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To kill a mockingbird a character study essay
Character analysis to kill a mockingbird
Literary analysis to kill a mockingbird essay
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A small African-American boy sees his friend in the park, but can't spend time with him because they are not the same skin color. Maybe his parents did not want everyone in the town knowing that they were letting their child play with white folk, or he was afraid of what his parents would say if they were getting along, regardless of what the rest of the town thinks. Little did this boy know that he would soon be accused of a crime he never committed. This was the life of those with a different skin color in the 1930s. In To Kill a Mockingbird and the Scottsboro trials, racism not only affected those involved, but also the town of where it was held. It would even affect the chances of those accused, which led them to try escape from a penitentiary during this time.
The Scottsboro trials all began on a train crossing the Alabama border on March 25, 1931. Haywood Patterson, one of nine black males involved, had his hand stepped on by Orville Gilley, a white male. This group of nine males included Olen Montgomery, Clarence
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The defendants in the trial of Scottsboro had support from more people than Tom had in his whole town. Supporters of the nine Boys established marches, had petitions passed around, and many more events to finally free the defendants from the harsh treatment they were receiving in Alabama. (Horne 36). The legal appeals and the protests that were made into a worldwide campaign by the ILD, the International Labor Defense, even caused the executions for the boys to be postponed (Horne 30). In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee states "They've done it before and they did it tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it—seems that only children weep" (Lee 285). This further exemplifies that not much of the town excluding the blacks, Atticus, and his children supported him throughout the
While segregation of the races between Blacks and Whites, de facto race discrimination, had been widespread across the United States by the 1930s, nine African-American Scottsboro Boys whose names are Ozzie Powell, Eugene Williams, Charlie Weems, Willie Robeson, Olen Montgomery, Roy and Andy Wright, Clarence Norris and Heywood Paterson were accused of raping two young white women named Victoria Price and Ruby Bates in Alabama in 1931. Along with the dominant influences of the Scottsboro cases on American civil rights history, the landmark case has substantial impacts on the U.S. Constitution primarily in that U.S. Supreme Court ascertained a defendant’s right to effective counsel.
The Scottsboro Trials, Brown v. Mississippi, and trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The purpose of this essay is to compare three very similar cases, the Scottsboro Trials, Brown v. Mississippi, and the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird; and to prove why the defendant in the third trial never had a chance. Each took place in the rural South in the 1920’s and 30’s and involved the unfair conviction of young black males by all-white juries pressured by the threat of mob violence.
“[T]here is one way in this country in which all men are created equal- there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller; the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court” (Lee 233). These are the words uttered by Atticus Finch, an important character in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus is a lawyer, and at this point in the novel, he is trying to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who was accused of raping a white woman. This reflects upon how society was in the 1930’s, when the color of your skin affected your chances of winning a trial. In fact, it is speculated that To Kill a Mockingbird is loosely based off of the trials of the Scottsboro Boys, a famous case from this time period. Most of the main characters associated with both trials share similar traits, experiences, and backgrounds.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of the most successful works of fiction in American Literature. Although To Kill a Mockingbird is classified as a work of fiction, there is evidence to support the claim that To Kill a Mockingbird was modeled after the Scottsboro Trials of 1931. There are many parallels between the trial of Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro Trials. The Scottsboro Boys were nine, young, African American men who were falsely accused of raping two white women while illegally riding a train in Alabama. Harper Lee was also about six years old when these trials took place. This is the reason why Harper Lee chose to write her novel through the eyes of a six year old. The trials inspired her to write To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper
The Scottsboro and Maycomb trials took place in the 1930s, where the trials both had identical causes with the same conclusion, though its a tragic event that has influenced the world today. The resemblance between Scottsboro and Maycomb leads the people into thinking about the Great Depression and the most infamous case that took place in Scottsboro, relating to Maycomb. Though there are no reasonable causes or hateful affairs between opposing characters, it seems like racism between whites and the Afro-Americans has started the conflict. Coming to white vs Afro-American cases, the jurors would always favor the white over the Afro-American because they believe its not right to do such thing as acquitting the Afro-American due to their old-fashioned values and prejudiced mind. Such tragedy happening in the history has influenced the world today in many ways, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is one project that’s inspired to be written.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee seems like a complete replica of the lives of people living in a small Southern U.S. town. The themes expressed in this novel are as relevant today as when this novel was written, and also the most significant literary devices used by Lee. The novel brings forward many important themes, such as the importance of education, recognition of inner courage, and the misfortunes of prejudice. This novel was written in the 1930s. This was the period of the “Great Depression” when it was very common to see people without jobs, homes and food. In those days, the rivalry between the whites and the blacks deepened even more due to the competition for the few available jobs. A very famous court case at that time was the Scottsboro trials. These trials were based on the accusation against nine black men for raping two white women. These trials began on March 25, 1931. The Scottsboro trials were very similar to Tom Robinson’s trial. The similarities include the time factor and also the fact that in both cases, white women accused black men.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”-Martin Luther King Jr. This quote shows how racism is like darkness and hate and love and light are the only way to drive racism out. The story takes place at the time of the great depression. Scout lives in a very racist and judgement city in the south. A black male is accused of raping a white woman. Scouts dad Atticus gets appointed to be the defendant's lawyer. Racism is an antagonist in To Kill A Mockingbird because the white people of Maycomb discriminate the blacks and make them feel lesser. The theme racism can be harmful to everyone is shown by many characters throughout the book.
