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Why Is The Scottsboro Trial Important In To Kill A Mockingbird

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To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee about a young girl’s life in Alabama during the 1930s. Harper Lee wrote TKAM to bring attention to the racism that had been ongoing in the South. Some important topics related to this novel are the Scottsboro trials, the 1930s in the South, and social class. The Scottsboro Trials involved nine black teens accused of raping and attacking white teens on a train. Also, "The initial trials happened quickly, with as little as a day for each trial" (The Scottsboro Boys Trial). which, for such a huge trial, is not a long time and shows that there was very little thought in the decision-making process. Overall, Harper Lee’s novel demonstrates a connection between racial and social realities in …show more content…

Mayella Ewell kissed Tom and then Bob got extremely mad and beat his daughter, and he blamed it on Tom because he was black, and wouldn’t win the case. Everyone knew that Tom wouldn’t win the case because he was black, and the Ewells could say whatever lies they wanted to and they would still win. Scout had asked Atticus, "are we going to win it?" "no honey" (Lee 87). Atticus knew that no matter how good a defense you could have, the whites would still win no matter what. Bob Ewell took out his anger on Tom Robinson, and in the 1930s, "Many whites sought to protect their former status by threatening African Americans who exercised their new rights" (1930s in the South and To Kill A Mockingbird). The quote plays a significant role throughout the novel because the final verdict is known at the start of the trial, similar to what happened in the 1930s. Not only did the 1930s in the South and TKAM have similarities, but they also had …show more content…

One idea was that in Maycomb there was a "totem pole" of social classes. The Finch's were on top, then the Cunningham's, then the Ewell's, and then the blacks. One day, Scout asked Aunt Alexandra if she could hang out with Walter Cunningham, Aunt Alexandra said no "because—he—is—trash"(Lee) She believes that the Finch’s wealth," even though they are poor, outnumbers the Cunninghams by too much, so Walter can’t come over. In the 1930s, "people who were of a higher class "flaunt(ed) their wealth more than ever" (Racial Hierarchies in To Kill a Mockingbird) and believed that they were better than the people of the lower class. Since the Cunninghams were of higher wealth than the Ewells, they didn’t have anyone else to take their anger out on other than the blacks. So that’s what Bob Ewell did to Tom Robinson and got him killed. TKAM and social classes in the 1930s played an important

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Tom Robinson was a black man who was being accused of raping a young girl named Mayella Ewell (Lee). Before Tom Robinson ever goes to trial, the legal system and

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Mayella vs. Victoria: To Kill A Mockingbird vs. Scottsboro Trial “He couldn’t get us to the chair fast enough.” Haywood Patterson a young black boy accused of raping two young girls named Victoria Price and Ruby Bates said this during his trial. Patterson said this about the judge of the case he was involved in. This was in the Scottsboro trial where a group of black boys was accused of raping the two young girls Victoria and Ruby. This same topic is brought up in the book To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee when a young lady named Mayella Ewell accuses a black man named Tom Robinson of raping her.

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To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about an african american man who has there life on the line because his being falsely accused of raping a white woman. To Kill a Mockingbird was based off the true story of the Scottsboro boys who were a group of african american teenagers who all had their lives on the line for being falsely accused of raping two white women. Both of these cases are similar because they both have to do with african american men who are being falsely accused of rape, deal with racial injustice or hatred, and are both represented by kind white lawyers. Both the Scottsboro case and the Tom Robinson case, where about black men that had their lives on the line for being falsely accused of rape. On April 9th,1931 an Alabama judge sentenced

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Throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, racism was still a huge part in our society and this is demonstrated through the Scottsboro Trial and the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The first place this is shown, was after everybody heard about the supposed rape of the white girls. There were protests and tons of people showing hate towards the black men. Another example of this, was all the assumptions white people made, that the only logical explanation for the incident was that the black men raped the white girls. This assumption was without listening to the evidence or facts proving the man's innocence during the trial.

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1103 Words | 5 Pages

To Kill a Mockingbird was a book written in 1960 by Harper Lee, the novel commented on and exhibited the social injustices of the early 20th century. More specifically speaking, the horrid displays of prejudice and racism in the Scottsboro Trials of 1931. The Scottsboro Case involved two white women accusing nine African-American teenagers of raping them in the back of a dark train car. The trial occurred in southern Alabama and held an all-white jury. Although the boys were very clearly innocent they were still convicted and given the death sentence.

