In the play ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee and dramatised by Christopher Sergel, Atticus defended Tom Robinson for the charge of the beating and rape of Mayella Ewell. Atticus is a high quality lawyer as he is committed to his case, he is observant and leaves no stone unturned. Atticus is very strategic but respectful and is an eloquent speaker who gives his client the best representation possible. He did this by his posing of questions, using cunningness that created another suspect and pinpointing obvious mistakes in the case. Using visual presentations he focused on the audience’s emotions and feelings of the town folk towards Tom Robinson by exposing the truth beyond reasonable doubt. Atticus defence failed and Tom Robinson was …show more content…
Even though Atticus presented a winning case, proving that Tom Robison was innocent the jury decided that Tom was ‘guilty as charged.’ Tom was sentenced to life in prison. “I will appeal as soon as we can, we knew we wouldn’t win this one. I will go see Helen first thing in the morning.” These were the last words Atticus spoke to Tom before Tom attempted to escape and was shot dead. In the small town of Maycomb County, society is controlled by racism. Atticus is one of the few white town folk who didn’t let skin colour control his way of thinking. He teaches this to his children Scout and Jem. “You got to walk a mile in someone’s else’s skin.” The Juries decision in the end was political and not correct. They convicted Tom Robinson not because he was guilty but because he was a Negro. The Negro’s in this town were viewed as lesser people and most white people don’t understand them and were afraid of the Negro community. Even though Atticus’ cases failed he was still congratulated by the Negro community who were watching the court case from the balcony. What Atticus did in the courtroom was stand up and allow a Negro person to have a voice, putting a stop to the never-ending racial hating
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior, to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, and the struggle between blacks and whites. Atticus Finch, a lawyer and single parent in a small southern town in the 1930's, is appointed by the local judge to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. Friends and neighbors object when Atticus puts up a strong and spirited defense on behalf of the accused black man. Atticus renounces violence but stands up for what he believes in. He decides to defend Tom Robinson because if he did not, he would not only lose the respect of his children and the townspeople, but himself
In the courtroom that night it is revealed that the alleged crimes of Tom Robinson, a decent Negro man, most likely did not happen. As Atticus says in his closing argument, "The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is” (Lee 271). Showing the clear innocence of Tom Robinson due to lack of evidence, Scout thinks that the white jury will do the right thing only to find out that they still, unfairly, accuse him of being guilty. Scout and her brother, Jem, get very upset when they hear the verdict, however, it allows them both to learn the lesson that the county is unfair towards anyone who is not white. The county demonstrates this evil racism due to the social divisions in Maycomb between the whites and the blacks and because the whites see the blacks as unworthy of rights and freedoms. It was not just the trial itself that displayed evil in the world, but the comments and arguments surrounding the case did
Yet he took the case with no hesitation. Atticus knows the difference between what is fair and what is true justice. He is well aware that whites and blacks have many differences with one another, but is also educated enough to know that there truly is no diversity in equity, and tries to teach everyone including his children this. ”You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around it.(30)” Atticus is encouraging Scout to respect everyone and consider their true potential without considering false accusations in this quote. He applies what he teaches to his children to the people attending the Tom Robinson trial. Atticus is just one man, but with an unprecedented amount of sense of pride, intelligence, and justice. He reflects the image of the town’s people by showing them what they’ve allowed themselves to become based on their beliefs. He genuinely expresses their deepest consternation. In this quote he tells the audience what they are afraid to hear, but need to hear, “She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.(272)” After stating his point and releasing the profound truth Atticus causes for Mayella and Bob Ewell to lose their composure. Nevertheless people of most of the white people of Maycomb continue to refuse to believe that a white woman kissed a black man. But they undoubtedly believe that a black man with a useless left hand beat and raped an “innocent” white woman. Atticus could have predicted the outcome from before he even took the case and refused to defend Tom Robinson. But he
As reference to the novel, “ He slowly squeezed the breath out of me. I could not move”. Jem and Scout could have died that night . However, the positive outweigh the negative. When Atticus defended Tom Robinson it showed that he was a good man and he tried to do the right thing. “ I do my best to love everybody… I’m hard put, sometimes baby, its never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name”. Atticus tried to treat everyone with respect and equality. When Atticus defended Tom Robinson he had hope that people would start judging based on evidence and not race. “ That was the one thing that made me think, well, this may be the shadow of the beginning. That jury took a few hours. An inevitable verdict, maybe, but usually it takes’em just a few minutes”. Since Atticus had to defend Tom Robinson some people started to believe negro man over a white woman, which means they weren’t basing their decision on race. It was worth defending Tom Robinson because Atticus was starting to get others to show
Atticus Finch shows, in many ways, the true definition of a hero, but no situation was more important than the Tom Robinson trial. In Maycomb, the thought of taking a negro’s word instead of a white man’s was ridiculous to the citizens, especially over a matter as serious as a black man raping a white woman. Regardless of this information, Atticus still takes on Tom Robinson’s case and tries to make as big of a difference as possible. When Scout asks him if he thinks that he will win the case, Atticus subtly replies “No, honey” (76). Atticus goes on to explain, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try and win” (76). Basically, Atticus believes that just because it is unlikely that he will win, it does not mean that he should just give up without trying. Throughout all the discrimination, Atticus remains tough and tries to achieve his goal, no matter how hard it is. This was an example of moral courage. Even Scout knows how hard her father is trying by comparing Atticus’ efforts to “watching Atticus walk down the street, raise a rifle to his shoulder and pull the trigger, but...
