ipl-logo

How Did Tom Robinson Get His Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

1295 Words6 Pages

Huey Newton once said, “ We have two evils to fight, capitalism and racism. We must destroy both racism and Capitalism.” In Harper Lee's, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Tom Robinson was unjustly convicted of a crime he did not commit. There was plenty of evidence that showed his innocence, but the evidence was ignored because of racism, the time period and slavery. Racism in the southern portion of the United States was extremely prevalent during the 1930s. In the book, “ To Kill A Mockingbird” the main setting is in a rural town in Alabama called Maycomb County. In the book, Atticus Finch is a lawyer who tries his hardest to do what he thinks is right. He is far from what most people may think a lawyer is. He is honest, caring, fair and kind. He said, …show more content…

He said this because he knew the struggles he would face trying to defend a black man with a jury that is completely white. He knew it would be difficult to convince an all white jury a black man was innocent in a case that involves sexual assault on a young white woman. Mayella is the young girl who lied that Tom raped her. Mayella tried to seduce Tom, but it went wrong.Tom did not even have sex with the girl. The only thing he was guilty of was being a nice to Mayella. He had no intentions of having a relationship with her. Mayella was raised in an abusive household. Her father was an alcoholic, who was emotionally and physically abusive. She also was poor and lived similarly to the black residents of the town. She did not have any friends and was a loner. When Atticus asked Tom why he spoke to Mayella, Tom responded “I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more the rest of 'em." (Lee 264). When another person saw Mayella talking to Tom, Mayella became scared and decided to lie that Tom raped her.The jury came into the court knowing they were going to be on the side of Mayella because Tom was black. Atticus made another speech about race and skin color during court. He

Show More
Related
739 Words | 3 Pages

Mayella said ¨ So he come in the yard´an I went into the house to get the nickel and I turned around an fore I knew it he was on me¨(Lee 205). This evidence shows Mayella is guilty because Tom was helping her with the thing she asked him to do and he didn't jump on her. Mayella also said ¨

Read More
766 Words | 4 Pages

TKM Extra Credit 1. To Kill a Mockingbird setting is the 1930’s. The story provides a lot of textual evidence to support the main idea. I feel the main idea is segregation between Whites and Blacks. Racial segregation is alluded to, which can provide.

Read More
170 Words | 1 Pages

To kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. Mockingbirds do not cause harm or trouble; in fact their only purpose is to convince others with beautiful music. Tom Robinson’s death can easily be compared to that of a mockingbird; it did no good but also prevented no evil. Mr. Underwood chooses to write an article that basically every citizen of Maycomb can understand, and this proves to the reader the obvious connection between Tom Robinson and the symbol of a mockingbird. Mr. Underwood chooses to ignore the prominent racial barrier that separated Tom Robinson from justice, and chooses to focus on his disability instead.

Read More
835 Words | 4 Pages

Gentlemen, in the 30 years that I have been practising law in Maycomb, I have never seen a case so complicated, and so simple at the same time. Complicated because of the circumstances; a white woman’s word versus a black man’s word. Simple because of the facts; clearly no one in this courtroom is guilty besides the defendant himself, Tom Robinson. There is undoubtedly more evidence confirming the fact that Tom Robinson is guilty rather than innocent.

Read More
885 Words | 4 Pages

Then some people thought that Tom was innocent but the judge decided to make Tom go to prison. In the book it said that Mayella hugged and kissed Tom on the cheek. From this I can infer that Mayella is desperate and can get away with this because Tom Robinson is a black person. This reminds me of a couple southern movies I’ve watched where black people are always the first to suspect because of their color. Tom Robinson on trial for his life said Bob Ewell yelled “whore I’ll kill you” when he saw Mayella kiss Tom from the window.

Read More
830 Words | 4 Pages

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird the author, Harper Lee, uses the character of Atticus to represent Moral and Truth. In many situations, Atticus's actions differ from the rest of the prejudice society of the 1930s south and represents how the south would change in the next 30 years. The reason why Atticus’s actions were unusual in this time period was because anyone who publicly challenged the system of segregation was in danger of being killed. When the book was written in the 1960s, many anti-segregation movements had happened since the 30s, changing laws and making it much more common for people to act out against segregation like Atticus. One major example of this was during Tom Robinson’s trial where Tom was convicted of a crime

Read More
871 Words | 4 Pages

Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.

Read More
1107 Words | 5 Pages

Importance of Details Kathreen Perez 1)Interesting Traxler, 3 Chapter 20 detail: -The whole county thinks that Mr. Raymond drinks whiskey, but he is actually drinking coca-cola in a bag. During the 1930's, racism raged through every corner of the United States, and the imaginary district of Maycomb County displayed the effects of injustice brought upon the African-American community during that time period.

Read More
857 Words | 4 Pages

Essay In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County. The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.

Read More
508 Words | 3 Pages

Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” is set sometime in the 1930s in Maycomb County Alabama. The story is told through the point of view of Scout Finch who lives with her father, Atticus, and brother, Jem. The kids like to play pretend with their friend Dill about the man who lives in a scary house down the road, Boo Radley. The kids come in a few close counters along the way during these games in which Atticus does not approve. Scouts’ father, a lawyer, is appointed by Judge Taylor to defend Mr. Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young girl.

Read More
795 Words | 4 Pages

“‘ I have nothing, but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far so to her putting a man’s life at stake , which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt… I say ladies and gentlemen that it was guilt that motivated her’” p271. In this quote, Atticus reveals that the evidence presented suggest that it is Mayella who is at fault rather than Tom. Tom was a compassionate man who felt pity for her, and her selfish natures had causes her to rape him. Additionally, he proves that Mayella-in an attempt to hide her interactions with Tom from the public-has put his life in danger. One could argue that Mayella had done these actions in an effort to protect herself from going to jail.

Read More
886 Words | 4 Pages

In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus is a lawyer in Maycomb Alabama. He Has two kids, Scout and Jem. His wife died when Scout was only two years old. Atticus is not only respected by his children but his community. Atticus teaches his kids valuable lessons throughout the story.

Read More
996 Words | 4 Pages

During Mayella’s testimony, Atticus asked her about what she did in her free time and if she had any friends. The moment Atticus asked her if she had any friends, she didn’t know what he meant by that. She assumed that he was making fun of her rather than asking her a serious question. This deserves the audience’s sympathy because she does not have any idea what friends are. She has been lonely for a large portion of her life and needs somebody in her life to be her companion.

Read More
732 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the term mockingbird symbolizes innocence in a person. In the novel it focuses on the fact that innocence, represented by the mockingbird, can be wrongfully harmed. There are two characters: Tom Robinson and Arthur “Boo” Radley that are supposed to represent the mockingbird. In the novel, Tom Robinson is the best example of a mockingbird because he is prosecuted for a crime he did not commit. Also, he was judged unfairly based on the color of his skin in his trial.

Read More
721 Words | 3 Pages

A novel called To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. There is a case between an African American named Tom Robinson and a white woman named Mayella Ewell. She accused him of raping her. Tom was always kind to Mayella by helping her with things to do because he felt bad that she was always working. He passed one day and she asked him to get the box on top of the chiffarobe, so he got on the chair and got it then she put her hands around his leg, but she claims that he threw her down and raped her.

Read More

More about How Did Tom Robinson Get His Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Related Topics

Open Document