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How To Kill A Mockingbird Affect Society

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There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads- they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s word, the white always wins. They’re ugly, but these are the facts of life” (Lee 295) - Atticus Finch. To Kill A Mockingbird, a novel set in the 1930’s in Maycomb County when racism was more often seen than today. A town with a racist society filled with many white racist individuals. Several characters are affected due to racism such as Scout being influenced and affected by society, Tom Robinson losing his freedom and being accused and Atticus ruining his reputation and losing his case. Even though racism played a big role in To Kill A Mockingbird these individuals made a change …show more content…

He lost a case because of a racist jury and lost his freedom and life along with it. To begin with, Tom Robinson is affected by racism because he is black and in society black men are not to be trusted near woman and since he was accused for raping Mayella Ewell, jury and Maycomb citizens believed that Tom Robinson was guilty. For instance, “[…] the evil assumption- that all Negro men are basically immoral beings, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women […]” (Lee 273). This shows us that many white individuals believe that black men are immoral beings and should not be trusted around woman, this instantly clicks into the jury’s mind leading a head start for the Ewell to win the case and even the jury already jumping to conclusions with their final decision with racial judgements. Tom Robinson is also affected by racism due to losing his life and freedom because of losing a case which he was accused. To show, “Tom’s dead.” Aunt Alexandra put her hands to her mouth. “They shot him,” said Atticus.” (Lee 315) and “I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: “Guilty…guilty…guilty…guilty” (Lee 282). These two quote show the loss of freedom because he lost a case and was sent to jail for a crime he did not commit and also due to racism he lost his life as Aunt Alexandra states “Tom’s dead”. If tom was not included into this situation he would have been living a long life with his family but this shows the effect of racism and how it can change a Negros life dramatically even though h did not commit the crime but yet he paid unnecessary

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I feel there is many situations were characters are affected in To Kill A Mockingbird because of racism. Atticus is affected the most in the Tom Robinson trial because, “every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally.” Which means that he has to take the Tom Robinson trial, even though he has no hope to win. He feels that way because he’s against an all white jury. Scout is affected by racism at school because Cecil Jacobs said, “Scout Finch’s daddy defends n*****s.”

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1537 Words | 7 Pages

The jury’s verdict for the Tom Robinson trial was guilty. The reasons why the verdict was guilty, is simply because they were racist. They all heard clear evidence on how Tom was guilty from Atticus, but if anyone on the jury were to disagree that a black man was innocent, they would have been shamed by the whole county. This case is based off of the real world trial involving the 9 black boys who were accused of raping 2 white women on a train, in Scottsboro. These boys were ranged from 13 to 20 years old, and everyone was put on death row, except the minor who got life in prison.

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“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (Harper Lee). Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderful book that is enjoyed by many people. The book was published in 1960 but is set in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Lee shows many different ways of what was wrong with society during that time.

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Things such as the Jim Crow law and segregation, racism, and all-white juries in the past caused extreme prejudice against people of color. Tom Robinson is an African American character from To Kill A Mockingbird with a crippled left arm, is a helpful person and a good worker. Tom Robinson from To Kill A Mockingbird is affected by racism because he was not respected by the people of the court and was convicted regardless of the evidence. His mistreatment is historically accurate as people of color were discriminated against in the past. Tom Robinson was not given the respect that he deserved.

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1019 Words | 5 Pages

Tom Robinson is likely the most substantial example of racial discrimination within the novel. Atticus comments, “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word

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Harper Lee uses these ideas in her book when Mayella accuses Tom of rape, so she could cover the secret of what her father had done to her. An example of racism in the trial was how one of the teenagers accused was blind, and another was too sickly to walk which clearly shows that they could not have raped the two women. This relates to Tom Robinson’s case because he was also injured and accused of something that would not have been possible. Tom had injured his left arm in a cotton gin and was clearly unable to use it to hurt someone with it. They relied on people believing what could not be possible only because he was black.

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499 Words | 2 Pages

Tom Robinson is unfairly persecuted because his skin is darker than the skin of his neighbors. Robinson is not given a fair trial. Later in the book, an angry mob shows up at the jail, trying to kill him. These strangers acted without knowing if Robinson was guilty or not. Their prejudice, racism, and hate nearly leads them to murder.

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1131 Words | 5 Pages

Lee uses Miss Gates’s ironic views of Hitler and Tom’s trial to show how racial prejudice causes crimes against African Americans to be considered less than crimes committed against white people. A mockingbird is then used to symbolize Tom Robinson as an innocent person wrongly convicted of a crime because of his skin color. The misunderstood characterization of Arthur Radley shows how society will let prejudice guide their imaginated view on the lives of people they don't understand. All three characters provide examples of how a preconceived opinion of one person or a whole race can cause drastic misunderstandings and

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The courtroom scenes show how ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a coming-of-age novel which I believe teaches young children and readers how extreme racism could be in the 1930’s-1940’s, but it also educates them on how racism is still very much real in the world

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“Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…” (Lee 179). This quote from Reverend Sykes in To Kill a Mockingbird is a sort of summary of how and why Tom Robinson was wrongly convicted guilty. It also gives a lot of insight on race relations in this time period. Unfortunately, racism has yet to leave society.

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Final Essay Outline: Thesis Statement/opening paragraph: In the story To Kill A Mockingbird, discrimination and the act of being prejudice is common among the main characters, on both the receiving and serving end. Certain characters, like Scout and Jeremy Finch, Bob Ewell, and the town folk truly create the main problem and set the theme of the story. For example, when Bob Ewell accuses Atticus Finch of being an african-american lover, because he is defending Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, according to Bob. Boo Radley is accused of being dead by Scout, Jem and Dill.

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614 Words | 3 Pages

Finally, as the book comes to conclusion Tom Robinson, a black man, is pleaded quilty with the charge of raping a white women. Throughout the novel, it was proven all he was trying to do and aiming for was to help a young girl. People in society gain the evil assumption that all black men and women aren 't equal to those of a different race. A part in the novel that proves how intolerable the society is; on page 242, "A white man 's word, against a black man 's word, the white man always wins" (Lee). This quote shows how the main reason Tom was guilty was due to the color of his skin.

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830 Words | 4 Pages

Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.

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851 Words | 4 Pages

Effects of Racism “Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics. ”-Alex Haley To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel that is greatly affected by the way others see the world. Scout, a young girl, growing up in Maycomb a place where racism is accepted.

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859 Words | 4 Pages

Do you see people having courage in their society? Harper Lee puts courage as a central idea of To Kill a Mockingbird just as courage is a central idea in The Giver and if you have read the book then you would know that Jonas uses his courage to change society. It is almost the same thing in To Kill a Mockingbird except Atticus is trying to stop racial segregation in the society. If you haven 't read To Kill a Mockingbird then you have to know it is a fictional story about a girl named Scout who grew up in the 1930’s when segregation was all over America. I believe that Harper Lee adds courage as a key component of the overall To Kill a Mockingbird story because courage can change a whole society as she proves in her book.

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