On 26 August 1935, Tom Robinson has been charged with rape. The court case took place at the Maycomb County Courthouse where it was presided over by Judge John Taylor and a hand-picked jury. The prosecutor was Horace Gilmer and the defence lawyer was Atticus Finch. Tom Robinson, a black, was charged with sexually assaulting Mayella Ewell.
The alleged crime took place on the evening of 21 November last year, near the town garbage dump where the Ewells have been living for years. Mr Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella, said that he was “coming in from the woods” when he heard her scream so he ran as fast as he could. Mr Ewell then saw Tom taking advantage of his daughter, however, Tom ran away when he saw him coming. Mr Ewell was “too distracted
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He said that “she was beaten around the head” and there were “bruises on her arms”. Also, there were visible finger marks on Mayella’s gullet and her left eye was bruised.
According to Mayella, she was certain that Tom had raped her. Mayella said that she was standing on the front porch of her house when Tom walked by, she sought his help to chop down an old chiffarobe as she was “not strong enough”. In addition, she said that it was her first time asking Tom to help her. Mayella offered a nickel in exchange for his help. Then, as she was getting a nickel to pay, Tom was suddenly “on her and got her round the neck". She fought and hollered but was unable to fend him off. Subsequently, she fainted.
As a defence to the accusation, Tom was asked to the stand. It was shown to all that Tom’s left hand is 12 inches shorter than his right as his left arm was caught in a cotton gin since young. His left arm hung dead and could not be used. The accusation of Tom raping Mayella Ewell had come into serious question as it was implied by Atticus that it was unlikely for a person maimed in his left able to hurt Mayella's right eye. There is the possibility of Mr Ewell hurting his own daughter instead of Tom as Mr Ewell is left-handed. When Mayella was questioned by Atticus as to whether Tom or her father harmed her, there was no response. It was perceived as a sign of guilty conscience.
Tom Robinson is on trial for the sexual assault of a white woman also known as Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson had to experience injustice and was criticized just because he is black and black men are all “bad”. There was no proof that he actually raped Mayella, but he was accused and really innocent. At the trial, the witness said, “Mayella Ewell was hit on her right eye.” But, how could he hit her right eye when Tom’s left hand was completely impossible to use.
During the trial, Tom Robinson revealed that Mayella’s father verbally and sexually abuses her. Tom states “She says she never kissed a grown man before. She says what her papa do to her don’t count.” (Doc. B) After Mr. Ewell caught Tom and Mayella, he called Mayella a “goddamn whore” and threatens her by saying “I’ll kill ya.” (Doc. B)
Tom Robinson Found Guilty Last weekend, despite his lawyer’s attempts, Tom Robinson was found guilty of taking advantage of Mayella Ewell. Robinson was accused by Robert Ewell of raping and beating his daughter Mayella Ewell. Robinson is a Negro and lives by the town dump with his wife and children. The witnesses called to the stand were Heck Tate, the county sheriff, and Bob and Mayella Ewell.
In what way?’ ‘Well-’ ‘Just describe her injuries Heck’ ‘Well, she was beaten around the head. There was already bruises comin’ on her arms, and it happened about 30 minutes before-” (Lee, 224). Mayella had most likely been suffering from years of abuse, and like most victims she was scared and ashamed.
Bob’s writing allows Atticus to prove that he is left-handed and could be a possible suspect that hit Mayella. Atticus’ idea of where he is going with this accusation brings the people of Maycomb to notice that the Ewell’s have a bad reputation and they could very well be lying. In truth, the rape accusations are fictional, and are only brought up to hide the fact that Mayella’s father has been abusing her. Although everyone knows that Tom is innocent in their prejudice mindset, they refuse to show sympathy towards him because he is a ‘negro.’ At the end of the trial, it is decided that Tom loses the jury however, his lawyer is positive that they will have a good shot at the appeal.
