Have you ever heard anything about an innocent man who was accused of raping a 19 year old girl. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee states how people were mistreading colored people. First, Mayella and her father accused Tom Robinson of “raping Mayella”, then Tom Robinson is called guilty without any evidence of a doctor exam of rape, and how they shoot Tom Robinson 17 times when he tries to escape by climbing a fence. Mr. Ewell accused Tom Robinson of raping his 19 year old daughter. Tom Robinson was in court, with Atticus as his layer, for “raping” Mayella. Lee states the court interrogations. Mayella was asked a lot of questions and she didn’t have answers to all of them, like right here, “ “Or didn’t you scream until you saw your father in the window? You didn’t think to scream until then, did you?” No answer. “Did you scream first at the father instead of Tom Robinson? Was that it? No answer.” (251). She struggled with her answers too. She seemed like as if she was under a lot of pressure. …show more content…
Tom Robinson was declared guilty and there wasn’t even a doctor exam that said that Mayella was raped. Lee states “ I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: “Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty…” I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony separate stb between them” (282). There was hardly any evidence of anything the Ewells were saying but their own
20-year old , Chelsea Steiniger accused Mark Weiner, a Caucasian 52-year old male, of kidnapping and sexually assaulting her back in 2012. Wiener had seen Chelsea walking home through a convenience store’s parking lot after her boyfriend had kicked her out of his house and upon seeing her, Weiner drove Chelsea to her mother’s house. She was texting her boyfriend demeaning texts posing as her kidnapper, Mark. Her boyfriend had called the police when he received the demeaning text messages Chelsea had sent him.
In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A MockingBird, she teaches us that you don’t want to judge people for what they look like or how they act. For instance, it talks about how how Tom Robinson was found guilty, when there wasn’t reliable evidence for him to be found guilty. They know he didn’t rape Mayella, but since he was black, they confirmed him as guilty. He wouldn’t have gotten a fair trial, so judge Taylor appointed Atticus to Tom. Tom Robinson was found guilty because he was black.
The Trial of Tom Robinson In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, racism is explored, and you are able to consider every factor in Tom Robinson’s trial. Tom Robinson, a black male, was accused of raping a white woman in the small county of Maycomb, Alabama. The woman was he was accused of raping is named Mayella Ewell.
In the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson has been accused of raping Mayella Ewell. He is well known for being a Christian man, but Mr. Ewell claims he saw him raping his daughter. I believe Tom Robinson is innocent because of the Ewell family history, lack of evidence, and he has a disability that causes a problem with the testimony. The Ewell family is nowhere near perfect. Mr. Bob Ewell is known for his violent actions and words.
The Biased Trial of Tom Robinson Tom never would've been guilty if it weren't for a biased courtroom. In To Kill a Mockingbird Tom Robinson is accused of raping a young white girl named Mayella. Tom Robinson had lots of evidence that he was not guilty but the community was against Tom Robinson. Here is some evidence that proves that the accusations were motivated because he was black.
THE INTRODUCTION Good evening, my name is Kylee Marshik, it's my job to represent the state of Maycomb and serve as a prosecutor on this extremely important case. On August 26, 1936 the defendant Mr. Horace Gilmer was representing his client Bob Ewell in the case of Maycomb vs Robinson, when he allegedly disrespected and abused the defendant on stand. When it was time for the defendant to go on stand and testify, the defendant Tom Robinson was being questioned by Mr. Gilmer when the allegations took place, Mr. Gilmer said disrespectful and hurtful things to the defendant Tom Robinson that were not called for, Tom was called hurtful and offensive names, slurs, and phrases. At the conclusion of the trial, when you have heard all the evidence,
Tom Robinson was put on trial on August 26th, 1935 for the raping of Mayella Violet Ewell and was found guilty not much longer after that. The crime, November 21st, 1934, has two different views- the Ewell’s and then Tom’s. I, Jem Atticus Finch, believe Tom Robinson is not guilty for numerous reasons. My dad, Atticus Finch was the defendant of Tom Robinson and I too wish to defend him. I’m a twelve year old boy living in Maycomb County with my Aunt, father, and sister.
Comparing and Contrasting the Trials of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scottsboro Boys The Great Depression of the 1930s affected every race living in the United States but no race was hit harder than the African Americans. Africans Americans were usually the victims of injustices by the hands of white people. In courtrooms race was valued more than evidence when giving a verdict for an African America. This is similar to the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s
The United States prides itself on the principle of equality. In the Declaration of Independence, the very basis of the nation, it states "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Despite this promise, Maycomb county lacks the humanity and fairness that America promises. Not only do the whites of the county show obvious contempt for the blacks, but they are willing to go as far as to murder one, Tom Robinson, in cold blood, depriving him of the basic right promised by our great country. Tom deserves the appeal due to the biased jury, the insubstantial physical evidence given by Mayella, Mr. Ewell, and Heck Tate, and the
Mayella Ewell hints at an uglier relationship with her father than is ever revealed, and along her guilt and pressure from her father, she puts the blame for the abuse on a black man who could easily be convicted, setting Bob Ewell free. Mayella was lonely, and frequently tried to talk with Tom Robinson, “As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world...: white people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes would have anything to do with her because she was white...” (Doc E). Mayella's own guilt and self-conscious force her to claim Tom Robinson has raped her so that he will be taken away and she will no longer be tempted. The Ewells seemed to have picked Tom Robinson as the man to blame because he was black, and blacks rarely won court cases over
People tend to believe that trial by jury is the best way to keep the trial completely fair to both parties involved. In some cases, though, it is the opposite of that. One of these cases is in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In the trial, Tom Robinson, a black man, was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a white family. Tom’s attorney, Atticus, was able to prove that Tom was innocent, but the verdict was that Tom was guilty.
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.
’”(pg 187). This evidence shows that Mayella had nothing to say because she knew that she was caught lying and he showed the jury that they were lying. Therefore the Ewell family is not telling the truth in every response and is more likely Tom is not
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”.
In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee took the minor character of Mayella Ewell and made her into a sympathetic role to her readers in a latent way. Mayella's life at home is told through the story's background and foreshadowing references. This is how Lee made Mayella memorable enough to the reader to know who she is and her family situation without needing her point of view of her side of the story. Once Mayella enters the storyline, her actions will become understandable to the reader and generate sympathy. One way Lee makes Mayella a sympathetic character is how before entering her into the story, one of Mayella's younger siblings was introduced.