Similarities Between To Kill A Mockingbird And 12 Angry Men

Alyssa Hyson

12 Angry Men/ To Kill a Mockingbird

The judicial system, oppression, racism, class, apathy, and justice are issues in a courtroom. We can see this in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird and the play 12 Angry Men. We can see these issues portray. The setting, the bias in the jury, the lawyers in these cases, and the racism are all factors in both cases. Tom Robinson and this boy from 12 Angry Men are in similar situations where they get accused of a crime that doesn't have much reasonable evidence.

Tom is living in a small shack, and the young boy is living in the slums, according to one of the jurors. “This kid's been kicked around all of his life. You know, born in a slum. His mother died when he was nine. He lived for a year and

The courtroom was in question if he was guilty or not for the raping of Mayella Ewell. Despite the lack of evidence and inconsistencies among the witnesses, Tom was found guilty because of his race. “ A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson” (pg 210). What was interesting is that Atticus Finch was able to use evidence to justify Tom's innocence. For example, when Tom is over at the Ewells household, he was trying to help Mayella but she had other plans. “Mr.Finch, I got down offa that chair an’ turned around an’ she sorta jumped on me” (pg.194) We also find out Mayella kissed Tom multiple times, and when her dad looked at them, he called a whore. “ ' What did he say, Tom? You must tell the jury what he said’. ‘ Tom Robinson shut his eyes tight’ ‘ He says you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya’ “ ( pg.194). Tom was just a reminder to Mayella of what she did, the evidence they only have. “ What was the evidence of her offense? Tom Robinson a human being... She must put Tom Robinson away from her. Tom Robinson was her daily reminder of what she did (pg.203). But regardless of all the evidence in Tom's favor, the jury was unable to move past their own biased opinions, which shows how unfair the justice system is. The court declares Tom Robinson guilty despite his powerful and persuasive arguments. Tom Robinson was founded

I think not being able to render a fair, impartial verdict without imposing bias and prejudice on innocent people. It would have been better if this young boy's case to had been assigned to a better jury board like Men and Women because they think differently. Most first-degree murder and rape cases result in jail. The death penalty is something they consider later on in the trial. I do not think Tom raped Mayella I'm almost 100% sure he did not. I am still unsure about the boy. There isn't enough evidence for me to conclude. I think there was a lot of misinformation to the point where I was confused. I know I certainly would not give a sentence to an 18-year-old the death penalty for something that did not have enough evidence 100%