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Examples Of Exculpatory Evidence In To Kill A Mockingbird

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The first source of exculpatory evidence for Tom Robbinson's was his physical inability to commit the crime. When he first stands he is described by Scout in these words: "He looked oddly off balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him" (pg. 211). In short, Tom was an obvious cripple. Mr. Tate, the sheriff describes one of her injuries as bruises circling her neck, which with logic applied is an obvious clue to Tom's innocence (pg. 192). If Tom had both hands then he would be able to keep Mayella from escaping and choke her, but with only …show more content…

The witness testimonies were contradicting and likely improvised and inaccurate, as demonstrated by Mayella Ewell when she gave her testimony, but obviously loses her place in her narrative. Scout mentions that when Atticus truly begins to grill Mayella as a witness these events occur:" Mayella was silent. She seemed to be trying to get something clear to herself," and then "She glanced at Mr. Glimer." While she may have simply been trying to clear up her memory of the events, the glance towards her lawyer suggests that she is looking for guidance to her story, because she doesn't know what to say. When you are building a web of lies it is important to not trip up and Mayella had to pause to establish her story and be sure she was not contradicting her lawyer's plan. A few moments later she tries again, but she cannot keep her story straight. Atticus asks her, "Do you remember him beating you about the face?" and she replies, "No, I don't recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me." This shows that Mayella's testimony was a memorized thread, rather than honest recollections of the events that took place. When Atticus responds with, "Was your last sentence your answer?" she still cannot get her narrative in order, because she is lying. Therefore she responds, "Huh? Yes, he hit - I just don't remember, I just don't remember ... it all happened so quick." (pg. 210) Answering such is an evasion

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Because of the fear that her father’s beatings will become more aggressive, Mayella Ewell is forced to accuse Tom Robinson of rape. In chapter 19 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson testifies about what Mayella said to him during the incident: “She says what her papa do to her don’t count” (Lee 197). Mayella attempts to conceal that Bob Ewell, her father, physically abuses her. However, the insinuation is verified in Robinson’s testimony and proves he forced her to lie about the rape. Earlier in chapter 18 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella suspiciously does not answer a question asked by Atticus: “‘Who beat you up?

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Atticus Finch, the best lawyer in Maycomb, was sitting nervously in his chair as he waited for the town Judge to arrive in court. Tom Robinson, Atticus’s client, was scared of being proved guilty of raping Mayella ,and also beating her. As the judge came in the courtroom, you could feel how tense it was between the two defendants. The judge sat down and started talking to both of them.

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Additionally, based on circumstantial evidence, this substantiates MAyella was physically abused as well. Atticus states that Bob was left-handed and Mayella was “beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.” (Doc. B) Overall, Mayella’s gender makes her defenseless to the abuse her father did on

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How is judgement prevalent in society? Physicist Albert Einstein once said, “Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen”. He means that you didn’t just randomly become so judgmental one day. You acquired all of the common sense that you have now based on where you grew up, and the influences that were around you. You were taught to automatically judge people and assume things based on appearance, skin color, and rumors.

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until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (39). This quote is one of the most impactful ones throughout the story. Atticus displays that instead of automatically feeling rage towards the person, you should consider the other person’s point of view and understand their emotions. Atticus teaches another lesson about empathy, but this time, it was to Scout's brother, Jem. Mr. Finch was defending, Tom Robinson, the defendant, who was accused of raping a white woman by Bob Ewell and his daughter Mayella.

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“Atticus was quietly building up before the jury a picture of the Ewells’ home life… and there was a strong suspicion that Papa drank it up anyway.” (Narrator 244). Atticus portrays Mayella’s life at home, he tries to get the jury to feel sorry for her which helped him to be successful in the trial. Since Atticus was acting so nice and acting like he relates to Mayella, she eventually let her guard down and got cornered by Atticus. Atticus “trapped” Mayella, and the only reason he was successful in doing so was because of his solicitude.

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The core idea of this part of Atticus’ speech was to both show his sentiment for Tom Robinson and to make Mayella feel ashamed of putting an innocent man in danger. By revealing the truth about Mayella, Atticus hopes that the audience can also take pity on Tom and to be ashamed of Mayella’s actions.

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The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines courage as the ability to do something that frightens one. Many characters in Harper Lee’s mid 20th century novel To Kill a Mockingbird display courage in numerous ways. One character however, jumps out. When first reading the book, most people would say that courage is displayed by those like Jem, Scout, Tom, or Atticus.

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At the beginning of the novel, Jem is on the pre-conventional level; therefore, he acts childlike and wants to avoid punishment. The reason that Jem reacts this way because he does not want to be punished by society or the authority. In the novel, it implies: “ Atticus ain 't ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way” (Lee 56). This suggests that Jem is in the stage of obedience and punishment since he undertakes not wanting to disobey his father and does not want to be punished.

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While the Salem Witch Trials, the topic of Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, is one of the more famous examples of American witch hunts, many other witch hunts were equally as terrible, such as the Lavender Scare. The Crucible is a historical drama that begins with Reverend Parris finding his daughter, Betty, his niece, Abigail, and several other girls dancing in the forest. When Betty becomes very sick afterward, the townspeople begin to look to witchcraft as the answer, and Abigail begins accusing people of witchcraft. Similarly, The Lavender Scare involved the prosecution of queer people due to the short-sightedness of Americans from 1945-1960s. People during this time believed that members of the LGBTQ+ community could spread their homosexuality

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The judge reassures Mayella that Atticus has “done business in [the] court for years and years, and he is always courteous to everybody” (Lee 243). The judge implies that Atticus means no harm and is reliable because they have been working together for years. When Atticus thinks that Jem killed Ewell, he starts to panic. He starts to think of a good explanation and decides it was a “clear-cut self defense” (Lee 365). He thinks about how he is going to bring this to court.

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Ewell takes a stand to defend Mayella in the courtroom when Atticus starts to realize that Mr. Ewell could’ve been guilty for Mayella’s rape. Atticus tries to prove that Mr. Ewell is guilty by intentionally asking Mayella questions, but Mayella refuses to prove that Mr. Ewell is guilty and responds to this saying “I got somethin’ to say an’ then I ain’t gonna say no more. That nigger yonder took advantage of me.. “ (Lee 251). This quote symbolizes the judgement that Mayella made on Tom Robinson to prove that he’s guilty.

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Using common goals, the characters in “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and people today all take advantage of others through dishonest methods, which is why the novel is still prevalent in today’s society. Throughout time, lies and manipulation have both been used to forge the pathway for injustice and control. Used both by modern day parents and the people of Maycomb County, lies are often bred to force results. After being informed that the knothole in the tree was cemented by Nathan Radley because it was “sick and dying”, Atticus tells Jem “That tree’s as healthy as you are, Jem” (Lee 63). Upon the realization of Mr. Radley’s lie, Jem is left crying.

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However, after the incident occurs, she learns that Atticus actually knows how to shoot, and that he is very good at it. This teaches her not to judge a book by its cover, because originally she thought Atticus was just a feeble old man with no real talents, but she learns

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The person speaking is Atticus because he is giving his final statement in his trial with Tom Robinson,”’She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strong young negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.’” (272)

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