Tom Robinson Trial Essay

After Tom Robinson was charged with raping 19 year old Mayella Ewell, he was taken to court and Atticus had to defend his case. On page 212 of the novel Tom Robinson states that he ran away from Mayella when she had kissed him because he was scared, Atticus asked him why and he said “ Mr Finch, is you were a nigger like me, you’d be scared, too.“ Tom said this because of the society that they lived in where all “Black” people were not to be trusted. Atticus did his best to prove to the jury that Tom Robinson was not guilty for the crime that he was charged for

Tom Robinson enters To Kill a Mockingbird accused of raping Mayella Ewell but leaves To Kill a Mockingbird dead. Atticus Finch the defendant in Tom Robinson’s case and the father of Jem and Scout, did not fail Robinson, Robinson’s family or his own because he tried his best to prove that Tom was not guilty. For example , Miss Ewell explained that the attacker in her testimony, Tom Robinson had force himself on her, began to hold to her by the neck and hit her repeatedly after she asked him to bust up a chiffarobe for her. Heck Tate, the sheriff and witness of the trial had said Mayella only had bruises on both the neck and right side of her face, this now raised a red flag for Atticus. For Robinson to beat Miss Ewell repeatedly on the right side of her face he would have to use his left arm which got caught in a cotton gin years before. The disability that Tom Robinson had created great evidence for Atticus’s defense but didn’t work because of the unjust community they both live in. Maybe it would have worked if the trial was held in a courtroom that is built on justice for all, not just for the white.

Although there were doubts regarding Bob Ewell’s testimony and Atticus pleads the jury to give Tom equal standing under the eyes of the law, the jury still convicts Tom as being guilty to rape of Mayella Ewell. This lead to Jem’s mistrust in the legal system as Jem was old enough to understand the events that were occurring, but he wasn’t old enough to understand the reasoning behind Tom’s conviction as nothing has yet

The first reason that Bob Ewell is the most guilty for the death of Tom is because he was the one who forced Mayella to prosecute in the first place. If Bob weren’t a drunk, then he would not have hurt Mayella, and he would not have to blame the bruises on Tom. Atticus said, “...it’s

There are also ways these cases are different. In “To Kill a Mockingbird” Tom Robinson is accused of rape. In the case of Emmet Till, he is accused of disorderly conduct. There are also age differences, with Tom Robinson being a grown man and Emmet Till being a teenager. The location of these cases are different as well. Tom Robinson’s case happened at Mayella Ewell’s house, while Emmet Till’s house happened in a grocery store.

However, Atticus knows since Tom is a black man he will not get a fair trail since the jury is all white and since people back then didn’t favor or teach color people this is why Atticus had to defend Tom which was a man who was wrongly accused for raping a white woman which her name was Mayella Ewell ; she was a very poor white woman the oldest of many children which was in her family .

Tom should not have been declared guilty for three reasons: Tom’s story had no flaws whereas Bob’s did, Tom and his defendant Atticus Finch were very respectful, and finally Mayella was unbelievably rude during the trial.

If the jury understands what really happened then there is a better chance they will make the right choice. “We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.” Atticus says this in hopes of making the jury comprehend that there is no way Tom would have been able to beat Mayella with his left hand because he is crippled and Bob Ewell is left handed. This implies that Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, was the man who beat her. Atticus speaks about how it is evil to think that all negroes are immoral beings and he states “Which, Gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson’s skin, a lie I do not have to point out to you.” The jury for Tom’s trial is incredibly biased and racist and Atticus points out that skin color does not mean anything about a person’s personality or

Bob Ewell and Mayella both pointed out Mayella's wound the the right side of her face, a wound that would have to have been afflicted with someone's left hand and accused Tom of hitting Mayella. Atticus then asks Tom to sign his name and concludes that he is right handed. The jury thinks nothing of this, after all, most people are right handed and Tom could have just hit her with his left hand instead of his right, but that’s when Atticus asks Tom to raise his left hand, Tom’s left arm was limp and unusable, proving that he couldn’t have hit mayella with his left hand and stated that Bob Ewell had beaten Mayella because she had been with a black man and she tried to cover her embarrassment by saying that he had raped her. In the end of the hearing Tom was found guilty and sent to jail all because he was black and the “victim” of the rape was white. This case ties in perfectly with the theme of Equality because African Americans were sentenced in crimes that they did not commit, just because of the color of their

