How Is Atticus Finch Justified In To Kill A Mockingbird

No Grey Have you ever been accused of something you weren’t guilty of? In the critically acclaimed novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch, the protagonist’s father, is tasked with defending an African-American man named Tom Robinson against an allegation of rape; which, despite alarmingly assertive evidence to the contrary, he is indeed convicted of. Before this occurs, however, Finch attempts to avoid the conviction by structuring his defense to the jury in a manner that makes it appear that the respective correlation between right and wrong and finding Tom innocent and finding him guilty, is as starkly evident as black and white. In the endeavor to accomplish this, he uses the rhetorical methods of delayed sentence, realism, and Holy War in his closing statements to convey the implication that discriminatory and demeaning preconceived notions regarding African-Americans universally accepted within the Maycomb community are unjustified and irrational, and that an innocent

Of course, she blames Robinson for the act, despite the inconsistent certitude that his left arm was eviscerated in a cotton mill during a calamitous accident suffered during his childhood. This startling attestation is furthermore enunciated when Atticus utilizes delayed sentence in the following declaration: “Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses—his right hand,”(Lee 273). By highlighting Tom’s crippled state in such a melodramatic fashion, Atticus not only establishes the now nearly irrefutable notion of Robinson’s innocence, but also garners sympathy from the jury for his client, both of which are essential factors in his