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To Kill A Mockingbird Short Summary

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To Kill a Mockingbird Summary To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Alabama during the Depression, and is narrated by the main character, a little girl named Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. Her father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer with high moral standards. Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill are intrigued by the local rumors about a man named Boo Radley, who lives in their neighborhood but never leaves his house. Legend has it that he once stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors, and he is made out to be a kind of monster. Dill is from Mississippi but spends his summer in Maycomb at a house near the Finch 's. The children are curious to know more about Boo, and during one summer create a mini-drama they enact daily, which tells the events of his life as they know them. Slowly, the children begin moving closer to the Radley house, which is said to be haunted. They try leaving notes …show more content…

The trial pits the evidence of the white Ewell family against Tom 's evidence. According to the Ewells, Mayella asked Tom to do some work for her while her father was out, and Tom came into their house and forcibly beat and raped Mayella until her father appeared and scared him away. Tom 's version is that Mayella invited him inside, then threw her arms around him and began to kiss him. Tom tried to push her away. When Bob Ewell arrived, he flew into a rage and beat her, while Tom ran away in fright. According to the sheriff 's testimony, Mayella 's bruises were on the right side of her face, which means she was most likely punched with a left hand. Tom Robinson 's left arm is useless due to an old accident, whereas Mr. Ewell leads with his left. Given the evidence of reasonable doubt, Tom should go free, but after hours of deliberation, the jury pronounces him guilty. Scout, Jem and Dill sneak into the courthouse to see the trial and sit in the balcony with Maycomb 's black population. They are stunned at the verdict because to them, the evidence was so

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164 Words | 1 Pages

Mayella Ewell, the prosecutor, blamed Tom Robinson, the defendant, of rape on the night of November 21, 1935 at Mayella’s home in Maycomb, Alabama. The trial brought up included Tom Robinson, Mayella and Robert Ewell, Heck Tate, and Atticus Finch. Heck Tate and Robert Ewell were the witnesses for Mayella’s side and Atticus was the lawyer to Tom Robinson. This was such an important trial, whether the event actually happened or not, because Tom is a black man and Mayella is a white woman. The evidence provided shows that Tom most likely did not rape or beat Mayella, but her father was the one who could have beat her.

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649 Words | 3 Pages

The alleged crime took place on the evening of 21 November last year, near the town garbage dump where the Ewells have been living for years. Mr Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella, said that he was “coming in from the woods” when he heard her scream so he ran as fast as he could. Mr Ewell then saw Tom taking advantage of his daughter, however, Tom ran away when he saw him coming. Mr Ewell was “too distracted

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689 Words | 3 Pages

When it is time for the trial to take place, Atticus forbids the kids from coming to it. This does not stop the children, however, as they show up and sit in the colored balcony with Calpurnia's, (the maid) pastor, Reverend Sykes. During the trial, Atticus demines the Ewell's credibility by proving that they are lying. During Tom's testimony, Atticus shows that Mayella was the one that advanced on Tom, and when Bob Ewell found this, he beat her. Atticus shows this through a few ways: First, he asks Tom Robinson to stand up and it is obvious that he could not have done it to Mayella; his left arm is a lot shorter than his right arm.

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992 Words | 4 Pages

Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.”(Lee 272). Therefore, Atticus proves to the court with the evidence that Tom was not Guilty and Mayella Ewell tried to kiss Tom, and when Bob Ewell saw this he beat her and blamed it on Tom Robinson. “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal” (Lee 273-274). Instead the court does not want people to hate them so they say that Tom was guilty.

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879 Words | 4 Pages

Although it is clear to a lot of people who live in Maycomb that Tom Robinson did not actually rape Mayella Ewell the judge still goes on and decides he is guilty. This is truly not fair. Atticus explains to Jem, “No jury in this part of the world’s going to say, We think you’re guilty, but not very, on a charge like that. It was either a straight acquittal or nothing.”

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885 Words | 4 Pages

Even though the jury found Tom Robinson guilty of raping Mayella Ewell, in that matter Atticus Finch, lawyer defending Tom Robinson, said that Tom Robinson was not guilty because he only has one arm and there is no way that Tom Robinson was able to hurt her while Bob Ewell is perfectly fine and

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623 Words | 3 Pages

Bob Ewell was the plaintiff who was accusing Tom Robinson of raping his daughter, Mayella Ewell. During the trial, they called up the plaintiff to testify what he saw. Bob Ewell was under oath but still ended up lying to win the case described. Atticus saw what he was doing and ended up calling him out on everything, subtly. It was shown that Bob Ewell was left handed while Tom Robinson was crippled on that side of his body.

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1637 Words | 7 Pages

When Mayella is stating her testimony, one is able to distinctly tell she is stating a false accusation similar to her father’s. Notably, within her testimony, there were slight changes and flaws in her story; for instance, Mayella’s referring to being struck on the right side of the face holds no ground because Tom is, in fact, unable to move his left arm due to an accident, unlike Bob Ewell, who is proven to be left-handed when Atticus makes him write his name. Regardless, Tom was still found guilty and sentenced to death due to the fact that he is African American. Although the proof was evident, justice was not carried out due to the racist ideals of a close minded community. It can be argued that some of those in the jury might have felt threatened by radicals in the community, which could have persuaded the way in which they decided to vote on Tom Robinson’s innocence, ultimately leading to the verdict that decided he was guilty of a crime he did not

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725 Words | 3 Pages

Although Mayella wanted to tell the truth on the stand, she was forced to lie. Mayella lied on the stand therefore, an innocent man was killed. Tom tried to escape and got shot seventeen times being killed. Bob Ewell beat Mayella since, he was white it didn’t matter to anyone. Bob Ewell was a very continuous person and as cold as ice.

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714 Words | 3 Pages

 Tom did not commit the crime that he was charged with. This is illustrated by the account of Heck Tate (192), Atticus’s cross-examination of Mr. Ewell (202) and Tom’s handicap (212). Mr. Tate tells the court that Mayella was mostly beat up on the right side

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732 Words | 3 Pages

Mayella Ewell is a victim. Mayella is a victim of her father, Bob Ewell, because he is an alcoholic that abuses her. During the Tom Robinson trial, Atticus proved Bob Ewell to be left-handed. Based on Bob and Heck Tate’s testimonies, Mayella’s right eye was blackened

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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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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.

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710 Words | 3 Pages

" During the trial, Atticus proved that Tom Robinson was innocent, by questioning both Bob and Mayella Ewell. The biggest issue was that the right side of Mayella's face was bruised as if she was brutally beaten, but Tom Robinson's left arm is crippled, and if he hit her with his right arm, the bruising would be on the left side of her face. Jem gets really emotional after the trial because he knows that Tom was innocent and that he was wrongly

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1902 Words | 8 Pages

“Courage doesn 't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I’ll try again tomorrow’” - Mary Anne Radmacher. Through this quote one can see the advantages of real courage. One can really understand the true meaning of courage by reading the books To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. The book by Harper Lee is written by a 9 year old’s perspective named Scout.

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