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2009 Words | 9 Pages

These trials focused around a group of black boys who were persecuted and treated unfairly due to the color of their skin. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, grew up during the time this was taken place and it shows in her writing. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird revolves around the trial of Tom Robinson, a trial very reminiscent of the Scottsboro Trials of the 1930s. The two trials have many similarities in characters, events, and the verdict.

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1069 Words | 5 Pages

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a controversial trial between a white family and a black man during the Great Depression is depicted. Bob Ewell, who lives in a run down house by a dumpster, comes home to see his daughter, Mayella, being taken advantage of by Tom Robinson. When their case arrives in court, Tom Robinson argues that he was merely trying to help Mayella Ewell when she tried to kiss him. Although Mr. Robinson was found guilty, Bob Ewell still wants revenge on the attorney representing Tom Robinson, Atticus, and decides to attack his children.

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In today’s world, many people live their lives by the way they are influenced by society. People nowadays are influenced by society in many ways. They are influenced by the way other people react to certain situations, any news they see in the media, or just the way they were raised by their families. With the victims of the Scottsboro trial and the novel To Kill a Mockingbird you can see how all these things plays an effect on the way Mayella, Ruby, and Victoria are shaped and you will see how the character, Mayella, relates to the non-fictional victims of the Scottsboro trial. During the trial in both the fictional and non-fictional cases society plays a big role on shaping the people involved as victims.

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1123 Words | 5 Pages

Till was beat so horrifically and then disposed of into a river just for “flirting” with a white woman (The death of Emmett Till). Although Robinson’s death was not as bad as Till’s it can relate in many ways. One way is they were both looked at as awful people through the eyes of whites for either a crime

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418 Words | 2 Pages

For one, Bob Ewell’s family name is low in the social hierarchy. His family isn’t reputable. In addition, he is known to abuse alcohol which causes him to act irrational. Therefore, these factors could lead to Bob Ewell accusing an innocent black man, Tom Robinson of raping his daughter. Meanwhile, the evidence shows that himself was committing these bad crimes to his very own daughter.

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474 Words | 2 Pages

Author Harper Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960 during a time of change in the United States, race relations were strained, civil rights leaders were emerging from sit-ins and protests and states confronted the tensions of segregation. To Kill a Mockingbird, while fictional, had a plot that resonated with many southern whites and African Americans, that of racial injustice and loss of innocence. The author claims that the plot is based on her interpretation of events that occurred in her home state of Alabama. While she does not reference the exact event the plot is based on there are similarities to the Scottsboro, Alabama case that occurred in 1931 in which nine African American males were accused of raping a white woman on a train to Mississippi. The novel deals with the serious issues of racial inequality as well as issues of leadership, courage and integrity.

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589 Words | 3 Pages

To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell, a white teenage girl, falsely accuses Tom Robinson, a black man, of rape. With this incident taking place during the 1930s the predominantly white townspeople were against Tom. What really happened was that Mayella forced Tom to kiss her because she had never experienced kindness from anyone else; however, her father Bob Ewell saw the incident as well. Her father’s best idea to cover up the situation is to accuse Tom of rape and assault. During the trial, instead of coming out with

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1463 Words | 6 Pages

After Bob Ewell attacks Scout and Jem, the Sheriff plainly identifies Ewell as being responsible for Tom’s death describing it as happening for “no reason”. To Kill a Mockingbird repeatedly points to Bob Ewell as a racist and deeply unkind man yet fails to apply that same level of moral questioning to the other townspeople. Even after hearing articulate evidence proving Tom’s innocence, the people of the jury - having assumedly racist beliefs - still convict him. Preserving the movie’s optimistic outlook on the moral integrity of society, this injustice and the role of Maycomb’s residents in it is never fully addressed as the scene quickly shifts to Tom’s death. To Kill a Mockingbird wants audiences to believe in the integrity of man’s moral character highlighting the Sheriff’s condemnation of Ewell and subsequent protection of Boo Radley and Atticus’ honorable defense of Tom.

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857 Words | 4 Pages

Essay In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County. The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.

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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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