Who Is Atticus Wrong To Protect Tom Robinson?

Given the harsh circumstances that involved discrimination and racism during the 1900s, the understanding and empathy of a young Jem Finch shines through the plot of To Kill A Mockingbird like a star. Under the spectacular influence of Atticus Finch, Jem’s compassion always seems to prevail, no matter what the situation may be. This is used in great effect to justify the ethical theme of the story. That being that everyone deserves the same rights and freedoms. In the book specifically, this is conveyed through the unequal privilege of a “fair trial”. It was shown that the black society stood no chance in court when Bob Ewell, a poor white man, accused Tom Robinson, a black man, of raping

The story “To Kill a Mockingbird”, racial stereotyping played a significant part in society. In the Tom Robinson case, even though there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove guilt, many supported to action of calling the defendant guilty due to his race. One of the main characters; Atticus Finch, decided to act as attorney to the defendant of this case, well aware that this action would have a negative effect on his family’s reputation. Despite this, one could argue that Atticus was wise to defend Tom Robinson for a number of reasons.

In to kill a mockingbird the defendant Tom Robinson is a young black man and the plaintiffs is Mayella Ewell, a young white girl . Through colorism black people seem to appear as “bad” whereas white people are seen as “good”. Tom Robinson has the poor event of being judged .

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is set in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is ever present toward blacks and the trial of Tom Robinson, an African American, clearly displays this. Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white woman. The huge detail in this is that it was a white woman. Racial issues are really brought about because of that detail. People during this time would easily take a white man’s word over that of a black man, so nobody would ever trust Tom Robinson, especially since he was a black man being accused of a crime against a white woman. Tom Robinson really can’t do anything to help his case. The only person that can help him is Atticus. While Atticus does not believe that he will win the case, he knows that it is right to do everything he can to help Tom. He knows right from wrong and he will do everything in his power to help people see that, and to help Tom survive this case. Tom Robinson could also be described as a Mockingbird in this story. If proven innocent, he would be

Undoubtedly, one of the most controversial subjects in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, would be whether or not Atticus Finch should have defended Tom Robinson. However, in order to understand this controversy, a person must first be able to understand Atticus Finch himself. Atticus as a character is a very intellectual person who possesses the fortitude to stand up for whatever he believes is right and will not let other people’s choices affect his own. Furthermore, it is also important to understand that Atticus is not a racist, nor does he approve of the idea that one group of people are better than another based on their appearances in general, and because of this, a person can generalize that Atticus’s characteristic traits are why he did not complain when given the task of defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who had been wrongfully accused of raping a white woman. A man that he, as well as a small group of other people from town, viewed as the picture of innocence. In their eyes, Tom was no more than a mockingbird, “[and mockingbirds] don’t do one thing but make music for [people] to enjoy” (Lee 119). Knowing this, anyone with a reasonably strong sense of what is right and what is wrong can conclude that it does make sense for Atticus Finch to have taken the case due to his belief that it is a sin to kill the innocent as well as his courage that allows him to stay true to his ideas, even though when taking the case, he was inevitably going to be putting his

There was an event in To Kill a Mockingbird that showed discrimination for a breed of man. As depicted in the book, Tom Robinson was being accused of raping a young lady by the name of Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson was a middle aged black man. Mayella Ewell is a white girl. This was very distraught because of the fact that this was the time that whites were superior over any other minority. Tom was being held in a cell waiting for the trial to commence. Atticus Finch, the lawyer of Tom Robinson, decided to take a trip to the jail in which he was being held in. As he arrived, a squadron of cars pulled up. A group of white men stepped out of the vehicles and walked up to the jail in a sort of formation. These men had showed up on this afternoon to lynch Tom Robinson. Luckily, Scout Finch started talking to one of the men, Mr. Cunningham. She said,” Tell him [Walter] hey for me, won’t you?”. His son’s name was Walter Cunningham. He ended up feeling bad for what he was going to do, and called the men back. They did not end up lynching Tom. This connects to what happened in

Way back in the 1930’s, most people in the South had rather racist opinions towards those with darker skin. Sometimes, though, there were some kind oddballs who didn’t have these opinions and wanted to end the idea of racism. Atticus Finch, a 50 year old lawyer in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is a man who is such a person. In the story, Atticus is assigned, by the county Judge, to defend an African American man who has been accused to rape. Atticus takes the case without much question, receives quite a bit of criticism from the people in his community, but continues to defend Robinson out of pure moral. Throughout the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus presents himself as intelligent, accomplished, and patient.

