Examples Of Racial Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

For African-American men and women, being innocent is often not an option. This is exactly the situation Tom Robinson is put into in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, set in the 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama. This story is about an African American man named Tom Robinson who is being accused of raping a white female named Mayella Ewell. Mayella is a member of one of the trashiest families in Maycomb but still has higher social standing than Tom. This shows that racial injustice during this time was extreme. Tom is appointed an attorney named Atticus Finch, who despite popular beliefs, believes Tom is innocent and is bound and determined to prove it. In the trial, there are several compelling pieces of evidence brought to the jury’s

In chapter 18 during Mayella’s testimony, the text states, “Reverend Sykes leaned across me and whispered to Jem. “He got it caught in a cotton gin, caught in Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s cotton gin when he was boy… like to bled... tore all the muscles loose from his bones” (Lee 249). This quote from the story displays the fact that Tom only has the use of one arm due to an unfortunate event in which a cotton gin tore all his muscles loose. Therefore, when Mr. Heck Tate says this in chapter 17, “I’d say they were all around, Mr. Finch” (Lee 226). He was talking about the bruise marks all around Mayella’s neck and this proves the fact that Tom could not have choked Mayella. This is because he does not have use of one of his arms and since there are marks all around her neck, Tom could not have possibly choked

When he claims to have seen this happen, it makes Bob Ewell an eyewitness in this trial. Bob comes into the trial with some rumors spreading that he saw the whole assault happen, but he confirms those rumors by saying, “Well Mayella was raisin’ this holy racket so I dropped m’load and run as fast as I could but I run into th’ fence but when I got distangeld I run up to th’ window and I seen- I seen that black ****** yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella” (Lee 231). However, even though Bob says all of these things about seeing Tom assault Mayella but his testimony should be disregarded for the reason being that he is just saying things to shift the blame from him. Most people believe that it is Bob because Tom states that Mayella says this when they were inside alone, “What her papa and her do don’t count” (Lee 260). This quote shows that her father has made advances towards Mayella that were similar to what was believed to have happened between Mayella and Tom, but actually did