ipl-logo

Compare And Contrast Tom Robinson Trial And To Kill A Mockingbird

1302 Words6 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird during 1937 the Tom Robinson trial took place and Mayella Ewell was a victim and an accuser but, that was only fiction. The real Scottsboro took place in the 1931 with two victims and accusers who are Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. Although these are both happening around the same time period each trial was different. In both the non-fictional and the fictional accounts and how society shaped them as accusers and victims. Society shaped both Mayella and Ruby as victims. Society made Mayella Ewell a victim because Mayella was Bob Ewell’s daughter she grew up in a racist community and was one of the poorest families in Maycomb Alabama. Mayella Ewell was the oldest in her family and while her father was out being the …show more content…

She went from school to automatically having to take care of her siblings and if that isn’t enough her father was also abusive. Having an abusive father meant that Mayella Ewell would always have to worry about if she ever did something wrong because if she did then she knew that her father would get mad at her and hit her around. Mayella had to be careful of everything she did. Mayella spent most of her time cleaning and earning probably 25 cents. Every time Mayella would save up her money she would give it to her younger sibling so that they could go and get ice cream or do something fun and get out of the house. Mayella knew that she didn’t really have a great future so she came onto Tom Robinson so that she would get noticed she was tired of always being lonely. Mayella Ewell was a victim of society but, she wasn’t the only one. Ruby Bates is another victim of society. Ruby Bates grew up in a black community. Ruby was raised playing with the black neighborhood kids she didn’t see any difference between them and herself. Ruby’s family was the poorest white family in her community but, her mom tried everything to help support them as much as she could. Ruby’s father wasn’t around he was …show more content…

Ruby Bates was raised with the nine black kids. Being raised with the nine black kids meant that Ruby and her family didn’t see the deference between them. Ruby didn’t accuse the boys of rape Victoria did and they just assumed that if Victoria was raped then Ruby must have been raped as well. Ruby was scared to go against the white community and her friends to say that they were innocent she didn’t want to be a disgrace to her family. Ruby knew that she couldn’t stand up for them but, she also knew that not standing up for the kids that she knew where innocent was wrong. It wasn’t until five years after the nine boys had been accused of rape that Ruby told the truth. Even though Ruby had told the truth the boys still where found guilty. Ruby had to live knowing that she wasn’t able to save their lives even when speaking up and telling the truth. Ruby had to live thinking that it was her fault they had died. Ruby lived knowing that the laws where unfair to the black

Show More
Related
482 Words | 2 Pages

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama during the 1930’s in the midst of the Great Depression. In times of uncertainty during the trial of Tom Robinson Jem, Dill, and Scout grow up as if nothing has changed. Atticus Finch continues to fight Robinson’s trial which leads to nineteen year old Mayella Ewell’s testimony. In terms of control over herself and others in relation to class, race and gender it seems apparent that Mayella Ewell’s gender affects her control over her life and the lives of others the most. Gender, a widespread label separating the world to promote fairness might be used to one’s advantage in a number of ways.

Read More
452 Words | 2 Pages

Ruby Bridges; changing segregation in schools Ruby Bridges was born September 8th, 1954 she was the first African American to go to an all white school. For her courageous ways she showed all white and all black schools have changed, and how schools now have all races not just one. When Ruby was born on September 8th 1954 as an African American girl, she had a pretty well off life.

Read More
872 Words | 4 Pages

Ruby Bridges was born on September 8,1954 in Tylertown , Mississippi when Ruby was 4 years old her and parents Abon and Lucille Bridges, moved to New Orleans for a better lifestyles in a big city. Her father had a job as a gas station Attendant her mother had night jobs to support their growing family. Ruby soon had Two younger brothers and a younger sister. It just happened to be that Ruby was born the same year as Brown v. Board of Education. When she was is kindergarten

Read More
639 Words | 3 Pages

The house that Mayella lives in was abandoned by African Americans during the times of segregation, which is a big clue about the kind of home Mayella was living in.(Lee 1960 Chapter 17) In the world, people who do not have money do not have say in anything important. In other words, the world’s citizens look differently at poor people because the world thinks that rich are in every way “superior” to the poor. Mayella and Bob have the lowest income and education out of every white in Maycomb. Mayella will not ever become rich because she does not have an education, which mean she will also never have any power.

