Question

Why does Atticus say that ""we were licked a hundred years before we started"" when referring to the Tom Robinson case? What does he mean when he refers to ""Maycomb’s usual disease"" at the end of the chapter?

Answer 1

Atticus means that they were doomed from the start. With the amount of racism going on at the time, especially in Maycomb, Robinson didn’t have a fighting chance. The racism had been going on for so long and going so strong that the case couldn’t have possibly gone his way. Maycomb’s disease is rumors, falsehoods, and opinions. People there (pretty much everywhere) are slaves to their misconceptions. I hope this helped!