...Today we made more progress in Tom Robinson’s case. It is sad to see such a wonderful man be accused for a crime that he could not commit. All of the evidence that we have given the judge proves that it would be impossible for him to commit the crime. Tom is a respectable man and deserves a fair trial without race deciding whether he is guilty. Racism is a very big issue in our town, which is unfair because God created every man equally. This is also unfortunate because Tom’s family is a very nice family that cares about him very much. The racism in this town has had to much of an effect on Tom’s case. The only thing that makes a person a person is someone not the color of their skin, but what they do with their life. It does not mean that...
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...Rogue Robinson Convicted MAYCOMB, AL, July 10- Tom Robinson, 25, has been charged for rape by the Maycomb Court. The court case, which saw an unprecedentedly high turn-up rate, came to a close yesterday, with the jury delivering the guilty verdict after an hour-long jury debate. Witnesses Heck Tate, 40, Maycomb sheriff and Robert E. Lee ‘Bob’ Ewell, 50, the victim’s father, and Mayella Violet Ewell, 19, the victim, all testified against Robinson, giving similar versions of the events. Mayella Ewell was raped by Robinson in the late afternoon on November 21. In Ms Ewell’s testimony, she claimed that she asked Robinson to assist her in chopping up a chiffarobe, an old dresser with drawers on one side. Once inside the house, Robinson...
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...Man accused of rape- because of the color of his skin. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, a black man, was convicted without sufficient evidence of raping a white girl and sentenced to prison. While trying to escape, he was shot and killed by the prison guards. Tom Robinson’s trial was unfair and was heard by a biased jury. The question now is: Would Tom’s case have played out in a modern court like it did in the book? The answer is NO! It is true that minorities feel that prejudices and racism against them are still present in our modern justice system, which can be supported by the recent riots and the “Black Lives Matter” movement. However, Tom Robinson’s trial would not have had the same outcome in our modern judicial system as it did in To Kill A Mockingbird due to modern day defenders of Civil Rights for all....
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...Advancement of Colored People), my sensibilities are not delicate. I grew up in South Carolina as the civil war reached its climax, a place and time where racism was unambiguous and often violent. I would be the last person to deny that we have made remarkable progress against racial prejudice. However, with Tom Robinson’s recent trial, it is obvious that we still have a long way to go. The trial of Tom Robinson exemplified the entrenched prejudice that many, not only in Maycomb but also in the United States, hold against the Negroes in...
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...is also the lawyer who fights for Tom Robinson’s freedom. Tom Robinson is said to be guilty for raping Mayella Ewell who is considered “white trash” in Maycomb county. Mayella is a young girl who reports the case because she knows her skin color will keep her from being proven guilty by the jury. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, justice is depicted through Atticus' opinions, the ruling of Tom Robinson's trial, and Bob Ewell's death....
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...In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus decided to take Tom Robinson’s case even though he was going to receive several hatred messages from the people in Maycomb. Although what Atticus did was right, the case caused Scout and Jem to be in danger, causing them to almost be killed. For him to take this case shows the readers how he thinks all people should be treated equally despite what their skin color is. Throughout this novel, the key event that happened was Atticus’s decision of taking Tom Robinson’s case, which lead to many of the people in Maycomb hated Atticus for doing so. The reason behind that was because Tom Robinson was a colored man and back in the days when lawyers take colored people’s case, people just naturally lose respect for them....
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...murdered. Mayella Ewell is responsible for Tom Robinson’s death whether on accident, or on purpose in many ways. Mayella is lying in court, if she told the truth then Tom Robinson wouldn’t be dead. In the novel it states, “No, I didn’t recollect if he hit me, I mean yes I do, he hit me,” (Lee, 248). Mayella is lying about Tom hitting her, she clearly forgot to lie in the sentence above. Also, it states, “Or didn’t you scream until you saw your father in the window? You didn’t think to scream until then, did you?”...
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...During the trial of Tom Robinson, Mr. Raymond emphasizes that the “hell white people give colored folks(Lee 269)” is something to cry about. For Scout, this brings attention to a topic she has never done any digging into. This event sets the stage for future events that allow Scout to develop a broader understanding of racism. When discussing the Tom Robinson trial, Atticus explains that the jury “[carries] their resentments right into a jury box(Lee 295).” This highlights the racism involved in the jury’s verdict of Tom Robinson’s case and allows Scout to take a broader view on the subject and its presence in Maycomb. Harper Lee develops To Kill a Mockingbird as a bildungsroman novel through Scout’s coming of age lessons regarding understanding other people’s points of view and the presence of racism in Alabamian...
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...In 1935, Maycomb County had witnessed a tragic trail for Tom Robinson— a 25 year old man of color. He had been accused of raping Bob Ewell’s 19 years old daughter, Mayella Ewell. The trail took place at the village Courthouse, where a huge crowd of people from both races: white and blacks, attended the trial. Mr Gilmer was the prosecutor and the Atticus Finch was the defense lawyer. Judge Taylor and a chosen jury controlled the case. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson’s lawyer, he had defended the opposing suspects with strong evidence. Unfortunately, Atticus’s evidence was not enough to prove Tom Robinson innocent. The trial ended in favor of the accusers, the Ewell family. The sin took place a year ago, near the garbage dumps of Maycomb. These dumps were once cabins for Negros, and the Ewell’s had lived behind these garbage dumps for years. Mayella was the oldest in the Ewell family, and she had had two or three years of education only. Bob took care of his children in all previous years, alone, since the death of their mother. The trail started with the sheriff, Mr Heck Take, giving his testimony, he was interrogated about the harms that Mayella Ewell has received. Mr. Finch and Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor, questioned him. Shortly after the sheriff, Bob Ewell, the father of the victim,...