Read More
431 Words | 2 Pages

She is really poor and has no education. Her class is what takes away her power. The conclusion is that Mayella is

Read More
773 Words | 4 Pages

Is Mayella Ewell powerful or not? Mayella Ewell, the poorest girl in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, living on a pig farm with her abusive father and in an abandoned Negro shack. The Ewell’s are the lowest of the low in the town of Maycomb, in rank wise and are not respected too much either. Bob Ewell, father of Mayella Ewell is an abusive man, sexually and physically and has an alcoholic problem. Mayella is usually beaten and sexually assaulted by him, especially when he is drinking, but Mayella has a plan that will let her be free from Bob.

Read More
587 Words | 3 Pages

She lives behind a dump; that explains why her family’s place in the community is so low. With being the oldest of seven children, Mayella is responsible for taking care of the younger kids; is very antisocial. As they have no access to a shower, they live uncleanly; they don’t bathe and wear the same filthy clothes every day. To an average family, this would look very upsetting; ipso facto resulting in the Ewell’s rank in society. With a drunk father, Bob Ewell, a lot of the family’s safety, authority, and well being is provided by Mayella.

Read More
1646 Words | 7 Pages

They are a social threat, and their lack of wealth does not stop them from causing havoc. Bob Ewell accuses Tom Robinson (a black man) of raping his daughter Mayella Ewell. This represents their racism because Tom does not rape Mayella, but Bob disregards black people and attempts to ruin his life. In court Tom is pleading not guilty and giving his side of the story

Read More
885 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.

Read More
515 Words | 3 Pages

She is stunned by a society who thinks that she lives “among pigs”[Doc A], after the trail she and her father are told to “get back to your dump” [Doc A]. Mayella also shows stupidity when she gets called ma’am or miss by

Read More
498 Words | 2 Pages

The novel Causasia by Danza Senna is a powerful story that that helps illustrate racism in the 20th century. What I enjoyed about the novel was that it showed the struggles that the lighter skinned daughter (Birdie) had faced. Birdie and Cole are the children of a white mother and a black father. Birdie was the white daughter, while Cole was the darker skin black daughter. I, wrongly, assumed that the main focus of the novel was going to be the struggle of only Cole and how she had to deal with racism due to having a dark skin color, especially in comparison to her white sister.

Read More
436 Words | 2 Pages

Her being a white woman in the 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama helps because, of the Jim Crow laws which was made to segregate the black and white people. The trial of Mayella being raped by Tom Robinson is based on race because, Tom Robinson is a Negro and does not have power. Mr. Gilmer said to Tom Robinson “Are you being impudent to me,boy?’’. ("DBQ is Mayella Ewells powerful" 17). Tom is a grown man and has two kids and a wife and should not be called a boy by calling him that Mr.Gilmer is showing that he does not have respect for Tom, he should be called sir which shows respect.

Read More
887 Words | 4 Pages

“You can have a certain arrogance, and I think that 's fine, but what you should never lose is the respect for the others.” said Steffi Graf. She is a professional tennis player that has won 22 grand slam titles, which makes it very hard to stay humble. That’s why she mentions being arrogant, because it is ok, you can’t forget to be sensitive towards others. Contrary to Steffi Graf, there are many people who lose their respect towards others. Mayella and the jurors in Harper Lee 's To Kill a Mockingbird and Mr. Collins in Darcy Swipes Let by Jane Austen.

Read More
474 Words | 2 Pages

The pursuit of personal freedom is often hindered by societal expectations regarding their race, social class or gender as well as other factors. Societal expectations is an internalized social norm for individuals and for society as a whole, about what people should do and what they should not do. This can influence an individual and prevent them for pursuing personal freedom. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee showcases how an individual’s pursuit of personal freedom is driven by their current state of life, as well as the beliefs and values they hold to themselves and how sometimes society can prevent them from pursuing personal freedom. Through Mayella Ewell’s actions, Lee reinforces the idea that often society, and their expectations placed on lower classes can stop you from your pursuit of personal freedom, and trying to rise above the expectations of society.

Read More
149 Words | 1 Pages

In the novel: To Kill A Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman, accused Tom Robinson, an African American, of rape. The Ewell’s are very indigent and her father, Bob Ewell, gets drunk and abuses Mayella. Since Mayella is very poor, this makes her not so powerful. In Maycomb, Alabama, A poor white woman named Mayella Ewell who lives behind the town garbage dump, accuses Tom Robinson, an African American, of rape.

Read More

More about Compare And Contrast Tom Robinson Trial And To Kill A Mockingbird

Related Topics

Open Document