ipl-logo

Tom Robinson's Guilty

617 Words3 Pages

Tom Robinson was a guilty man even before he even entered the courtroom; along with all the other African-Americans living in the south at that time. Even though it was obvious that he was innocent, due to the evidence pointed out by his lawyer, Atticus Finch, he was found guilty merely due to his race. It’s pretty obvious that the theme in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is racism and prejudice, and the discrimination of the African-American community was the most evidently shown. For example, the blacks were regarded as tools or objects to be used in labour, and were given very little, to basically no rights. Even in the trial, blacks and whites sat in separate sections, and all the members of the jury were white! Also, Tom Robinson wasn't …show more content…

Interracial relationships were frowned upon in Maycomb, and if word gets out that a white woman tried to seduce a black man, God knows how the people would react. Even before the trial began, a group of white men went to the prison were Tom Robinson was being held, with hopes of killing him, probably thinking that killing him would mean that he wouldn't be able to reveal what happened, thus protecting the reputation of the Ewell’s and, more importantly, the white community as a whole. Also during the trial, Tom Robinson openly stated that he felt “sorry” for her, which was a mistake. When he said that he felt “sorry” for her, he, indirectly and unintentionally, made it seem as if he thought he was above her, which wasn't the case. In the movie, you could tell by the uneasiness of the white audience that they felt shocked, disgusted even, that a black man, who they considered to be the equivalent of a dog (or worse), would ever dare pity a white woman. His pity for her was a crime in of itself. In my opinion, Lee included this embarrassment of a justice system in order to show us the unfairness shown towards the black community at the time, and the fact that no matter what, a black person will always be inferior to a white person, regardless of their social class. Tom Robinson, a family man, a

Show More
Related

Similarities Between Tom Robinson And Oj Simpson

681 Words | 3 Pages

White men were trying to prove the fact of the natural inferiority of the African American race, terming them as unreasonable beings. The jury could not be able to look past race and praise the integrity of Tom and practiced the opposite of prejudice. If Tom Robinson had a higher social status, say such as a NFL player, the result of the trial would be entirely

Read More

Similarities Between Scottsboro Boys And To Kill A Mockingbird

793 Words | 4 Pages

Tom Robinson was a black man who was being accused of raping a young girl named Mayella Ewell (Lee). Before Tom Robinson ever goes to trial, the legal system and

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

563 Words | 3 Pages

Although the court deemed Tom Robinson guilty Atticus uses rhetoric very well to try and convince the all-white jury that Tom Robinson, a black man is innocent. Atticus Finch is a lawyer in a small town in Alabama. He believes that every man should be treated equal and fair in a court of law. But the all-white jury does not agree with Atticus. In this time, the 1930’s many people believed that whites were superior to black.

Read More

Tom Robinson Trial

527 Words | 3 Pages

(Lee 218) because first, her father beat her up and raped her. Second, she had no friends, so she was desperate for some affection, which she thought she could find in Tom Robinson, who sometimes helped her when she asked him to. “She tempted a negro” (Lee 231) when her father saw that, he wanted to kill her, and Tom Robinson ran for his life, which made him look guilty.

Read More

Tom Robinson Trial Essay

699 Words | 3 Pages

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the trial of Tom Robinson serves as the pivotal and highly-anticipated moment in the novel which displays the power a white woman has over a black man. Tom Robinson is accused of raping a young white woman named Mayella Ewell. The Ewell family lacks education and money, representing the lower class. The Ewells were described as living a vile lifestyle, “...behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin” (Doc A).

Read More

Essay On Scout's Childhood In To Kill A Mockingbird

826 Words | 4 Pages

Close to the end of the trial when Tom Robinson is saying his final statement he says “Well I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try harder then the rest of em”(Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird) which showed that black people had feelings too, but what he said was turned against him in a flash [Because he was on trial for rape]. The jury of Maycomb looked past the good and went straight to him being a monster Scout did not understand how bad Tom Robinson’s statement was. The trial showed that Scout was still too young to fully understand everything that was going on in the trial showing why it was so

Read More

I Know The Truth In To Kill A Mockingbird

741 Words | 3 Pages

Tom was not looked at the same in court because he was a colored man and in his society, it was not expected for a colored man to win. In Atticus last statement he said, “Which, gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson’s skin, a lie I don't not have to point out to you. You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie,

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Trial Essay

1282 Words | 6 Pages

During the early 1900s it was not a secret that the south was still incredibly racist. With this in mind, most black people accused of a crime would go to jail soley based on the fact that the judge and jury were racist. This is case for Tom Robinson. Atticus presented the judge and the jury ample evidence to prove Tom’s innocence, such as no medical evidence of rape, completely different statments from Mayella and Tom, and the fact that Tom Robinson is missing an arm making it questionable how he was able to hold down a fighting and screaming Mayella. According to the constitution every man has a right to a fair and public trial which is not something Tom receives due to the prejudice of Maycomb.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Argumentative Essay Argument

450 Words | 2 Pages

That’s one part I didn’t like about the book. The stereotypes of the black families of Maycomb. As soon as Bob Ewell turned Tom Robinson in for “raping” his daughter the whole white community believed it because he was black. He was a kind, loving father and husband. But no one bothered to get to know the real him or see past the color of his skin to really know that.

Read More

Atticus Finch Hero Quotes

1007 Words | 5 Pages

To illustrate, “Tom Robinson is a colored man, Jem. No jury in the world is going to say, ’We think you are guilty, but not very,’ on a charge like that.” (Lee, 251). This quote shows how little faith Atticus had in Tom’s freedom. He knew that he would not win Tom’s trial, no matter how hard he tried, because no jury in 1930s Alabama would take the word of a black man over that of a white man, no matter how much evidence there was to prove the black man’s innocence.

Read More

Who Is Bob Ewell Biased In To Kill A Mockingbird

574 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the Maycomb court system is totally biased in a discriminatory way. The case of Tom Robinson, if it had not been in this court with its racist jurors, would certainly have not ended the way it did. It only ended the way it did because of peer-pressure, a scared victim being manipulated and believed, and an honest man not. Through her testimony, Mayella Ewell constantly lied.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Argumentative Essay

976 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Trial Analysis

888 Words | 4 Pages

As stated previously, the trial of Tom Robinson was unfair because the testimonies of the witnesses conflicted with each other, and his Eighth Amendment rights were violated. It is clear that when Harper Lee was writing this story that she was trying to expose the ugliness of the race relations in the U.S. of the time. Noting that this story was published in the 1960’s, close to the height of the Civil Rights Movement, To Kill a Mockingbird was making another statement, but one not-so fictional. There was a bigger, more serious, problem with the race relations in the United States. From the point-of-view of an innocent child, this novel forced people to see the power of injustice towards minorities—both then and

Read More

A Fair Trial In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

952 Words | 4 Pages

Because the jury did not favor black men, Tom Robinson did not receive a fair trial, although Atticus made a great case. Segregation directly disobeys the fourteenth amendment, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Maycomb Alabama is where the story, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place. Tom Robinson’s trial out come was not based on factual evidence. Mayella was lying to the jury, while Tom was completely innocent.

Read More

Theme Of Bully In To Kill A Mockingbird

830 Words | 4 Pages

Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.

Read More

More about Tom Robinson's Guilty

Related Topics

Open Document