Tom Robinson Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

Imagine living in the 1930’s when court systems were biased and innocent men were sent to death. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, we the readers see the trial of a black man, Tom Robinson. We see how this case affects Atticus and his kids, the town of Maycomb, and most importantly Tom Robinson. In To Kill a Mockingbird racism affected Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch and Scout Finch in very distinctive ways. In To Kill a Mockingbird an innocent man by the name of Tom Robinson loses his life. “In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins” (Lee 38). Tom Robinson was tried on a case of rape, and with him being black, his word had less of a say than a white man's. With that he was wrongfully convicted of raping a girl. No matter what evidence he and Atticus could pull together, it wouldn’t change the mind of the jury. At the end of the trial Tom Robinson knew he was a dead man and tried to escape. Tom was shot no less than seventeen times. This is just one example of someone affected by racism.

“The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold my head up in town” (Lee 100). This quote is Atticus’s explanation for defending a black man. Atticus knows that Tom is innocent and deserves the best chance he can get. Also Atticus is trying to teach his kids that sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do. Atticus feels if he doesn’t take the case that he will be looked down upon. But he also knows that when he took the case he has people against him. Atticus would face racists when he took the case, or be a racist if he didn’t take the