As Lemony Snicket wrote in The Blank Book, “People don’t always get what they deserve in this world.” 1930s America was fraught with racism, especially in the southern states. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a Negro man by the name of Tom Robinson was put on trial. Although he was not guilty, the jury convicted him because of the colour of his skin. During the trial, others showed injustice towards Tom and people that were on his side. As Tom’s lawyer, Atticus Finch was not admired by many of the white citizens of Maycomb, the town in which the novel takes place. Although Atticus and Jean Louise Finch (Scout) were white, they were still treated unjustly as a result of helping and supporting Tom Robinson. Scout, Atticus’

During the Civil Rights movement there were many obstacles to try and assure equal rights between the whites and blacks. With the unpersuadable community there was not much improvement. The laws didn’t promise a place where everything was equal because the attitude that the community had. It was acknowledged in schools, churches and other places in the community about the discrimination that was going on, but they did not know when things were going to become equal. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, it is continuously showing points of discrimination throughout. A black man in the story named Tom Robinson was blamed for raping a white woman. Tom wasn't alone in the trial a guy named Atticus Finch was there to defend him. Atticus, taught both

One of the inequalities in Lee’s story is racism. Tom Robinson was a black man who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white, nineteen year old girl. During his trial, his lawyer, Atticus Finch did his best showing the jury that he was an innocent man. The jury delibabrated for hours before they reached a verdict: “Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty” (Lee 282). Tom was an innocent man but because of the color of his skin, he walked into that courtroom already found guilty. Today, people of color are targeted in many different ways, especially in the legal system:“One out of every 13 African Americans have lost their right to vote due to felony disenfranchisement versus one in every 56 non-black voters” (Quigley). Another example is, federal prosecutors are almost twice as likely to file charges carrying mandatory minimum sentences for African Americans than whites accused of the same crimes, according to a study published by the University of Michigan Law School. Our Declaration of Independence

Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is set in a small, southern town, Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The story is told through the eyes of a girl named Scout about her father, Atticus, an attorney who strives to prove the innocence of a black man named Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape and Boo Radley, an enigmatic neighbor who saves Scout and her brother Jem from being killed. Atticus does his job in proving there was no way that Tom Robinson was guilty during his trial, but despite Tom Robinson’s obvious innocence, he is convicted of rape as it is his word against a white woman’s. Believing a “black man’s word” seemed absurd as segregation was a very integrated part of life in the south. The social hierarchy must be maintained at all costs and if something in the system should testify the innocence of a black man against a white woman’s word and win then what might happen next? Along with the prejudice amongst blacks and whites, the story also showed how people could be misunderstood for who they truly are such as Boo Radley. Without ever seeing Boo, Jem and the townsfolk made wild assumptions on what Boo does or looks like. Even so, while “To Kill a Mockingbird” shows the ugliness that can come from judging others, its ultimate message is that great good can result when one defers judgement until considering things from another person’s view. Walter Cunningham, Mrs. Dubose, and Boo Radley are all examples of how looking at things

We’ve been taught, from the time we were little, to stand up for the underdog. We do this because we see ourselves in them. As a society, we can agree that it is important to stand up for people who need our help even when it doesn't necessarily make sense. This practice can be seen in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, an award winning novel based in the 1930’s that focuses on a man, Atticus Finch, trying to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who was falsely accused of raping a white woman. People often ask, does it make sense for Atticus Finch to defend Tom Robinson? The answer is yes.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird the book is based around this big court trial in the book in which Tom Robinson (an african american male) is accused of raping Mayella Uwell (a white women). Atticus has the duty of proving Tom Robison innocent. Noting that this book takes place in the 1930’s that the chance of an African American male being proved innocent were very slim. Not because african americans are bad people it’s because the amount of racism there was in the deep south. Why this trial took courage because Atticus had to defend the black man. The problem with this is that allot of his friends and other people are racist. So not only did he had the odds of success with him he

The first part of To Kill A Mockingbird introduces the Finch family and their daily lives. The father in the family is an attorney whose only care is the moral rights of others. His views aren't biased or prejudice, he only sees humans who deserve as much respect as they should. He gets a case of a black man being accused of rape towards a white woman. He explains to Scout as this, “..but there’s been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn’t be defending this man (Lee 75).” Ever since Atticus has been appointed to the Tom Robinson case, most of the conservative white people in Maycomb County found it a little dishonoring since the defendant was an African American. "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win," Atticus said (Lee

In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, that was written in 1960, the racial issues are a big part of the story. In the Tom Robinson case, the racial issue is what makes Atticus think he will lose the case. Tom is a black man accused of raping a white woman. In this time, a white man’s word was more trusted than a black man’s. The jury for the case was made of all white men so they would be against Tom. Also, it was a white woman which made the case worse. Blacks were looked down upon and did not have a say in the government. Atticus tries his best to defend Tom because he knows he can’t do anything due to the racial issues.