Essay On The Scottsboro Trial And Tom Robinson's Trial

Bob was expected and sounded happy about it. This evidence shows that Tom is the mockingbird. His innocence is starting to be destroyed, not just by Bob but the jury, and all the white people that are just stereotyping Tom because of his color. In this next quote, this is more in depth on the town of Maycomb and how they stereotype blacks. Scout was mad about the people that watched the court case and how they treated Tom, by calling him names and

Even though Tom Robinson was innocent he still was wrongly accused, then apon going to prison Tom Robinson was later shot 17 times. One would think if he was breaking rules 1 bullet would take care of things, but 17 shots is clearly a act on hate and racism. Another quote that helps determine how Lee used Robinson to expose the truth about the justice system is, "Tom Robinson 's a colored man, Jem. No jury in this part of the world 's going to say 'We think you 're guilty, but not very ' on a charge like that. It was either a straight acquittal or nothing" (Lee 219).

¨He hit me again and again...¨(Lee, 241) Those words of Mayella Ewell helped put Tom Robinson, an innocent man, in jail. Mayella Ewell is a member of the Ewells, the “scum” of Maycomb County, who live in the town dump and depend on food stamps and illegal trapping to survive. Mayella is a liar who won’t admit her wrongs and is willing to put someone who did nothing wrong in jail just so she won 't get in trouble with her father. She also lies to cover up a secret she has, so the people in Maycomb will not know the truth about her.

Another example of racism would be Tom Robinson and his whole court case; despite all the clear evidence that Atticus, a lawyer, provided, the jury, which is made up of all white prejudice men, were in favor of Mr. Ewell, a nasty white man, instead of Tom, who was not only black but crippled. Regardless of the fact that the jury was well aware of the fact that the Ewell family is known for being nasty, lying, no-gooders, An example of this is when Atticus states his views on the Ewell family as, “the disgrace of Maycomb.” The fact that they were white, is what aided them in winning the case. Causing the jury to send a blind eye to the fact that Mayella and possibly the rest of her siblings are being abused and manipulated. Thus, resulting in Tom’s arrest for a crime he didn 't commit.

An example of this is when John Procter is accused he had to confess or he would have been hanged and when he confessed it was not enough for Danforth. Danforth wanted Proctor to sign a confession “Come then, sign your testimony” (cite). He says this even though Procter has made it obvious that he is confessing to a crime he did not commit. Danforth does not care about this though he only wants Procter to confess to secure his own reputation and so his authority does not go into question. This as well as most of the actions that took place during the trials shows how corrupt Danforth was and that all the people who died in the name of the “law” really died to secure Danforth’s own idea of

When Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman, accuses Tom Robinson, a black man, of rape, Atticus takes up the trial and will represent Tom Robinson in court to help prove his innocence. The trial goes on and on and many witnesses are called to the stand but, in the end Tom Robinson loses. He is found guilty and sentenced to the electric chair. The theme of “race” is brought up a lot in the book To Kill A Mockingbird, and that’s the theme to focus on. Race has been a controversial issue going back four centuries, and this novel portrays race in an unfamiliar way to others, but very familiar to Lee.

The conflict perspective describes a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of groups that are competing for scarce resources . Since the title of the book is “To Kill a Mockingbird” Mockingbirds are used to represent innocent creatures that are mistreated or “Killed”, which relates back to the main theme of the book which is the destruction of innocence. the author gives some examples of mockingbirds such as Tom Robinson. Though he was blantly innocent, since Tom was a negro man accused of raping a white woman he loses. A substantial amount of evidence and witnesses proved that he did not commit the crime, however he was still found guilty.

The only lower class in the town were the African American people living in the town. This ties in to racial discrimination that leads to unfair society because tom Robinson is a black man that is accused of raping Mayella Ewell even though evidence contradicts he ever committed the crime. He was found guilty due to the fact he is a black man and it’s his word against a white man’s word this is an unfair society because the people of Maycomb county had to side with the Ewells even though Tom Robinson is innocent because the Ewells are white. Furthermore, this ties in with the quote that jack said “The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinsons word over the Ewells” (Lee. Page 117) because Tom Robinson lives in an unfair society where his opinion doesn’t matter in the face of the people in Maycomb county.

The only reason he got accused no white man did because he was a different color than everyone who was against him. Also, the whole jurors were white while he was the only black man in the courtroom. “... The evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral, that all Negroes men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associate with minds of their caliber.” Every negro did not have the same rights as a white man.

These contrasting rulings showed how the biases the jurors had based on their race was major factor in their decision in their respective trial. In a 1996 study done by Rosen, it is shown that black women polled had a negative view of both Marcia Clark and Nicole Brown,

238). Atticus made it very easy for the court to see that it was a grand possibility that Mr. Ewell indeed beat up his own daughter for wanting to be with a black man. From the quote I can sense that Atticus is proving very well that Mr. Ewell beat his own daughter, however no one in the courtroom wants to believe this statement is true. There is also substantial evidence leading to the fact that Mr. Ewell aggressively attacked his own flesh and blood. Scout ponders about Mr. Ewell being left handed and thinks, “If her right eye was blacked and she was beaten mostly on the right side of the face, it would tend to show that a left handed person did it.

Racism and segregation was very prominent in the past. In the article ‘’the scottsboro trials reveal racism’’ from great events it says that two women accused 9 african american boys of rape with no proof. 8 of them were sentenced to death. In relation to those cases the scottsboro trials reveal racism says ‘’most non-alabamians who followed the story and growing numbers of people with the state, came to believe that the defendants were innocent

One of the main events in To Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch’s case involving a black man, Tom Robinson, and a white female, Mayella Ewell. She was known for being part of one of the most disgusting families in town and accusing Mr. Robinson of raping her after she asked him inside the house to help her with a chore. Since she was white and Mr. Robinson was black, no matter what was said, the jury would take the white persons side of it due to the discrimination of blacks during that time. With Lee being the daughter of a well-known lawyer in the county it is evident that she was aware of the happenings of the Scottsboro Case enough to have been the influence of the Robinson Case in To Kill a Mockingbird. During this time period blacks had no authority and often looked over no matter the circumstances.

There is no skirting around the terrible event that happened against Thompson. She deserved justice, but the system failed her, it also failed Ronald Cotton. When Thompson was hesitant picking Cotton, saying the suspect was either numbers 4 or 5, then for whatever reason settled on number 5, she decided she was certain he was the man who raped her. This was all the police needed to have Cotton put on trial, it seems that whomever Thompson chose would be the one to serve time. Detective Gauld used composites he assembled (based off Thompson’s word) to recreate the rapist.

The bias and bigotry alive in two communities propelled forward the conviction of two guilt free individuals. There was never any significant correlation between Tom Robinson and Steven Avery, that is until Steven Avery was accused and sentenced for a crime he did not commit; much like the famous character Tom Robinson from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The foundation of such trials, despite baring significant faults, proved strong enough to condemn. Although the Tom Robinson case and the Steven Avery case possess striking differences their resemblances are exceedingly pronounced.