ipl-logo

Misjudged In To Kill A Mockingbird

1633 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay socioeconomic climate in to kill a mockingbird

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy… That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee is set in the racist county of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. All different types of people live in this town, the gossips, the unwanted, the misjudged and so on. Arthur Radley otherwise known as Boo is misunderstood and misjudged throughout the story. Categorized as a monster, life was hard for him so he always stayed inside. Tom Robinson, a black man living in very racist times, also had it hard. He was being accused of something he didn’t do that would have serious consequences if found guilty, like raping Mayella Ewell. Metaphorically speaking some people may find Tom to be more of a …show more content…

Every day as Tom heads off to his job he passes the Ewell house. Mayella the oldest and daughter of Bob asks him to do little things for her like chopping up wood and fetching water for her as was seen in chapter 19, “...choppin’ kindlin’, totin’ water for her.” Tom knew of the family's circumstances so he never took the money she offered for his work. He wasn’t selfish, for he could have just taken the money and not even thought about how it affected her family but he puts himself in her shoes. Tom is also misjudged throughout the course of the story. The same girl he did work for every day started a trial against him saying he raped her. Her claim should have been disproven in many ways, there was enough evidence to contradict it but the jury is so racist they look right past it. Tom was found guilty and sent to Enfield Prison Farm waiting for an appeal even though he shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Finally, as Tom was in that prison he got sick and tired of waiting for an appeal so he made a run for it, and was shot 17 times to be stopped. This ends up killing him and once the news makes it to the town it just rolls off their shoulders. The town thinks it was a typical death in the fact that he didn’t, “...have no plan, no thought for the future…” (322) and the fact that he even tried was just proving he was guilty. Tom just like Boo was misjudged but really innocent, nobody could overlook his race and for that reason, many problems

Show More
Related
418 Words | 2 Pages

During the trial, Tom always told the whole truth in the most positive way he could instead of trying to be rude to the Ewells. He said the truth about Mayella attacking him because she supposedly wanted to be with a man. Although, Tom understood that the court would judge her for trying to kiss an African American man.

Read More
674 Words | 3 Pages

It was obvious that he knows better to do what he was convicted of doing, and his left arm was useless. Tom said that he has been in trouble with the law before. He had once received thirty days for disorderly conduct because he got in a fight using self defence against a person who was going to cut him, which he did succeed in his left shoulder. Tom is the nicest man in this whole entire book, To Kill a Mockingbird which was written by Harper Lee. Tom wasn’t ever caught up in any lie and wasn’t hesitant to answer the questions he was asked.

Read More
730 Words | 3 Pages

The Pulitzer Prize winning novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee portrays the life of a young girl, Scout, and her family who live together in Maycomb, Alabama circa 1930s. Scout lives next to some fascinating people that have legends and myths made about them because of their back story. One of them being Boo Radley. Boo was locked away in his house by his parents for most of his life after committing crimes that put him away for good. After the news got out about his vanishing into the Radley house forever many stories were made up about him.

Read More
217 Words | 1 Pages

Even though the evidence presented made Tom look innocent, it is not surprising that he was deemed guilty. The first factor that affected the verdict is racism in the town. In the 1930s even though blacks were independent, they still faced diversity like racism. This is important because the community is white, so they would see Tom differently than the blacks in the town. Another reason the verdict wasn't shocking is because of Mayella’s behavior while testifying.

Read More
358 Words | 2 Pages

Another reason he could be proven guilty is that most of the city is against him. From the the beginning of the book the reader can see the many people did not like Tom. At one point in the book there was a mob was formed to kill Tom. He could be innocent. There

Read More
764 Words | 4 Pages

All the proof was given that Tom wasn’t guilty. Because of his skin color, they treated him as if he was an animal. They locked him away and they eventually shot him because he was trying to

Read More
435 Words | 2 Pages

With the true murderer in the courtroom, Tom "was badly scared" (Twain 214) and conflicted on whether or not to tell the whole story, knowing that Injun Joe would without a doubt, kill him. " Tom began-hesitatingly at first" (Twain 216) and decided to put the wellbeing and condition of the falsely accused man before his own safety and life. Understandably, Tom only hesitated because he was very nervous and traumatized by the whole situation, as any 11-year-old boy should

Read More
648 Words | 3 Pages

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story based in small-town Alabama during the early twentieth century. The small town is called Maycomb. The main character, Scout, takes us through the story learning how evil people can be and is showing us how racist this society is. This book has many kinds of people shown to us by Scout and her family.

Read More
1666 Words | 7 Pages

For instance, determination in Bob Ewell is involved in a variety of situations throughout the story. Bob Ewell is determined to be victorious in the case between his daughter, Mayella, and Tom Robinson. He is there for her to guide her through it alongside their lawyer, Mr. Gilmer. It is thought to be that Tom Robinson rapes Mayella Ewell one day. Bob Ewell arrives to the scene and sees Tom raping Mayella which leads to where Tom panics and runs off into the distance.

Read More
1272 Words | 6 Pages

Tom obviously was frustrated because of his unfair placement in jail, so he attempted to escape. Although he shouldn’t have been put in jail in the first place, he knew breaking out would break many rules and he could definitely get shot. Tom’s death gets a lot of attention from the town, at one point Atticus describes the event to Aunt Alexandra by saying “The guards called him to stop. They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill” (315). It can be perceived that Tom knew what he was doing when he escaped and knew he would get shot, but the event can also be described that he was genuinely trying to escape prison, but

Read More
856 Words | 4 Pages

The last few weeks in Maycomb County, led a stir of emotions in the town, regarding to Tom Robinson’s case. Tom was convicted of sexually assaulting Bob Ewell’s oldest daughter, Mayella. When the jury made a decision, Tom ended up guilty, and charged to jail. A couple days later, bam! Tom was shot seventeen times in the back and put to death.

Read More
2144 Words | 9 Pages

The town is very discriminating against Tom not only because of his crime but because of his skin color. In today's world, we can still see these things happening through the idea of white supremacy. People of color are

Read More
323 Words | 2 Pages

He was giving of himself help. He was in no way harming anyone. Then when Bob Ewell came home and found Tom Robinson, he set out to ruin his life. Tom was innocently helping Mayella when Bob Ewell accused him of raping his daughter. The white people said Tom was guilty, killing Tom with their conviction before he even had a fair trial Tom’s is seen by very few of the characters in the book.

Read More
1015 Words | 5 Pages

Tom was put in the predicament that led to his death because he wanted to help a woman that he felt sorry for. Tom took a risk to do what he has done his entire life. It is sad and honorable that Tom Robinson died because he helped Mayella in her time of need, but it is horrifying that she turned her back on him and accused him of rape. Tom may have lost his life, but throughout his life he was a great person. He never harmed anyone, and he always put other people’s needs over his own.

Read More
1514 Words | 7 Pages

This was common down in the South in the 1930’s which resulted in many conflicts between the two. In addition, lots of black people started to lose hope about Tom’s case. People who supported him began to think that he would not win due to white power in the courts which was a problem between the two classes. One example of this would be when Tom tried to escape and got killed because he didn’t think he was going to win the case. The text states, “‘I guess Tom

Read More

More about Misjudged In To Kill A Mockingbird

Related Topics

Open Document