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Examples Of Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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n present day, issues of racism are still prevalent. Things such as police brutality and hate crimes. A numerous amount of these situations cause injustices in society today. For example, George Floyd was murdered due to police brutality, and this led to massive uproars in society. Once this case was taken to court, the officer who killed him, Derek Chauvin, was not charged at first but was eventually charged for murder in the 3rd degree. In the novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” written by author Harper Lee, Tom Robinson is also faced with these injustices that were fueled by racist ideologies that led to his incarceration and eventually his death. The person responsible for this, Bob Ewell, and his narrow-minded views. His concepts on what defined a black person influenced his daughter's testimony in court. Not only did Bob Ewell’s ideas affect Mayella’s testimony, but the entire Maycomb community and their beliefs. She became so anxious that she would be shunned by society that she felt her only option was to lie. …show more content…

Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. In the end, the jury ends up finding him guilty because of this false perception of how black people are and how they would not put it past a black man to do such a thing. After putting him in prison he attempts to run due to possible treatment in the jail he was being held in and once they found him, they shot him 7 times. In the text it states, "To Maycomb, Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a n***** to cut and run. Typical of a n*****’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw,” (Lee 275). This quote shows how normalized these ideologies were in Maycomb’s society even though there was innumerable amounts of evidence proving Tom Robinson was

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In To Kill a Mockingbird by harper Lee, despite of him having a public trial, Tom Robinson, an innocent man was proven guilty, also his trial that was completely and utterly unfair, one-sided, and even discriminatory. This novel takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, a made up town. Robinson was working for the Ewell’s and one day Tom was invited into the house to fix a door. Tom Robinson was accused of raping and abusing a white woman, Mayella Ewell, when her father is the one who abused her. The jury had a lack of evidence to prove that Tom was guilty, and also ignored the evidence that proves his innocence.

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This image shows how the people in Maycomb based their beliefs, about Thomas Robinson, by his skin color. Most whites who were at the trial, didn’t want to hear anything that Mr. Robinson has to say, because he was black. Since he was black, the whites automatically assumed Mr. Robinson was guilty. Mr. Robinson says he didn’t mean any harm toward Miss. Mayella. “Mr. Finch, I tried.

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(100), here, Atticus knows even if everyone knows Tom is innocent and Tom’s opponent is white trash and ignorant, everyone understand that he will suffer racial discrimination and will be labelled guilty no matter the proof. Racial segregation will be the main factor as to why no one will choose a black man’s side over a white’s. No matter how much evidence there is, the mindset on blacks in Maycomb is nearly impossible to discard. “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (276), it is no surprise when Tom tries to escape the prison and dies doing so, because everyone knew there was no hope for him once a white accuses him.

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In court, Tom attempts to argue that he ran away out of fear of being convicted, not guilt of rape. He states, “‘No suh, I’s scared I’d be in court, just like I am now,’” (Lee 225). The fact that Tom chose to run away from that situation clearly conveys to the reader that he would most likely lose in court. Therefore, this action is important in showing that Maycomb’s racist society would defeat the word of a black man, event without evidence present.

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