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The KKK in To Kill a Mockingbird Does the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) have an influence in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee? I believe that the KKK shows a lot of presence in Tom Robinson’s case. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a group of white supremacist, with a strong hatred of black people. Their hatred for the blacks is because they believe whites are a superior race. The KKK was in control of Alabama, and that is also where Maycomb is. The townspeople of Maycomb treated Tom with hostility because he was black, this is a good example of what the KKK did. In the book, Tom Robinson was accused rape, because he is black and he was around before it happened. “Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced” (Lee 245).When court was in session Atticus, the father of the main characters, uncovers a lot of evidence that Tom wasn’t guilty. The juries, all white men, ignored the evidence and named Tom guilty. The juries may not be part of the KKK, but, they still said Tom was guilty because they didn’t want to be a social outcast for defending a black man. Before the trial, Tom was in a prison in town. While he was in the prison a lynch mob came to kill him. Atticus and his kids, Jem and Scout, were able to stop the mob before they …show more content…
got to Tom. The KKK used lynch mobs to kill people, mostly blacks, accused of crimes and to strike fear into others , "A mob's always made up of people, no matter what, Mr. Cunningham was part of a mob last night, but he was still a man" ( Lee 157). One of the most famous lynching mobs was Jesse Washington’s. Jesse was a 17 year old, handicap farmhand who confessed to raping and killing a white women. The lynching mobs response to that was castrate, mutilate and burn him alive while a crowd cheered. When Tom was sentenced to the electric chair even though he didn’t commit the crime.
While he was in the prison, Tom tried to escape and got shot to death. Being shot for escaping maybe a little bit over the top, but Tom was shot 17 times for trying. Being shot that many times may have been uncalled for, the first shot could have killed him, and living after a few shots is unlikely. Angel Alvarez holds the record for being shot 21 times and surviving. Angel was very luck to survive, and the 21 shots were necessary for the police to bring him in, but Tom being shot was not necessary and he was not as lucky as Angel. Toms shooting may not have been because the guard was part of the KKK, but tom being shot 17 times may have been because he was
black.
Therefore the colour of Tom Robinson’s skin was the defining factor in the jury’s decision. Since the jury declared Tom Robinson guilty, that reveals his fate of going to jail and eventually being killed which is obviously an injustice based on the discrimination against him.
Tom is a nice young man who needs to go to court for being accused of raping a young girl named Mayella, although he did not go threw it alone. He had his lawyer Atticus Finch. Atticus is a single father of two. He believes that no matter who he is defending, if that person is innocent, he deserves justice and he will try his best so justice will be served.
When Jem and Scout found out that their father would be defending a black person, they knew immediately that there would be much controversy, humiliation from the people of Maycomb and great difficulty keeping Tom alive for the trial. It was not long when Atticus had to leave the house very late to go to jail, where Tom was kept because many white people wanted to kill him. Worrying about their father, Jem and Scout sneak out of the house to find him. A self-appointed lynch mob has gathered on the jail to take justice into their own hands. Scout decides to talk to Walter Cunningham, one of the members of the mob.
He was a black man, accused of raping a white women. The Tom Robinson trial was a true trial of good versus evil. Scout’s father was chosen to defend Tom in his trial and tried his hardest providing with all the information that Tom was a innocent man. He fought, “The witness for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption—the evil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption that one associates with minds of their calibre.”(Lee 205) At this point in Atticus’ closing speech he and just about everybody else in that courtroom knew Tom Robinson was innocent. The evidence just did not match up with what was presented. Though Tom was innocent, the jury didn’t look past the color of his skin, so was sentenced to
Nearly the whole last half of the book is about racism. The attitude of the whole town is that Tom Robinson, because he is black and,"…all Negroes lie,…all Negroes are basically immoral beings,…all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…"(Lee 207), will be found guilty regardless of how good a case Atticus makes for him. There was substantial amount of evidence that suggests his innocence. Even the prosecution's two witnesses' stories contradicted each other. The jury did not give a guilty verdict it gave a racist verdict. Not a verdict based on fact, but a verdict based on the color of a man's skin. This is important because the author was not making this racism up; it was what it was like in those times. She is trying to show how ignorant and blind people can be just because of differences between them, as well as how society treats racial minorities.
After a long fought case, Tom Robinson was found guilty and was sent to the local jail. Tom knew he wasn't supposed to be their and tried to escape. He was shot and killed as he seeked freedom. Mr. Underwood, a newspaper writer, compared,"...Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds..." (Lee 241). There was no reason to kill Tome, he didn't harm anyone or caused any trouble. Tom was guilty because of race and the fact that whites rule this era. In this time period, the 1930's, segregation was a huge problem for colored people. It was obvious he didn't rape or do any harm to Mayella Ewell. Tom was just judge on the beliefs of all colored people being criminals and cowards. After Mayella won the court case, her father, Bob Ewell was after Jem and Scout to punish their father for defending Tom Robinson. As Scout and Jem make their way home one night, they were attacked by Bob. Lucky, Boo Radley protected the child and murdered Bob. After Scout realized Boo saved their lives, she stated, "...our neighbors image blurred with my sudden tears" (Lee 270). At that moment Scout knew she had mistaken Boo Radley her entire life. The children aren't to blame though, Maycomb judged Boo as an evil and crazy person based on uncertain stories. Boo Radley accepted the fact that many believed he was psycho, forcing to keep his life on
Tom Robinson should not have tried to escape prison for three reasons. He would not have lost his life, he would have proven himself innocent, and he would have made a statement of how it’s wrong how white people treated black people.
