In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, By Harper Lee, she tells a tragic story about a noble lawyer who takes the case of an innocent black man. In this story the individuals had to face difficult decisions, where they had to make the right or wrong choices and if they wanted to please themselves or the society. Atticus had to choose between the white community to please society or the black community to please himself; he made the right choice. Atticus made the decision to help Tom Robison, whom he was accused of raping and beating Mayella by taking Tom 's case to court and prove the he was innocent to everything he was accused for. This was shown when Atticus said, "The main one is, if I didn 't I couldn 't hold my head in town, I couldn
Tom Robinson on the other hand, would do anything for anyone. Tom did lots chores and favors for Mayella Ewell, for no pay at all. You could even tell they are different by how they talk, Tom always said “Sir” and “yes” instead just “yeah!” For example on page 206 chapter 15, Tom said to Atticus “Mr. Finch?” A soft husky voice came from the darkness “They gone?”
His claim was that Tom was innocent and could never take advantage and abuse Mayella Ewell. The first reason was that Tom could not do it because Tom is right handed and crippled in his left because he got it caught in a cotton gin when he was a young boy. This shows that Tom could do it because in To kill a mockingbird it says, “It would tend to show that a left handed person did it.”Lee 238 Logos was strengthen which was appealing to the audience common sense. Bob Ewell says in the book “I can use one hand good as the other.
Because Mayella was so lonely and ashamed of what she had done, Mayella accused Tom of raping her even when he resisted all of her sexual advances. When the case was taken to court, the jury ruled that Tom was guilty mainly because of his skin color. In conclusion, because of this negative relationship, Mayella did something that was socially unacceptable, Tom was shot dead, and there was corruption throughout Maycomb County. Some men felt so much anger toward Tom they tried to kidnap him from jail just so they could kill him on their own.
He believed that he could change the way people thought about the colored people. Atticus main reason for protecting Tom is that he believes that he wouldn't be able to hold his head up to the town or even tell Scout and Jem what to
How would it feel to be tried and convicted for a crime that was misunderstood by just someone’s own skin tone? Well that happened to Tom Robinson. Why talk about this? Well it all ties into the book itself. In one of the plot lines. The central idea of To Kill a Mockingbird is that people need to see both sides of any story, throughout the story so far it’s been about seeing both sides to every argument, fight, and conflict.
Mayella Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird was put on the stand because she accused Tom Robinson of raping her. While in court Tom feels sorry for Mayella and no one liked what he had said because since it was a black man and a white woman, they were on the same social scale. Mr. Gilmer, a man against Tom states, “‘You felt sorry For her?’ Mr. Gilmer seemed ready to rise to the ceiling. The witness realized his mistake and shifted uncomfortably in the chair.
Tom shows empathy by showing affection for Mayella Ewell’s feelings even when she accuses him for committing a major crime on her. Tom’s accusation was just a cover up for Mr. Ewell beating his own daughter for coming onto the negro man. Mayella had something new every day for Tom to do for her and he helped her because “[he] felt sorry for her” (Lee 264). Since Tom is a negro, he was accused of a crime even though he did not do anything wrong except trying to help a woman in need. Link Deas backed up Tom Robinson by saying “I ain’t had a speck o’trouble outa him” (Lee 261).
To Kill a Mockingbird is an inspiring tale exploring an abundance of flaws in humanity and giving insight into the worst kind of people we can be. The novel covers many controversial topics, such as rampant racism, prejudice, and hypocrisy. The story follows Jem and Scout Finch, the children of Atticus Finch, a lawyer appointed to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white woman in 1930’s Maycomb, Alabama. This forces Atticus to deal with the stress and judgment of defending Tom in a society where no one wants to side with him, while Jem and Scout face a similar judgment for being Atticus’ children. Lee uses this setting to paint an extremely vivid picture of prejudice, which shows just how profound their effects can be. Throughout the book, Lee uses irony and characterization to demonstrate how hypocrisy and prejudice can permeate into a society 's beliefs.
Tom Robinson was a kind hard laborer. He had a large family, and worked hard to keep them stable. In the story Mayella also provoked Tom when he would pass by her house. “Mayella said, “kiss me back n*****.” on (page 197) . Mayella was afraid of Bob
On other hand, Tom Robinson’s testimony proved that he was a kind and thoughtful man by his desire to help Mayella. The Trial of Tom Robinson taught both Scout and Jem many life
the decisions made on a daily basis by humans are influenced by the public opinion, but Atticus Finch takes on a controversial case and goes against the public opinion. Being criticized by all of Maycomb for defending Tom Robinson, a black person, he risks his life to do what is right. In a society where racism and prejudice has blindfolded citizens and hidden the truth from them, Atticus accepts the case while he could have rejected it and saved himself and his family trouble and danger of being killed. Despite having almost no chance to win the case Atticus defends Tom Robinson because he feels compelled to do defend justice and set an example for his children and the
Harper Lee and Rudyard Kipling show character traits that everyone in society should have. Kipling’s poem “if” shows many traits that Lee’s character Atticus Finch has. In To Kill A Mockingbird, it tells a story about how Scout’s older brother broke his arm. During the story Scout, and the reader, learn many life lessons. Lee teaches many character traits everyone should have. Atticus, the father of Scout, has many of the positive traits described in the poem, “If”.
Throughout the story, Harper Lee is able to convey a prejudicial situation to express to readers the harms of racism. Harper Lee uses the trial of Tom Robinson to symbolize the ignorance and denial towards the subject of racism in the town of Maycomb. Atticus is able to portray how ignorant people were to ignore that Tom Robinson was an innocent man. As he states, “She was white, and tempted a negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man” (Lee 72).
The tragic event of racism takes place in a small town called Maycomb in Alabama. Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, the narrator throughout the novel describes Maycomb as a " tired old town”, where nothing out of the ordinary is bound to happen. The majority of the book takes place around the house of Atticus Finch and his children. As the story progresses, new settings such as Calpurnia’s house, the school, church and the courthouse are added on.