Tom Robinson Case

Riya Nigudkar

Mr. McMahon

Literature and Writing

1 February, 2018

Tim Johnson’s Affiliation with the Tom Robinson Case

It is The Great Depression, and an innocent black man has been accused of raping a white woman, nothing new. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during The Great Depression. The novel covers the years where Boo Radley took over the Finch kids’ childhoods, and Atticus Finch, a respected lawyer, defends a black man. Scout and Jem, spend their years entangled in stories surrounding a man named Arthur “Boo” Radley by using their free time doing anything to see him in person. Amid their activities, their father, Atticus Finch, has to defend an innocent black man in a rape case against

A prime example is the Tom Robinson case, which was a blatant display of racism. Jem and Scout saw their “father take the gun and walk out into the middle of the street,” he then killed Tim, and the threat of his rabies was gone (127). The rabies were like racism. Racism, at the time, was something that ruined Maycomb and changed it. The people were less open and more stuck on this one idea of race, while everyone outside of Maycomb were fine. With this mindset and the growth of everyone outside of Maycomb, they would eventually just be so lost and racism would probably be the end of them. This was like rabies, a disease where the animal can’t get rid of it immediately and has to live with it until they get treated or die with it. Without Atticus, Tim would have to live his final days in misery, but Atticus freed him of the rabies, like he would soon contribute in freeing Maycomb of racism. Then, after talking to Jem and Scout about how people’s views in Maycomb were changing for the better, Maudie Atkinson said, “...it’s just a baby-step, but it’s a step” (289). The racism in Maycomb played a role in the Tom Robinson case with false views on race. It infected the minds of Maycomb citizens and brainwashed them into thinking that white people were superior to any person of color. This did result in Atticus losing the trial, but Maudie brought up that even though he lost, what he said definitely affected everyone

His feelings towards Tim were like how he took on defending Tom Robinson as well. Then when tensions rose with Tom’s case, so did the nerves seconds before Tim’s last breath. The rabid dog then made his last appearance when representing all the racism and prejudice Maycomb was going through. This dog foreshadowed so many things in relation to the trial and how Atticus would handle them. Even though Atticus did everything he could have, the once innocent black man was now deemed a man guilty of raping a white woman during The Great Depression, and no one could do anything about