The jury’s verdict for the Tom Robinson trial was guilty. The reasons why the verdict was guilty, is simply because they were racist. They all heard clear evidence on how Tom was guilty from Atticus, but if anyone on the jury were to disagree that a black man was innocent, they would have been shamed by the whole county. This case is based off of the real world trial involving the 9 black boys who were accused of raping 2 white women on a train, in Scottsboro. These boys were ranged from 13 to 20 years old, and everyone was put on death row, except the minor who got life in prison.
All the proof was given that Tom wasn’t guilty. Because of his skin color, they treated him as if he was an animal. They locked him away and they eventually shot him because he was trying to
Being a girl in this situation, gave Mayella the power over Tom. While Questioning Mayella, Atticus asked her a question that changed the way people saw her, “Do you love your father, Miss Mayella,”... “He does tollable, ‘cept when—,”...“Except when he’s drinking?” asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded. “ All her life Mayella has been mistreated her father.
Another reason he could be proven guilty is that most of the city is against him. From the the beginning of the book the reader can see the many people did not like Tom. At one point in the book there was a mob was formed to kill Tom. He could be innocent. There
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.
Even though Tom was innocent, the final decision was against
The saddening thing is, that the whole scenario started because Mayella attempted to seduce Tom, and her father found out. Filled with rage, Mr. Ewell beat his daughter, he found it unacceptable that his daughter fancied a black man. Then, he claimed that Tom raped his daughter to cover everything up. There are even cases such as Tom’s happening to this day, such as the case of Miguel Angel Peña Rodriguez Vs. Colorado. The jury was corrupted by bias thoughts which resulted in an unfair trial.
When he was announcing the final verdict, “Judge Taylor was polling the jury: ‘guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…” (Lee 112). Before the trial even happened, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” meaning he knew he was not going to win (Lee 128). The jury was biased from the beginning because it was all white. The case wasn't fair because Tom never had a chance of winning because he was going up against a white man and a white man would always win against a black man.
The connection with the beating and To KIll A Mockingbird is the jury. In To Kill A Mockingbird, though there was evidence proving Tom was innocent, he was still found guilty. There was evidence provided for the first trial showing the officers used excessive force against King, but they were not found guilty until of course riots were caused. Why was Tom found guilty?
On the day of Tom Robinson’s trial in the courtroom, Tom Robinson received a guilty verdict. Tom Robinson received a guilty verdict because he is a black man, a “Negroe” and black people can’t be trusted, according to the society. People filled the courtroom for Tom Robinson’s trial. Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white young women, Mayella Ewell who was 19 years of age. The judge was judge Taylor.
“Atticus was quietly building up before the jury a picture of the Ewells’ home life… and there was a strong suspicion that Papa drank it up anyway.” (Narrator 244). Atticus portrays Mayella’s life at home, he tries to get the jury to feel sorry for her which helped him to be successful in the trial. Since Atticus was acting so nice and acting like he relates to Mayella, she eventually let her guard down and got cornered by Atticus. Atticus “trapped” Mayella, and the only reason he was successful in doing so was because of his solicitude.
Throughout the whole trial there are multiple times when anyone who reads the novel knows that he is not getting a fair shake. The first time is when Atticus delivers his closing remarks and he says something that is very powerful and also very true about the case and Tom receiving an unfair trial, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 203). What Atticus explains is that no matter how plain it is to everyone that Tom is innocent and could not have commited the crime, it does not matter because one thing is certain, Tom is black. And the jury being white means he has no chance at winning, it’s truly sad, but during the time of the trial that 's just how society works.
Prejudice plays a big role in this aspect of the text, and it proves that, despite Tom not being guilty, injustice was still served due to the way white people were raised to believe that coloured people were considered 'misguided' and worth less than white people. If Tom had
All evidence pointed to Mr. Ewell as the offender, a man who spends all his money on whiskey and lets his children cry from starvation. While, Tom Robinson is a good person, with a good job and a good family but with a bad, bad skin color. And that's the important factor. The judge, jury, both lawyers, practically the entire town knew that Tom was innocent.
This is especially true when the trial occurs in Alabama. Most townspeople are used to witnessing and participating in racism, so when a case like Tom’s arises it is safe to assume the verdict. Steaming from the racism of the town there is a large bias against Tom. The jury is made up of farmers from the outskirts of town, and the same people who had gone to the jail with the intention of severely hurting Tom. For all these reasons I strongly predict that Tom Robinson will be convicted of raping Mayella Ewell.