“she became what she was, a thick-bodied girl accustomed to strenuous labor” (page 239, Scout Finch) is how Scout describes Mayella. During her testimony, she says that Tom beat her and raped her. She said she invited Tom to come into her yard to help her chop up an old chiffarobe. She said she would pay him a nickel, but when she turned to face the house, Tom grabbed her and started strangling her. “and I turned around, and ’fore I knew it he was on me” (page 241, Mayella Ewell). She said she screamed, and the next thing she knew, her dad was standing over her, and then she blacked out. When Atticus starts asking her personal questions about her house and her dad getting drunk, she becomes scared and seems to soften up, like she’s going to admit something, but then she screams that Tom is most definitely

The trial itself provides Harper Lee with the opportunity to examine the attitudes of people like the Ewells and the presumably more respectable members of the jury. Bob Ewell emerges as a drunken, bullying, child-abuser with little respect for the law and even less for truth and justice. But however low in the social order he is, Bob Ewell can still look down on black people. At the beginning of his testimony he complains about a 'nest' of them near him bringing down the property values of his shack by the town dump. Tom's account of Mayella's actions suggests that he may have indulged in some form of incest with his daughter, but the taboo against relationships between white women and black men is so strong that even Bob Ewell is shocked and horrified by it. He responds first by savagely beating his daughter and then by accusing Tom Robinson of rape.

In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, the black man falsely convicted of rape, had absolutely no chance of a fair trial. There is proof of this in the time period in which it occurred as well as evidence from the novel itself. Tom Robinson had an unfair trial because it was his word against the Ewell’s, a white, trashy family.

When Tom Robinson was convicted of a crime and sent to a trial that he had no chance at winning, he had lost any bit of innocence that he would ever get. In a time where the black community faced constant prejudice and discrimination, it was near impossible for any African American to be let off as innocent for any crime. And the sad part to it is that a lot of the blacks sent to trials and jail weren't even guilty of any crime at all, they were innocent. Tom Robinson was sent to a trial for the rape and beatings of Mayella Ewell. No one believed Tom on his innocence and when Atticus, his lawyer at the case, hands down proved his innocence, he was still going to be convicted as guilty. If it had come down to where they had to sit in front of another jury and do the same thing over and prove his innocence again, he still would probably be convicted as a guilty man. In the end Tom would be sentenced as guilty on not fact, or logic but by wrong prejudice ideas. With the broken judicial system and sideways beliefs of the time Tom Robinson lost any little hope he could ever wish for, he was completely stripped of his innocence.

Bob Ewell firmly believes that the death of Tom Robinson was caused by his daughter, Mayella Ewell. “I didn’t wanta harm her, Mr. Finch, an’ I say lemme pass, but just when I say it Mr. Ewell yonder hollered through th’ window.” (221). Tom was suggesting that Bob was yelling at Mayella and not himself. Again in the text it says, “Tom Robinson swallowed again and his eyes widened. “ Some-thin’ not fittin’ to say- not fittin’ for all these folks’n chillun to hear-” (Atticus) “ What did he say Tom? You must tell the jury what he said.” Tom Robinson shut his eyes tight. “ He says you g**d*** w****, i’ll kill ya”” (221) Bob wants everyone to think that he doesn’t harm Mayella in anyway and that Tom did.This shows that Bob Ewell blames his daughters attraction towards a crippled black man. Bob wanted Mayella to only love him, and only want him. Bob does want someone to be blamed for what’s happened to Mayella and he doesn’t want that to be himself even though

Once upon a time Bob Ewell might have once been a good guy but it was never shown through out the book. One thing that was shown was how terrible of a father he is to Mayella. Although it was never actually said Bob did beat up Mayella, but why? Did he know that he could hae gone to jail for that? What did Bob get from beating up his own daughter? Did he get mad for her falling in love with Tom because he doesn't want his family legacy to go down the drain? He most likely saw an opportunity when he saw Tom. Most likely Bob didn’t want to go to jail for beating up his daughter so he took advantage of the man that made him beat up his daugter. Bob knew that he had a very good chance of winning against a colored man in court and he knew that he could get Mayella to betray Tom. For a man who didn’t get any education he had a very smart plan.