In South Alabama during the Great Depression, a young black man was accused of rape by very poor and uneducated family. The Ewells who accused Tom was despised all through Maycomb. Everyone knew that they were lying, but Tom Robinson was still convicted and eventually shot after trying to run away from prison. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, when Tom died shortly after the trial, there was some grief through Maycomb County, including Helen, his wife. However, Miss Merriweather, a wealthier women with a African American maid, and Bob Ewell, who did not really care and thought it was a good thing he died.
When Atticus tells Helen of Tom’s death she immediately falls to the ground in disbelief. Dill and Jem were swimming as Atticus came home with big news, as he requested to borrow Cal to tell Helen about the news. When Atticus came home Dill and Jem caught Atticus and asked to come with him to Helen’s, as he said they could. After Atticus told Helen about Tom’s death Dill said, “She just fell down in the dirt. Just fell down in the dirt, like a giant with a big foot just came down and stopped on her” (Lee 322). Now that Tom has died, she will no longer have a way to get money unless she gets a job, which it has been hard for her to get a job after Tom’s conviction. Due to Tom’s conviction, she will
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On the other hand there were some people, like the Finch family, who would not despise people based on their color. The first idea is that Helen was in disbelief as she fell to the ground. Then, the other idea was Mrs. Merriweather and Bob Ewell were fairly perky with how things ended up with the case and shooting. The main connection between them is they all came up with the idea that people are equal, but as with Bob and Mrs. Merriweather they think only whites are equal and blacks should not be