Throughout the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch was put to the test to defend juvenile Tom Robinson, an African American falsely accused of raping a white woman. Atticus fought long and hard and had he and Tom Robinson been guaranteed the right to a fair trial, they would have won. Atticus’s closing argument rendered countless pieces of evidence and did in fact catch the attention of the jury; but even in the beginning, the decision was clear. Although Atticus lost the trial, his argument was effective due to his excessive use of Aristotelian techniques.
“You never really understood a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around it.” Atticus Finch is a man of extreme integrity. He, as both a lawyer and a human being, stands up for his democratic beliefs and encourages his children to stand up for their own, though they may stand alone. Harper Lee showed how far respect went in To Kill a Mockingbird when Atticus defended Tom Robinson in his rape trial. He did not think twice about being ridiculed by th...
During a time when black people were thought to be lower than white people, Atticus defended a black man in court. He said to his children, "I'm simply defending a Negrohis name's Tom Robinson," (pg. 75). It required a lot of confidence and caring for Atticus to defend Tom, and the black community knew that Tom did not stand a chance without Atticus' help. They respected him and looked to him as a hero. They showed this when they stood up for him in the courtroom. Reverend Sykes said to Scout in the courtroom, "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin," (pg. 211). The entire group of black people who were there stood up for him. Also, the parishioners at Calpurnia's church made Jem and Scout feel welcome when they visited their church. This showed that the black people also respected Atticus' family. If Atticus were just trying his best in a difficult circumstance, then he would not be as respected as he was by the black community. The black people greatly acknowledged the qualities that Atticus displayed by defending Tom and looked to him as a hero because of these qualities.
Defending a black man accused of a crime-no matter how innocent he was, is a nearly impossible task in a small town of 1950’s Southern Alabama. Despite this Atticus Finch-the main character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird authored by Harper Lee, took up the said task as a lawyer defending a black man accused of rape. Knowing it is the jury who decides the fate of Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch tries to appeal to their favor by utilizing noteworthy rhetorical devices: logos, ethos and pathos. By using rationalization, credibility and emotion Atticus Finch showed even the’ indefensible’ can be defended.
Tom Robinson, the defendant, was accused of raping and beating a local, white girl. Although Atticus is quite positive his client didn 't commit the disturbing crime, Tom 's race and history are not in his favor. Nevertheless, Atticus proceeds with the trial and skillfully uses persuasive techniques, such as diction, imagery, and tone, and rhetorical appeals to fight for what he presumes is morally right.
Towards the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus decides to represent a colored man by the man of Tom Robinson, who is being accused of raping Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewell’s daughter. Atticus believes that Tom is innocent, but he does not think that Tom will be found not guilty because of they way the townsfolk treat colored people. They treat them like dirt; like they are worth nothing. Atticus went ahead and represented Tom despite the fact that he knew the townsfolk would call himself and his children names and treat them disrespectfully. Even Scout’s relative Francis said rude things about them. “‘I guess it ain't your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I'm here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family-...’ ‘Just what I said. Grandma says it's bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he's turned out a nigger-lover we'll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb agin. He's ruinin' the family, that's what he's doin'.’” Atticus set a good example for Scout and Jem. He had a difficult decision to make, but he chose what he thought was
Question One: What is the significance of Scout’s connection of the mad dog scene to the trial? Answer: The mad dog represents the madness that consumes Maycomb, and Atticus is the only person willing to attack this prejudice. When Tim Johnson stumbles down the street, Atticus is immediately appointed to kill him.
Atticus was a man of strong morals and conscience and in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, had to overcome the backlash and hate from defending Tom Robinson. With what seemed to be the majority of Maycomb County against him and his own safety at stake, Atticus knew that he couldn’t win the trial. Yet accompanied by his rationality, good ethics and determination he overcomes the trial. It is not the desired ending, but for his efforts in the trial, Atticus gains the respect of the black community and the respect of others in Maycomb by following through and overcoming the challenges that followed the
Firstly, Atticus demonstrated mental courage when he undertook the task of defending Tom Robinson, a black man who was wrongly accused of rape, in court. He had to persevere through many hardships in order to make a statement in the community. Atticus knew he would not win the case against the all white jury and like Mrs. Dubose in her struggle against morphine, Atticus lost before he even began. Nevertheless, Atticus knew that Tom was innocent and was willing to stand up for him because nobody else would. Since Atticus stayed true to himself and did only what is morally correct, he fought this case with great determination. He wanted the people of Maycomb to know the truth about what happened to Mayella Ewell, but even the truth would not free Tom Robinson. "That boy might go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told." (Lee, 146) Atticus showed true courage in going against Maycomb, a mostly prejudice town. He was given names like “nigger lover” and was looked down upon heavily but that did not stop him. On the other hand, Mayella Ewell decided to lie about the case because othe...
However, they also both do their best to act moralistically to please Atticus (Lee). They have little direct influence on the conflict of the rabid dog and the conflict of the Tom Robinson trial as the novel as a whole progresses, but instead serve to provide perspective. Heck Tate represents chaotic good in the novel. Despite his best intentions, the racial implications of the Tom Robinson trial overwhelms Heck, similar to the mad dog incident, in which he hands off the rifle to Atticus (Lee 127). His shortcomings do not get in the way of his pursuit of justice, or as Maya Angelou describes such determination, “With the certainty of tides /… Still [he] rise[s]” (Angelou). Finally, Atticus represents lawful good in the novel and in the mad