Thomas Robinson --- his full name, is mentioned for the first time. It is consistent with the solemn atmosphere in the court. It is the first appearance of Tom, although the other characters have been talking about him for over 10 chapters. Tom 's appearance becomes a turning point of the case. His genuineness is directly presented to the reader.
He states that Bob Ewell retrieved him on November twenty-first because an African American raped Mayella. When he arrived at the scene of disarray, Mayella was beaten and bruised with right eye blackened. She identified Tom Robinson as the culprit. The next person to testify was Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father. Bob claimed that when he came back
“His left arm was fully 12 inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side” (Lee, 211). This is saying that it could not really be Tom because he does not even have a left hand. And someone that is left-handed is the one to have potentially have beaten up Mayella. And with everything else that they say about Mr. Ewell is making it seem like he is the only person that could have done it. Some examples it says are that he drinks all the time and he is never there for his children so Mayella is always trying to take care of them.
Then some people thought that Tom was innocent but the judge decided to make Tom go to prison. In the book it said that Mayella hugged and kissed Tom on the cheek. From this I can infer that Mayella is desperate and can get away with this because Tom Robinson is a black person. This reminds me of a couple southern movies I’ve watched where black people are always the first to suspect because of their color. Tom Robinson on trial for his life said Bob Ewell yelled “whore I’ll kill you” when he saw Mayella kiss Tom from the window.
Mayella Ewell, the prosecutor, blamed Tom Robinson, the defendant, of rape on the night of November 21, 1935 at Mayella’s home in Maycomb, Alabama. The trial brought up included Tom Robinson, Mayella and Robert Ewell, Heck Tate, and Atticus Finch. Heck Tate and Robert Ewell were the witnesses for Mayella’s side and Atticus was the lawyer to Tom Robinson. This was such an important trial, whether the event actually happened or not, because Tom is a black man and Mayella is a white woman. The evidence provided shows that Tom most likely did not rape or beat Mayella, but her father was the one who could have beat her.
Hello Mr. Underwood, I am a relative of the Cunninghams and was indeed a jury member in the Mayella Ewell vs. Tom Robinson case. While I was on the jury, it was the night after I tried to kill Mr. Tom Robinson with my family. That gave me an interesting perspective on the case, and that is why I am writing to you today. Miss Jean Louise Finch first gave me the idea that night. We are all humans and all our instincts should be of humans, which means not having prejudice.
So he come in the yard an’ I went in the house to get him the nickel and i turn around an fore i knew it he was on me.” Mayella Ewell is clearly stating how she called Tom Robbinson over to her house to help her do some of her chores and Tom being the kind fellow he is, went over and helped her out but Mayella then states how Tom started attacking her. This quote relates to the fact that Mayella is to blame for Tom Robisons death because she is stating how Tom “attacked” her while she was asking him to cut up some chiffarobe for her. Another statement from Mayella, she says the following, “ won’t answer a word if you keep mocking me.”
Mr. Tate, the sheriff describes one of her injuries as bruises circling her neck, which with logic applied is an obvious clue to Tom's innocence (pg. 192). If Tom had both hands then he would be able to keep Mayella from escaping and choke her, but with only
Mayella Ewell is a victim. Mayella is a victim of her father, Bob Ewell, because he is an alcoholic that abuses her. During the Tom Robinson trial, Atticus proved Bob Ewell to be left-handed. Based on Bob and Heck Tate’s testimonies, Mayella’s right eye was blackened
“The evil assumption- that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around [the] women” (“To Kill a Mockingbird”). During this time, white women were not to tempt Negroes, or kiss one, because it was considered unspeakable (“To Kill a Mockingbird”). In the Tom Robinson case, in one of the testimonies, it was stated that basically Robinson was practically on top of Mayella attacking her (“To Kill a Mockingbird”). And since the Ewells were white and Robinson was black, “the jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells” (“How Does Harper Lee Show the Treatment of Tom Robinson is Cruel and Unfair in To Kill a Mockingbird”). Even though Mayella said that Tom hit her, she kept saying that she couldn’t remember what happened, but of course the jury still believed her .