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...Yesterday around 11pm at the Maycomb Courthouse, Tom Robinson who is accused of raping Bob Ewell’s 19 year old daughter Mayella, has been charged of rape. The court case took place yesterday in the Maycomb Courthouse in front of a large crowd of Maycomb citizens, both white and black, turning up to watch the trial. The crime took place on the evening of November 21st of last year, on the Ewell’s estate behind the Maycomb dumpster, where the Ewell family had lived for years. Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella Ewell, who survived on relief checks to make ends meet. Mayella Ewell had two or three years of education before leaving school to take care of her siblings as she is the oldest of all the Ewell children. Mayella serves as the mother figure at home as her mother passed away along time ago leaving the children in the care of their father, Bob Ewell. However, after the jury had listened to both sides of the story. Tom...
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...Macbeth is the main character and a valiant warrior. In the beginning, they both began as characters that cared about the common good of their people. Both characters were similar in the sense that they showed traits of a leader who fights for justice and show that they care about the good of their people. Soon both stories begin to unfold and we begin to see how malicious Macbeth is, Macbeth shows the reader that he put his own priorities before the people of Scotland by murdering the beloved king Duncan and in this case left the kingdom in jeopardy. Atticus is different because he is willing to put his family in danger to defend a innocent man and look past his skin color. He put Tom Robinson’s priorities before his. In the end both characters unveil their true personalities. Macbeth realizes that he made the wrong choices .He fights to his bitter death even when everyone is against him and dies. Atticus on the other hand knew the jury was still going to convict Tom Robinson of rape. We learn that everyone has a evil inside of them, it teaches us that inside of us there is greater evil that cannot be...
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...to people in today’s society is prejudice. The idea of prejudice was shown throughout the novel, most prominently by Tom Robinson’s trial, and the character Arthur “Boo” Radley. Tom’s trial highlighted the idea of racial prejudice and the character Boo Radley, who is a victim of speculation and rumours, helped us better understand social prejudice. Racial and social prejudice are still prevalent and are experienced in our society today despite our seemingly enlightened and tolerant mind-set. Prejudice and the negative mind-set that it induces is influenced by our surrounding family, friends and media. Even though all humans are born with a strong moral conscience, we are bombarded with pictures and people that influence our first impressions of people and make us judgemental, unconsciously or not. The dictionary defines prejudice as a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience, which is clearly the case in Alabama in the 1930’s. The 1930’s was the time of the Great Depression and was before the Black Civil Rights movement took place. People of colour or a different race suffered majorly due to discrimination and prejudice against them. People in small towns during this time period were often prejudiced against those who had a lower social status, and in Southern states of America, the ‘Blacks’ were the lowest of the low. Tom Robinson's trial and Boo Radley give the reader a deeper understanding of racial and social prejudice. As Jem states in Chapter...
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...the strain in her account. These emotions of nervousness and tension is enhanced by the repetition of Mayella’s refusal to answer Atticus questions. ‘Why didn’t your screams make [the children] come running? […] No answer.’ ‘Did you scream first at your father instead of at Tom Robinson? Was that it? No answer.’ ‘Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father? No answer.’ (pg. 207) Mayella’s...
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...the theme, having to be faced with the harsh reality of the world which ruins your innocence. Atticus Finch stays strong and practical during the trial, defending Tom Robinson with his life. Atticus’s effort during the trial shows his courage because, despite it being tricky to get the judge and people of the racist South to side with Tom Robinson, compared to Mayella, who claims to be the victim. Atticus does not give up and continues to fight for Tom Robinson’s justice. Atticus shows courage through logical...
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...Harper Lee demonstrates the racism of South in the 30's. Tom Robinson's trial represents the racist atmosphere of Maycomb's society. The racial bias of the people of Maycomb makes them blind to see the fact of Tom's innocence and this brings about his murder. Tom's murder echoes Aimé Césaire sarcastic statement in his Et les chiens se taisent, that "in the whole world no poor devil is lynched, no wretch is tortured, in whom I too am not degraded and murdered" (qtd in Black Skin, White Masks 61). Darren Felty in "An Overview of To Kill a Mockingbird", states: "Lee wants to make explicit the consequences of racism. She accomplishes this goal by employing Tom Robinson's trial to allude to different historical events such as the famous 'Scottsboro Boys' trials of the 1930s". According to Felty, in these trials nine black men were accused of raping two white women. Despite a lack of evidence, the men were sentenced to death by the white jury. Unlike Tom, they finally escaped death after a long time (2). Tom Robinson's trial mirrors these historical events to illustrate the racial binarity and segregation that the black people suffered throughout the colonial history. Racial binarity is prevalent in the novel. The narrow-minded people of Maycomb are in favor of segregation in their society and they consider sexual relationship as a threat to their segregation. According to Adam Smykowski in "Symbolism and Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird", For example, "the red geraniums that...
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