Tom Robinson best reflects a mockingbird, illustrated through his guilty conviction despite his innocence during the trial, the mob attempting to lynch him at the jailhouse, and his wrongful murder by a prison guard. In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, many characters symbolize a Mockingbird, but Tom Robinson, hands down, most represents the characteristics and traits of a Mockingbird, which shows through his innocence and bravery. Tom Robinson is a Negro man who faces racism throughout his life and never has a fair shot because of the color of his skin. Tom Robinson is on trial, accused of beating and raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. The prosecution has no substantial evidence to prove Tom was liable, however, a jury …show more content…
“‘They shot him,’ said Atticus. ‘He was running.’ It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over. Right in front of them—”'(Lee 268) This quote shows how innocent Tom is because all he wants to do is go back to his three kids and wife. He almost made it over to freedom where he could try to get back to his family, but Tom didn't make it over. The guards say that Tom Robinson would have made it over the fence if he had two good arms, but while trying to escape Tom Robinson is shot seventeen times. Everyone Tom saw said he was so kindhearted and was always there or ready to give a helping hand if need be, and that truly does represent everything a Mockingbird stands for. Tom's death has such an impact on everyone that even Aunt Alexandra has empathy for a black man and that shows something. Later after Toms death Atticus is explaining to Scout why Tom is going to be forgotten and says,“‘What was one Negro, more or less, among two hundred of ‘em?’ He wasn't Tom to them, he was an escaping prisoner.”’(Lee 269) All Tom Robinson has ever been seen as is just a black man who was irrelevant to the rest of the world, just a shadow that always causes trouble. Yet he is just a mockingbird trying to make people happy. Just because of his race, Tom Robinson is sentenced to inevitable death. His words meant nothing, and because Mayella was white everyone believed