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Tom Robinson's Guilty

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Tom Robinson was a guilty man even before he even entered the courtroom; along with all the other African-Americans living in the south at that time. Even though it was obvious that he was innocent, due to the evidence pointed out by his lawyer, Atticus Finch, he was found guilty merely due to his race. It’s pretty obvious that the theme in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is racism and prejudice, and the discrimination of the African-American community was the most evidently shown. For example, the blacks were regarded as tools or objects to be used in labour, and were given very little, to basically no rights. Even in the trial, blacks and whites sat in separate sections, and all the members of the jury were white! Also, Tom Robinson wasn't …show more content…

Interracial relationships were frowned upon in Maycomb, and if word gets out that a white woman tried to seduce a black man, God knows how the people would react. Even before the trial began, a group of white men went to the prison were Tom Robinson was being held, with hopes of killing him, probably thinking that killing him would mean that he wouldn't be able to reveal what happened, thus protecting the reputation of the Ewell’s and, more importantly, the white community as a whole. Also during the trial, Tom Robinson openly stated that he felt “sorry” for her, which was a mistake. When he said that he felt “sorry” for her, he, indirectly and unintentionally, made it seem as if he thought he was above her, which wasn't the case. In the movie, you could tell by the uneasiness of the white audience that they felt shocked, disgusted even, that a black man, who they considered to be the equivalent of a dog (or worse), would ever dare pity a white woman. His pity for her was a crime in of itself. In my opinion, Lee included this embarrassment of a justice system in order to show us the unfairness shown towards the black community at the time, and the fact that no matter what, a black person will always be inferior to a white person, regardless of their social class. Tom Robinson, a family man, a

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In To Kill a Mockingbird by harper Lee, despite of him having a public trial, Tom Robinson, an innocent man was proven guilty, also his trial that was completely and utterly unfair, one-sided, and even discriminatory. This novel takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, a made up town. Robinson was working for the Ewell’s and one day Tom was invited into the house to fix a door. Tom Robinson was accused of raping and abusing a white woman, Mayella Ewell, when her father is the one who abused her. The jury had a lack of evidence to prove that Tom was guilty, and also ignored the evidence that proves his innocence.

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Leading up to the Civil Rights Movement, the black community was in a constant battle against law enforcement treating them unfair compared to the white community. The Scottsboro Boys and Emmett Till’s cases were one of the many times that the legal system showed to be unfair to blacks. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, the law enforcement and community were very racist against blacks and believed all blacks were criminals. In the story, Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer gets put into a very difficult situation and decides to defend a black man, who went by the name of Tom Robinson.

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the Maycomb court system is totally biased in a discriminatory way. The case of Tom Robinson, if it had not been in this court with its racist jurors, would certainly have not ended the way it did. It only ended the way it did because of peer-pressure, a scared victim being manipulated and believed, and an honest man not. Through her testimony, Mayella Ewell constantly lied.

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563 Words | 3 Pages

Although the court deemed Tom Robinson guilty Atticus uses rhetoric very well to try and convince the all-white jury that Tom Robinson, a black man is innocent. Atticus Finch is a lawyer in a small town in Alabama. He believes that every man should be treated equal and fair in a court of law. But the all-white jury does not agree with Atticus. In this time, the 1930’s many people believed that whites were superior to black.

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643 Words | 3 Pages

The racist community and jury were the reason for the outcome of the trial. Not only were they racist, but Maycomb treated Tom Robinson with a lot of disrespect. The way Tom Robinson was treated in Maycomb was unfair and another reason for his situation. On page 229, Dolphus Raymond says “Cry about the simple hell people give other people without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks.

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952 Words | 4 Pages

Today, in this time period, there is more equality. During the time period the novel To Kill a Mockingbird took place, there was a lot of racism and prejudice. Atticus had logical reasons as to why Tom Robinson was not guilty. He's showing that no matter what race you are, we all are equal and deserve the same rights. After the trial, and the verdict was said, Jem talks about how unfair the trial was.

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826 Words | 4 Pages

Close to the end of the trial when Tom Robinson is saying his final statement he says “Well I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try harder then the rest of em”(Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird) which showed that black people had feelings too, but what he said was turned against him in a flash [Because he was on trial for rape]. The jury of Maycomb looked past the good and went straight to him being a monster Scout did not understand how bad Tom Robinson’s statement was. The trial showed that Scout was still too young to fully understand everything that was going on in the trial showing why it was so

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412 Words | 2 Pages

Tom Robinson’s trial is unfair due to the racism in Maycomb. Society states that the words of a white person should be higher accountable that the words of a black individual. Tom is innocent for raping Mayella Ewell, but the jury convicts him regardless. He dies later when he attempts to escape from the county jail. The reader knows Tom Robinson’s innocence and realizes how an individual that has done nothing wrong can easily be disrupted.

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976 Words | 4 Pages

During the 1930s the south was still raging with racism, and the thought of a black man raping a white woman lead to no further investigation whether it was true or false, he was simply sentenced to death. Atticus Finch, Toms adept lawyer, believed Soulfly in equality and justice for all and was more than happy to defend Tom Robinson with all his heart no matter his race. The Finch family felt very different than the majority of people in Maycomb Alabama. When Tom Robinson has accused the entirety of the town flocked to the courthouse to view the trial. Some with hopes for justice and liberty but most unapologetically hoping for an unfair sentence.

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741 Words | 3 Pages

Tom was not looked at the same in court because he was a colored man and in his society, it was not expected for a colored man to win. In Atticus last statement he said, “Which, gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson’s skin, a lie I don't not have to point out to you. You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie,

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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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1282 Words | 6 Pages

During the early 1900s it was not a secret that the south was still incredibly racist. With this in mind, most black people accused of a crime would go to jail soley based on the fact that the judge and jury were racist. This is case for Tom Robinson. Atticus presented the judge and the jury ample evidence to prove Tom’s innocence, such as no medical evidence of rape, completely different statments from Mayella and Tom, and the fact that Tom Robinson is missing an arm making it questionable how he was able to hold down a fighting and screaming Mayella. According to the constitution every man has a right to a fair and public trial which is not something Tom receives due to the prejudice of Maycomb.

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450 Words | 2 Pages

That’s one part I didn’t like about the book. The stereotypes of the black families of Maycomb. As soon as Bob Ewell turned Tom Robinson in for “raping” his daughter the whole white community believed it because he was black. He was a kind, loving father and husband. But no one bothered to get to know the real him or see past the color of his skin to really know that.

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888 Words | 4 Pages

As stated previously, the trial of Tom Robinson was unfair because the testimonies of the witnesses conflicted with each other, and his Eighth Amendment rights were violated. It is clear that when Harper Lee was writing this story that she was trying to expose the ugliness of the race relations in the U.S. of the time. Noting that this story was published in the 1960’s, close to the height of the Civil Rights Movement, To Kill a Mockingbird was making another statement, but one not-so fictional. There was a bigger, more serious, problem with the race relations in the United States. From the point-of-view of an innocent child, this novel forced people to see the power of injustice towards minorities—both then and

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952 Words | 4 Pages

Because the jury did not favor black men, Tom Robinson did not receive a fair trial, although Atticus made a great case. Segregation directly disobeys the fourteenth amendment, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Maycomb Alabama is where the story, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place. Tom Robinson’s trial out come was not based on factual evidence. Mayella was lying to the jury, while Tom was completely innocent.

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