To Kill The Mockingbird was about a black guy named Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a young women by the name of Mayella Ewell. In the court, significant evidence was presented to the juror's that would prove that Tom Robinson was innocent. The evidence showed that a left handed male must have beat Mayella because the bruises were on the right side of her and Tom Robinsons left arm was disabled. Robinson could not have beat Ms. Ewell. Tom Robinson was still convicted and later on was shot at a prison fence while he was trying to run away. The juror's discriminated Mr. Robinson and was prejudice towards him because all though evidence was presented to them that would prove Tom innocent they ignored it because the guy was black and in the 30's discriminating blacks were heavily favored.
The Scottsboro Trial and the trial of Tom Robinson are almost identical in the forms of bias shown and the accusers that were persecuted. The bias is obvious and is shown throughout both cases, which took place in the same time period. Common parallels are seen through the time period that both trials have taken place and those who were persecuted and why they were persecuted in the first place. The thought of "All blacks are liars, and all blacks are wrongdoers," was a major part of all of these trails. A white person's word was automatically the truth when it was held up to the credibility of someone who was black.
Another fear the White Southerners had was the fear of black men exploiting white women. This fear led to many imprisonments and murders of falsely accused African American men. On March 25th, 1931, nine young African American boys were accused of raping two young white women on a train. These nine eventually became known as the Scottsboro Boys, named after the town where they were arrested. Although the boys had a lawyer fighting for them, the trial was over and the guilty verdict came automatically due to the Jim Crow mindsets of the citizens of Alabama.
Even though extraordinary changes have been made in the past to achieve racial equality, America is still racist, especially in schools. In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is criticized for defending a black man accused of raping a white woman. During the 1930s, the time this novel took place, America was a very segregated country. At the time when Harper Lee wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird," America was fighting a civil rights movement. The events of racism in “To Kill a Mockingbird” reflect the time period.
Racism played a part in the Scottsboro trials. The Scottsboro trials was a trial for nine black boys who were accused of rape by two white women. The trial was a one day trial for all nine of the boys. Usually rape trials last many days, but since the jury was an all white jury, the would decide the verdict really fast. Everyone gets a their own trial, and the nine black boys were all convicted in one trial (Anderson). Racism showed up many times throughout the Scottsboro trials. When the two women yelled rape, the people who heard them did not question anything since there were black people being accused of rape. The women knew blaming the black people for rape would prevent themselves from getting arrested for being prostitutes (Anderson). The women’s self-esteem was low from knowing they would get caught. Then they boosted their self-esteem when they used racism to hide their secret (Routledge). There are many examples of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird. “Two women lied about how all nine of the Scottsboro Boys raped them so they do not get in trouble for being prostitutes” (Anderson). Atticus said in his closing argument Mayella threw herself at a black man, and she did not want to face the consequences of her actions, so she changed the story to make the black man take the blame for what she did (Lee 272). Racism showed up many times in To Kill a Mockingbird especially in the Scottsboro
In To Kill A Mockingbird Lee tells the story of a Mr. Tom Robinson who is an African American who is being charged with rape against a white women. Atticus is the lawyer who must defend Robinson in court. In the Scottsboro case a central figure was a heroic judge who overturned a guilty verdict against the young men. The judge went against the public in trying to protect the rights of the African American men. In reading the novel you learn that Atticus arouses anger in the small community when he tries to defend Robinson.
In the Scottsboro Trials, there were 9 boys all accused falsely of a crime they did not commit. Knowing how much worse the racist back in the early 1900s was shows we have come a long way, but are still far from a completely non-racist world. To Kill A Mockingbird is also a great example of how things were back then, seeing as the two cases carry the nearly exact same things. Both were falsely accused by poor white women that had no medical evidence provided at the ‘crime scene’. Both of these things were horrible things, but have helped us move on from our past mistakes. In today’s world, most of the racism has moved on from blacks, but is still there, and onto the Middle Eastern population. Hopefully, people will learn from our mistakes
The growth of racism is proportional to the growth of scout. To Kill a Mockingbird is an example of showing how active racism was during the 20s and the 30s. Life was very different to now, where previously there were still African American slaves that where not recognised or considered equal to the white community. While in the movie, Mississippi Burning, racism is portrayed through the media and also with various film techniques, symbolism and dialogue. The town’s society erupts when the case escalates to be displayed in the media. Racism is symbolic through the white knights of the KKK, who were veteran fighters of the confederate army during the civil war, who were dedicated to stop invaders of black people, Jews, or gays, which is evident in the movie. The most significant racial event that happened in To Kill a Mockingbird was the Tom Robinson trial, where he was accused of the rape of Mayella Ewell, who is described as extremely poor. At the end of Tom Robinson’s trial, it is obvious that he was convicted purely because of his skin colour and that if the community would blame anyone, they would easily pick a man of colour. The connection between the mocking bird and the story is that Tom Robinson is an innocent being, similar to the mockingbird and the story is that Tom is an innocent being, similar to the mockingbird, he has done nothing to bring these troubles upon himself, his only flaw was being too nice to Mayella Ewell and the victim of racial prejudice. A form of discrimination against Tom Robinson was when the Maycomb community formed a mob against him while he was in jail to ensure that he died no matter what the courts verdict was. This example is shown in To Kill a Mockingbird because when the trial was actually in place,