He lost a case because of a racist jury and lost his freedom and life along with it. To begin with, Tom Robinson is affected by racism because he is black and in society black men are not to be trusted near woman and since he was accused for raping Mayella Ewell, jury and Maycomb citizens believed that Tom Robinson was guilty. For instance, “[…] the evil assumption- that all Negro men are basically immoral beings, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women […]” (Lee 273). This shows us that many white individuals believe that black men are immoral beings and should not be trusted around woman, this instantly clicks into the jury’s mind leading a head start for the Ewell to win the case and even the jury already jumping to conclusions with their final decision with racial judgements.
When he takes this job the Maycomb community instantly criticized Atticus for helping Robinson. Atticus’ two children, Scout and Jem, are also judged because of their father’s job. Almost everyone in Maycomb has preconceived judgements against Atticus and the blacks in the community. In the novel
The realization that there is true evil within their society shakes Jem to the core. Jem, like Atticus, holds a strong belief in the goodness of all people, but after the trial he reevaluate his understanding of human nature.
A very similar thing happens in To Kill a Mockingbird, when Bob Ewell accuses Tom Robinson of raping his daughter Mayella, but Atticus proves that it was most likely Bob who did it. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s dad, the person who should be protecting her at all costs. The most common injustice in the novel appears when the kids find the case between Tom Robinson and the Ewell family to be unfair, highly illogical, and racist. When the verdict of guilty is revealed to the town, Jem becomes upset and says, “You just can’t convict a man on evidence like that- you can’t”
His prejudice is clear when he says that “I’ve lived among ‘em all my life. You can’t believe a word they say” when speaking about the boy (16). Juror Ten’s prejudice causes him to disregard all of the facts that are presented to him by Juror Eight that can prove that the accused is not guilty. Juror 10 allows his prejudice to blind him of the truth. That is until he is called out by his fellow jurors.
One step Forward, Two steps Back. When most people think of intense racism, they think of the horrible ways people of color were treated many years ago. Unfortunately, many people think racism is a thing of the past, when this is, in fact, false. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, racism is shown as common practice to many and a monstrosity to very few. Unfortunately, in the small town of Maycomb County, racism wins out as an African American man named Tom Robinson is falsely accused of raping a woman and is sentenced to death.
Tom says he feels bad for Mayella, and everyone in the courthouse is shocked because African American children were taught not to “feel sorry” for white people. Lee’s novel highlighted the innocence and evils of the world and society throughout it. Scout and Jem learn that every man deserves a fair trial no matter what skin color (Smiley 504). By the end of the
In this town, the prejudiced jury refused to accept the obvious facts revealing Tom’s innocence. Nonetheless, Atticus strongly defended him, while consequently humiliating Bob Ewell and his family in the process. Enraged, Bob threatens Atticus, vowing to do him harm. Atticus, however, did not consider this a serious
Because Tom is African American, Atticus and his family are tormented by the town. Even through all the racism in To Kill a Mockingbird, un-prejudice acts of courage are shown throughout the book. Like how Martin Luther King peacefully started the movement to end segregation, characters Walter Cunningham, who
Close to the end of the trial when Tom Robinson is saying his final statement he says “Well I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try harder then the rest of em”(Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird) which showed that black people had feelings too, but what he said was turned against him in a flash [Because he was on trial for rape]. The jury of Maycomb looked past the good and went straight to him being a monster Scout did not understand how bad Tom Robinson’s statement was. The trial showed that Scout was still too young to fully understand everything that was going on in the trial showing why it was so
In TKAM justice is not applied equally, especially regarding white and non-white, and adult and child. With white and non-white one of the main reasons Tom Robinson goes to court for rape is because that he is a black man testifying against a white family. Even though the evidence obviously points to Mayella trying to kiss Tom Robinson, Robinson is still considered guilty because of his ethnicity. This is extremely unfair and biased because he is obviously innocent, and being persecuted for no reason other than the fact that the judge and people in the town are racist. With adult and child, Atticus tries to keep his children from the court.
prejudice and injustice in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other. ”- Martin Luther King Jr. Prejudice is, by definition, a pre-existing bias without any proof or evidence. A distorted way of thinking that rotten the mind, alienates, and dehumanises one group or an individual.
Numerous people prove their points through other things such as books, songs, etc., so they could be heard by others. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a great example, considering the story’s plot and the many characters that represent it. Harper Lee wrote about was racism and how it affected people, using symbolism to help readers know what racism was like in the country back then so it wouldn’t happen again in the future. The idea of racism is in the whole book.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” is a worldwide sensation and one of the highest sellers in the world, published in 1960 with immediate success. The plot if the story is based on the 10-year-old author’s (Scout) observations of her family and people in Maycomb, Alabama. The novel is well known for its subtle humour and warmth, along with the severe issues of rape and ethnic inequality. Throughout the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, set in the 1930’s the different social classes are clearly defined from a person’s features, such as a person’s skin colour, their work place or someone’s financial earnings. The finch family start at the top of the hierarchy, then general townspeople, the Cunningham family is and at the bottom are the Ewells.
Everyone Grows Up Sometime: Coming of Age in To Kill a Mockingbird Prior to the spring break of my seventh grade year, I didn’t know how harsh the world could really be. I mean I knew about sickness, violence, death, all that good stuff, but I just sort of blew it off because nothing in my life had happened to where I needed to face those things. When I was 12 during spring break, I was as happy as any child would be on their spring vacation, but one day my parents pulled me and my brother aside and told us some pretty devastating news. They had told us that our grandfather had passed away in a house fire a few days ago.