, gnarly,
white-haired old Southern judge. He can seem to doze in the courtroom, cleans his nails with a
pocket knife, and puts his feet up as a trial progresses.
Scout also notes
that despite the seeming informality of the courtroom, Judge Taylor runs a tight ship. He also
never really dozes but is acutely aware of what is going on at any given moment during the
proceedings. He is a good judge, Scout says.
Judge Taylor's courtroom manner
is significant because it disarms ordinary people. They take him to be just another safe,
country bumpkin judge who doesn't know too much and isn't out to rock the boat. However, his
appearance is deceiving. In reality, the judge is very sharp and wants to see justice done in
his courtroom. He tries to insure that Tom Robinson gets a fair trial by appointingto defend
him. He keeps order in the courtroom when the testimony gets exciting. He looks with contempt at
Bob Ewell, as if he is a "square egg" or some other freak of nature. As Atticus will
later comment:
Dont tell me judges dont try to prejudice
juries.
By this, Atticus means that Judge Taylor's facial
expressions meant to convey to the jury his conviction that Bob Ewell was lying.
Like Atticus, Judge Taylor is trying in his own way to challenge a system that is
grossly unfair to African Americans.
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