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.
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.
On Monday, August 26th, 1935, Tom Robinson of Maycomb County was found guilty of beating and raping a young white woman; Robinson was found guilty of raping and sentenced to death by an electric chair. This abrupt verdict was decided after a full day at the Maycomb County courthouse. Mr. Finch, the local defense lawyer, was appointed to defend Mr. Robinson. The testimonies provided by Miss Mayella Ewell and Mr. Bob Ewell influenced the jury's decision and the guilty verdict for Mr. Robinson.
Good afternoon, my name is Chloe, and it is my pleasure to represent Maycomb County and serve as the prosecutor in this important case. The defendant at issue believes that being dishonest will get her out of trouble. The crime was committed to make Tom Robinson guilty and to protect Mayella. That way, Mayella would seem innocent. Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell on November 21.
Tom Robinson is innocent because there is a lack of solid evidence linking him to the rape of Mayella. During the trial, Mayella claims that she screamed the whole time Tom allegedly took advantage of her; however, when Atticus questions her, she is not able to come up with any probable answers to prove Atticus’ statements wrong. Atticus asks her, “‘Why didn’t the other children hear you?’. . . ‘Or didn’t you scream until you saw your father in the window? You didn’t scream until then, did you?’”, but Mayella always has no answer to his questions (Lee 250-251).
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson faces situations where he is treated differently only because he is of a different race than mostly everyone else in the town of Maycomb. Tom Robinson is a black man who was accused for raping a white woman and was then put on trial for this accusation which had also lasted for a few hours. Tom was later found guilty, later on he was shot for trying to escape prison and then died. Tom Robinson faces racism when he is accused of a crime and when the people of Maycomb called his death “typical.” Mayella Ewell argues that Tom Robinson had raped her.
In the novel called To kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how racist people were in 20th century. In the 20th century most of white people wanted to stay away from African Americans. Because they thought they were different and the white people thought they were superior. Atticus mentions in the book that Mr. Bragg, "despises Negroes, won't have one near him" (170). The whites put themselves on a higher pedestal than the blacks.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.
Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.
“ People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.”(Lee,) These words, illustrate the perspective of most people living in Maycomb at the time. Giving the ‘blacks’ the fault for all crime and mischief. In opposition when a white man commits a crime an eye can be turned.
Emily Callan Due Date: Tuesday, November 4th I am reading the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and I am on page 281. In this journal I will be predicting and… I predict that Tom Robinson will be convicted of raping Mayella Ewell because of the racism and bias he is facing.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, when Jem realizes how naive he was to believe that the jury would find Tom Robinson innocent, he becomes disillusioned with the people of Maycomb and begins to believe that everyone in the town is corrupt. The novel takes place in Maycomb Alabama, in the 1930s, and is told from the perspective of a young girl named Scout. In Maycomb County, the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man, is going on and he is on trial for his life. He is on trial because he was accused of raping Miss Mayella Ewell, a young white lady of the county. During the trial Scout and Jem, her brother, are watching the trial from the colored balcony and are hearing their father, Atticus, who is also Tom’s lawyer, give his speech
In chapters 17-24 in To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem and Scout observe their father in court defending Tom Robinson (a black man) from the accusations of the Bob Ewell (a "low grade ' ' white man). Bob Ewell accuses Tom Robinson of sexually assaulting his daughter; Mayella Ewell. Before the fate of Tom Robinson is given in the possession of the jury, both lawyers have a final attempt at convincing the jury that Tom Robinson should/shouldn 't be prosecuted. Atticus starts off his closing remarks with the fact that he believes that the case should have never come to trial and that the case "”is as simple as black and white."
(Lee 87). Atticus is trying to explain to Scout that due to the town’s prejudices against African Americans, Tom Robinson was guilty when he was first accused. The societal issue addressed in To Kill a Mockingbird was when Tom Robinson was found guilty of the rape of Mayella Ewell, and killed shortly after escaping prison. Tom Robinson was a black male who had an injured left arm and Mayella was hit on the right side of her face, making him instantly non-guilty. The societal issue of racism ties together with Atticus’s family’s
Seeing as to how Mr.Tate said Mayella’s right side of her face was busted up during the rape, we can conclude that Atticus is implying that Bob Ewell beat his daughter Mayella. Which means that Tom Robinson didn’t rape Mayella and is innocent. Harper Lee further proved Atticus’s suspicion by writing “ He guided his arm to the Bible and hid rubber-like left hand sought contact with the black binding... the useless one slipped off…”. Each man’s testimony goes to prove that Tom Robinson was innocent of Mayella’s rape.
