A Fair Trial In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

“This case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, this case should have never came to trial. This case is as simple as black and white. (203)

Although, without any shred of proof, Tom Robinson goes on trial for the rape of Mayella Ewell. This pre-determined bias is exhibited clearly through the actions and words that the people of Maycomb ensue, all because of his skin colour. Tom Robinson is ridiculed, name called, and dehumanised by the citizens of Maycomb and is left to face an unfair trial. From the beginning, Tom Robinson does not have a fair chance to defend himself as the jury is highly biased against people of colour. Also, Atticus Finch explains why Tom Robinson has zero chance of winning the trial, “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads-they couldn’t be fair if they tried.

(Lee, 295) Due to this, they convicted innocent Tom Robinson as guilty, considering his ethnic background as a black man and the accuser as a white woman. Not only did Atticus's children detect the racial prejudice in the courtroom, but in people they knew. Sadly, due to the racism thoughts and judgments, Tom's trial did not consist of a fair

Novelist Harper Lee, in her book To Kill a Mockingbird, depicts the racism and inequalities in the town of Maycomb by having a white man, Atticus Finch, defend Tom Robinson who was black. Lee’s purpose is to show the world is unfair between races and we need to have compassion for others. She adopts a serious tone to appeal to people’s morals to do the right the thing by those seeking changes for equality. Throughout his closing argument, Atticus ensures credibility, mentioning God, and by presenting evidence that Tom Robinson is not guilty but someone in the courtroom is, to explain Mayella’s reasoning to lie.

Tom Robinson is in court because he is accused of raping Bob Ewell 's daughter. Tom is a black man and during that time they were still being discriminated and being treated unfairly. Bob is a white man and when a white man accuses a black man of anything the white man is the outcome is usually in the white man 's favor. In the courthouse Atticus was trying to defend Tom Robinson, he uses an allusion and says, " But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal--there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein..." (210).

What are the major ethical dilemmas (laws of life) of To Kill a Mockingbird? How do different characters resolve these dilemmas?

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.

Imagine living during a time where you would be discriminated against and divided just because the color of your skin. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a black man named Tom Robinson was falsely accused of having raped a white woman and was not given a fair trial. The towns hatred towards black people have caused a prejudice to occur against him. The jury was made up of only white males who are biased against black people due to this prejudice. Tom has good morals, is noble, and a good-hearted human being.

The answer is no. and why is that? Because after the trial Tom tried running and he was shot 17 times. Tom Robinson was put on to trial for being accused of rape of Mayella Ewell. He was found guilty and in the end he was killed.

Tom Robinson had no chance of freedom just because his skin was of a different color than what the jury preferred even though he was innocent, as Atticus Finch proved. Tom Robinson ended up getting killed in prison, leaving his wife and children to

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”.

Race is part of the story that ties everything together. The Tom Robinson trial had a negative outcome because of race. As Atticus was defending Tom the jury would still lean towards Bob and Mayella Ewell’s side of the story, because Bob was a strong, white man and Tom is a poor, black man. Atticus Finch received a lot of hate while he was defending Tom. The people of Maycomb did not agree with a white man defending a black man.

Atticus says during Tom’s trial,”And so a quiet, respectable, humble, Negro who had that unmitigated temerity to ‘feel sorry’ for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people’s. I need not remind you of their appearance and conduct on the stand-you saw them for yourselves. The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to the court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you can tell me where to go

In my opinion that is truly unfair. It makes sense as to why Atticus decided to defend Tom Robinson. He continuously tries to find the good in everyone and believes that the black community contains good people. Atticus had mentioned to his brother, Jack, that Tom was innocent but “doomed”. It was impossible

He and his family have been risen in an environment that has always looked down on the coloured community. Racism begins from a younger age, though how they see other people being treated through their parents. There will also always be an element of racism when people, such as Mr. Ewell, refuse to see otherwise. Harper Lee has shown through Atticus that there is elements of hope, but overall, racism will always exist in some form. Does Tom Robinson receive a fair trial under the law?