Essay On Atticus Justice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Leading up to the Civil Rights Movement, the black community was in a constant battle against law enforcement treating them unfair compared to the white community. The Scottsboro Boys and Emmett Till’s cases were one of the many times that the legal system showed to be unfair to blacks. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, the law enforcement and community were very racist against blacks and believed all blacks were criminals. In the story, Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer gets put into a very difficult situation and decides to defend a black man, who went by the name of Tom Robinson.

Atticus was a white male lawyer who took the case of a African American man named Tom Robinson while today that would be normal but in the 1930’s it was not. Despite it not being normal in that time period Mr. Atticus Finch took the Tom Robinson case and tried his best to defend him. At the end of court the jury voted the defendant Tom Robinson guilty later Tom Robinson was shot 17 times because he tried to “run away”. The prosecutor Bob Ewell was mad at Atticus for defending an African American man and threatened him and his family, later he attacked Jem and scout, Atticus’s children, only to be saved by a mysterious Mr. Arthur Radley. The real question is was Atticus Finch wise to defend Tom Robinson even though the drawbacks for his children.

Mayella accused Tom of rape, which was proven false but the jury decided to choose the voice of a white girl over a black man, which was common during this period of time. The jury then found Tom Robinson guilty, then sentenced Tom to prison. Some may say that Tom Robinson was at fault for entering the Ewell household but Mayella asked tom to come inside, and help her with some tasks which then started the accusations of Tom Raping Maylla Ewell. Tom only helped Mayella because he was black and he wanted to stay on her good side which unfortunately did not happen. Mayella spoke against Tom which caused the jury to find him guilty.

The jury came to the conclusion, with no evidence the offense happened, that Tom Robinson was guilty. Based on the grudges and resentments of those men, Tom Robinson was never going to receive a fair trial with the jury given. ANTICIPATE THE DEFENSE

“You did the crime, now you do the time,” this age old adage is currently being used to describe Tom Robinson and the case against him; however, Tom will no longer serve time, considering that police officers murdered him when he attempted to flee from prison. A legion of people believes that Tom Robinson’s actions ultimately led to his demise, and that he is just another worthless human. In actuality, the father of the accuser, Bob Ewell, was the cause of Tom’s death. Maycomb’s most reclusive citizen saw an opportunity to capitalize on the town’s racist nature, and gain a few seconds in the limelight. Furthermore, this newly found fame would provide a stark difference from his everyday life of being the town’s most hated resident, and hopefully

During the 1930s the south was still raging with racism, and the thought of a black man raping a white woman lead to no further investigation whether it was true or false, he was simply sentenced to death. Atticus Finch, Toms adept lawyer, believed Soulfly in equality and justice for all and was more than happy to defend Tom Robinson with all his heart no matter his race. The Finch family felt very different than the majority of people in Maycomb Alabama. When Tom Robinson has accused the entirety of the town flocked to the courthouse to view the trial. Some with hopes for justice and liberty but most unapologetically hoping for an unfair sentence.

Though people are fond of Atticus himself, his decision to aim for Tom Robinson’s justice causes discomfort, “ ‘Lemme tell you somethin’ now, Billy’ a third said, ‘you know the court appointed him to defend this nigger.’ ‘Yeah, but Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what I don’t like about it” (186). The quote exposes that everyone understand the fact that he is assigned to the case but do not understand as to why he is so intent on proving a black man’s innocence. Since Atticus exceedingly expresses his thought on Tim’s innocence and involves so much of himself in the case with a black person, he obtains negative feedback and gets called a nigger-lover.

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

Atticus is faced with many threats along the way and is shunned in the community for defending a man of such a heinous crime. During the trial Atticus makes many strong arguments and it is plainly

In our society, innocent people, known as mockingbirds, experience prejudice in their lives. A/T: In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Background: Tom Robinson is a black person who’s was accused of raping a white girl named Mayella Ewell which he has never done. For this reason, Atticus Finch was appointed to be his lawyer. As a result, Atticus takes a stand for him by approving his case and standing up for him, but Tom was still found guilty.

He was appointed to defend a black man named Tom Robinson for raping Mayella Ewell. Most townsfolk caught news of this and instantly began to give Atticus dirty looks and began calling him vulgar names. Atticus, is a very nice person who wants to do the right thing, and he has an opinion about people who disagree with him defending Tom Robinson. “They’re certainly entitled to think they, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions.” (120).

Atticus Finch was selected as the greatest movie hero by the American Film Institute ahead of many characters whom we more often recognize as “traditional” heroes because in the movie he was one of the few white people that supported blacks. Back then, many people didn’t treat black people well and since, Atticus stood up for Tom, a black man he is known to be a hero even though he didn’t win the case. He was selected amongst many characters because he did a brave thing….Atticus Finch is heroic because he didn’t care what other people thought about him and he defended a black man, named Tom for being accused of hurting a girl. Atticus knew he didn’t have much chance of winning the case because the jury was white, but he still tried to help

The testimonies reveal how deep-rooted the racism within Maycomb runs, as it is present even in court rulings and how casually present it is. The court is taking place, and the order of prosecutor’s witnesses who are: Mr. Heck Tate, the sheriff; Mr. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father; and Mayella Ewell, the one who is accusing Tom Robinson of raping her. When it’s Mr. Ewell’s turn to speak, he does so with many racial slurs and slang embedded in his accusations. When relaying what he saw to the jury, he points at Tom and yells “―I seen that black n*gger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” Mr. Ewell, who, although, has never been a part of a court case or viewed one, doesn’t truly care, or notice, that so far into the formal case, not one person has used racial slang to talk about Tom, and uses the term n*gger quite casually.

Effects of Racism “Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics. ”-Alex Haley To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel that is greatly affected by the way others see the world. Scout, a young girl, growing up in Maycomb a place where racism is accepted.

Furthermore he defends a black man in court. At the time (and maybe still even now) Maycomb, Alabama, is from our perspective a really racist county, and in this culture it takes a lot of courage to go against the tide and not to judge a black man merely of his skin colour or origin, but instead to put his worries before ones own. Most people in Maycomb, who believe black Tom Robinson is innocent, also believe that there is no chance of winning the case and they lack the courage to risk getting a bad reputation with nothing to gain from it. Atticus is probably the only one whose moral views forbid him to look