Unfair Judicial System In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, many innocent black lives are lost due to many different elements, the main being Maycomb's population. Maycomb’s population is mostly made up of many racist, white people, that feel like they have the right to discriminate against anyone that does not look like their kind. Bob and Mayella Ewell fall into this group and are most responsible for the outcome of the Tom Robinson case and the elements that most contribute are a social hierarchy, social inequalities, and an unfair judicial system.

By reading about the Tom Robinson case, it is clear that a social hierarchy is present all throughout the story, and it is clear that most of Maycomb’s population abides by this social hierarchy.

Firstly, When Mayella Ewell was on the witness stand, Atticus asked if Bob Ewell beat her or if Tom Robinson beat her and she was not able to answer. “ Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father?”. ” What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it? (Lee 251). Mayella was could not respond to any of these simple questions, but due to the unfair judicial system, Tom Robinson was still convicted because of his race. If Maycomb's judicial system was not as corrupt as it was, the fact that Mayella was not able to answer the question of who raped her, would be enough evidence to put Bob Ewell away. If Tom Robinson really did rape Mayella Ewell, she would have no problem responding to the simple questions that Atticus asked. Tom Robinson was charged as guilty even though Atticus had more convincing evidence. The only evidence that the prosecutor had was the word of a white person against the word of a black person. Atticus had better, more convincing evidence on how it would have been almost impossible for Tom Robinson to rape Mayella. “He looked oddly off-balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right and hung dead at the side” (Lee 248). Heck Tate explained that there were definite finger marks all around Mayella’s neck and Mayella said that she was being choked. If Tom Robinson can only use one hand, Tom could not have left fingerprints all around her neck and it would be almost impossible to choke her. Bob Ewell, on the other hand, is ambidextrous, which means it is more likely for him to have choked Mayella than Tom Robinson. Also, the right side of Mayella’s face was bruised which means that it is most likely that the punch came from someone's left hand. Tom Robinson's left-hand does not work, therefore proving that Bob