Tom Robinson’s trial, and in fact his entire life, was badly affected by racism. It is truly a testament to the corruption of society when a person who has earned a bad reputation is held in higher esteem than a person who was born with it, as is the case with Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson. Even though Tom was obviously honest in his testament, the jury sided with Bob Ewell because he was white. They made this decision despite the fact that the Ewell family was widely known to be a worthless part of society. Jem, not being racially prejudiced, could not understand this mentality. As Atticus pointed out, “If you (Jem) had been on the jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man.”
First, the trial of Tom Robinson is an eye-opening experience for Jem and Scout; there they discover hatred, child abuse, and lying. Seeing pure hate is new and strange for Jem and Scout. They know that prejudice does exist, but listening to and watching Bob Ewell during the trial is astounding to them because Bob Ewell abhors all blacks, especially Tom Robinson. Bob’s daughter, Mayella, makes an advance on Tom, which is absolutely unspeakable and shameful at that time. In addition, Bob Ewell’s hate grows (especially for Atticus) because after the trial his reputation and respect is ruined, even though he does not have a high degree of integrity to begin with. Also, through the
They think Atticus should not defend Tom Robinson because he is a black man. It’s traditional that blacks are different from whites in the society. “You 've got everything to lose from this, Atticus. I mean everything”(Page 195). This shows if Atticus helps Tom Robinson, he is against the whole society. He may not win the case, but he may lose everything he has, such as reputation and others’ trust. It is not worth to help blacks. Furthermore, Atticus’s action was cursed by others and let his children be bullied by other children. “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for”(Page). Atticus really hurts his reputation since he helps Tom Robinson. However, Atticus really has courage and he has different mind. “And in our courts all men are created equal”(Page 272). The most significant mind that Atticus always remember is blacks and whites are equal and they should be treated equally. All people are created equal under the constitution. People can’t always assist whites instead of making the worth and correct
Tom Robinson is a hard-working African American in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. However, his life takes a tragic turn when he is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, daughter of the town’s least respected citizen, Tom Ewell. When he goes to court , even with the very capable Atticus Finch as his lawyer, his future looks grim. Regardless of the information that Tom Robinson and Atticus had provided that proved Tom as innocent, he was still found guilty. The reader can then conclude that the only explanation for this is that Tom Robinson was guilty not of rape, but of his being black. During the trial, Atticus states that, “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 comes crashing down on her afterwards.” Atticus also states that, "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. You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women—black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a
Tom Robinson is a quiet, respectful and hardworking man, but all of that is irrelevant - he is black. The second he was accused of rape, the all-white jury had pretty much made up their mind. Despite the overwhelming evidence indicating his innocence, a combination of the individual jury members’ prejudices and pressure from their community led them to reach the unfair and sadly unsurprising guilty verdict. Atticus could prove that due to his crippled left arm, Tom was incapable of causing Mayella’s wounds. Link Deas claims that in all the years Tom has worked for him, he “ain’t had a speck o’ trouble outa him. Not a speck” (195) - but which story does Maycomb want to believe? The one where a typical black man without reason or motivation assaulted a white woman, or the uncomfortable version that questions their racial stereotypes- one where an innocent black man pities a white woman? As even Scout understands, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts o...
Racism has been evident all around America, even before this country was officially created over two hundred years ago. Prejudice and racism are not uncommon words in American history, because many disputes, such as war and protests, have emerged from the topic of race. This has been a common practice in the past, and is still a common practice today. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the effects of racism are shown in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. The effects of racism were very cruel during this time, and Harper Lee reflected this through characters, such as Atticus, Jem, Scout, Mrs. Dubose, Aunt Alexandra, and Calpurnia in To Kill a Mockingbird.
In the court, the director leaves out the systemic racism that Harper Lee claims is the reason Tom Robinson is convicted of rape (Dave). The racist community, and a mob of white men, make up the deciding factor of the court. However, for someone watching the movie it would not be understood that the hatred expressed towards Atticus is for supporting a black man ("Overview: To Kill a Mockingbird"). The only reason Tom loses the case is because he is black and the movie underplays this as the reason.
Tom Robinson’s trial began, when he is placed in the local jail, a mob tries to take him. Atticus decides to face the mob. Jem and Scout sneaked out of the house to join him. Scout recognize, Mr. Cunningham and questioning him about his son shaming him into dismissing the mob. At the trial, Atticus provides evidence that the accusers, Mayella Ewell and her father, Bob, are lying to cover her shame and guilt. Despite the evidence pointing to Tom’s innocence, the jury convicts him. The innocent Tom later tries to escape from prison and is shot dead. Bob Ewell feels that Atticus and the judge have made a mockery out of him, and vowed revenge. He menaces Tom Robinson’s widow, tries to break into judge’s house, and attacks Jem and Scout as they walked home from a Halloween party through the woods. Boo Radley intervenes to save the children and stabs Ewell during the fight. The author begins the story with the idea of innocence with Scout not knowing the great injustices and hatred in her society. Then the loss of innocence having seen the worst and had face to face experiences with it. Finishing with