Innocence, according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, is defined as “freedom from guilt or sin through being unacquainted with evil.” In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, the story was based off of a time period where segregation was common; Jem and Scout grew up in a segregated world, and as the book progressed they both were coming to realize the dangers of the world and why segregation was such a horrific situation. One situation that both kids found unfair was the situation with Tom Robinson, a man who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Tom had been put in an awful situation, his innocence was ruined, and he was shown as a symbol of a mockingbird throughout the book. Tom Robinson was an innocent man put in front of the court on …show more content…
At the trial, Mayella was blaming Tom, “will you identify the man who raped you… I will that’s him right yonder… is this the man who raped you…it most certainly is”(Lee 248-249) Mayella was frustrated with the questions Atticus was asking, so when she was asked who hurt her she immediately breaks down in frustration and tells everyone that it was Tom who hurt her. Mayella was becoming emotional and she didn’t see that Atticus was trying to show a little compassion so she got mad and quit answering questions. She blamed Tom immediately and he was suddenly guilty, therefore losing his innocence forever. Additionally, as Judge Gantry was polling the jury the responses were, “guilty…guilty…guilty…guilty” (Lee 282) At this point, the jury had voted and the decision was almost final. There was specific evidence that proved it was highly unlikely that Tom could do something like that, and during cross examination the evidence wasn’t lining up. Tom was just an innocent man until he was put into this awful situation where he lost his innocence and therefore a mockingbird had been