Tom Robinson Research Paper

“Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle,” (John 19:17-18). Jesus Christ’s valiant life was terminated with a horrendous execution. Tom Robinson’s did as well. He lived his life in the name in the name of others, helping everyone that he could, going out of his way to save people, even Judas, who would betray him. Tom did this aswell, constantly assisting Mayella, she who would betray him in court. Jesus had followers who believed in his message, just as Tom had believers in his innocence. Jesus and his followers would face persecution, just as Tom and hisi believers would. The judgements and death sentences of Jesus and Tom would make them become martyrs. The Martyrdoms would be essential for their causes. Many aspects of Tom Robinson’s life and death

paralleled that of Jesus Christ, acting as a martyr to further a greater cause, the end of racism, that would benefit all people.
Tom Robinson was able to accumulate a number of believers in his innocence, just as Jesus was. Where the court failed, the goodwill of a few outstanding citizens of Maycomb did not. Miss Maudie Atkinson, for instance, knew in her heart of hearts that Tom was truly innocent. She did not go as far as professing it to the town, but she truly believed in Tom’s innocence, shown when she explained who supported the defense of Tom to Aunt Alexandra and Scout: “‘The handful of people who say a fair trial is for everybody, not just us; the handful of people with enough humanity to think, when they look at a negro, there but for the Lord’s kindness I am,’” (Lee 240). Maudie’s testimony shows not only her belief in Tom’s innocence, but is also evident that at least a few others agree with her. Among those others are Scout, Jem, and Atticus. Scout and Jem were able to arrive at this belief through the guidance of their father and Maudie. Atticus, himself, was one of Tom’s most fervent believers, willing to defend him in the name of justice in front of the court of law. Tom’s followers were similar to Jesus’s; not in the sense that they were Apostles who followed him everywhere he went and listened to his teachings, but in the sense that they were Disciples, that they believed in his side of the story, in his truth, despite the opposition from the majority of people in his society. Tom had accumulated believers in his truth of innocence.
Tom and his followers, much like Jesus and his, faced persecution. The people who hated the idea of Tom being innocent were willing to openly oppose him and those who supported him, much like the Pharisees were willing to attack Jesus and his followers. Atticus, for instance, was constantly spoken of in terms that he was mean to take offense to. When having an argument with Scout, Francis, Atticus’s nephew, exclaimed one such phrase, directed towards Atticus: “At a safe distance he called, ‘He’s nothin‘ but a nigger-lover!’” (Lee 85). This term did not offend Atticus, because he was willing to admit that he was; however, the intent was still to offend and persecute Atticus, undoubtedly first said by Aunt Alexandra. Francis was probably not mature enough to truly comprehend the meaning and power contained in the phrase, and was probably not creative enough to contrive it himself; he was described as “boring,” (83). Therefore, even Atticus’s sister, his blood, someone who was, based on culture, was supposed to be there for him no matter what, was willing to attack him for his defense of Tom. The persecution of the believers in Tom, however, was minimal to what he experienced himself. Tom was tried in a court with the price of his life on the line, much like Jesus was, and, much like Jesus, he was judged as guilty and sentenced to death. The court condemned Tom and Jesus, but the people were truly the ones who killed him; popular demand resulted in both deaths. In addition, the death sentence was either carried out by or worsened by the people. Jesus death sentence was able to be committed with merely a few centurions; however, he was surrounded by people making a joke of him, wanting him to die. Tom’s death probably would have happened in a similar manner, had he made it to the the chair. Instead, he was lynched in prison, which should have been an impossibility; prison guards are supposed to protect the prisoners from outsiders as much as they are supposed to protect outsiders from prisoners. Nonetheless, a lynch mob, most definitely with the aid of guards, was permitted to shoot Tom dead; this was not the public story, but it was quite clearly the truth. The story told was obviously a farce: “‘They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. They got him just as he went over the fence. They said if he’d had two good arms he’d have made it, he was moving that fast. Seventeen bullet holes in him,’” (Lee 239). The idea that a man with one arm could even come remotely close to scaling a fence is a blatant lie. The fact that seventeen shots were fired at Tom make this truth even clearer; the callous gunmen clearly wanted him dead, and would obviously be willing to fabricate, albeit poorly, any details as to why they shot. The poor nature of the lie did not matter to the killers though, as they thought that enough people would be glad to see Tom dead. The Pharisees and citizens of Maycomb wanted Jesus and Tom dead, respectively, and were willing to persecute the people who supported them.
Both Tom and Jesus would go down as martyrs, despite the common negative stigma around their lives. Tom was viewed as a low life, inferior person who did not deserve justice by many citizens of Maycomb, just because he was black; however, Atticus was able to shed doubt on this prejudice with his defense of Tom. He was able to plant the seed of doubt in some citizens of Maycomb who were not completely set in their racist ways. Atticus was well aware of what he was doing: “‘This time—’ he broke off and looked at us. ‘You might like to know that there was one fellow who took considerable wearing down—in the beginning he was rarin’ for an outright acquittal,’” (Lee 226). Atticus was speaking his defense of Tom to one member of the jury, as well as a few other citizens of Maycomb, with full knowledge that they would be the only ones listening; this was enough, though. This primed the stage for Tom’s Martyrdom. Since doubt was already being spread among some people, Tom’s death was able to further the cause of equality. Citizens who were beginning to see his legal execution as injustice would most definetly find it much easier to be disgusted by the fact that he was illegally lynched. The lie that was supposed to explain his death was easily seen through and revealed a horrific death, being shot seventeen times; even if citizens were willing to buy into the hoax, the fact that seventeen rounds went through Tom remained. That number of shots was obviously far too high. Not only could this dramatic death cause whites who had doubts about racism in their minds be pushed to realize that those realizations were right, but it could also allow people who never had doubts to gain them. Tom’s death ignited negativity towards racism. Overall, Tom’s persecution was like that of Jesus; Jesus, too, became a martyr, albeit he also rose from the dead. His martyrdom was still an inspiration for Christians, much like Tom’s martyrdom was an inspiration for civil rights activists.
The martyrdoms of Christ and Tom both affected people in a powerful enough way to lead to change not just among those who had direct association with them, but with large groups of people. Christ’s temporary death allowed many to see that his murder was wrong. Followers began to flock towards him and his religion, influenced by other followers, until Christianity became the singularly largest religion in the world. Tom’s martyrdom would undoubtedly act as a catalyst for change in his world as well; his death would make waves in Maycomb and the United States as a whole. As a matter of fact, Atticus had confidence that just the court’s decision to execute Tom would be subject for dispute: “Atticus assured us that nothing would happen to Tom Robinson until the higher court reviewed his case, and that Tom had a good chance of going free, or at least of having a new trial,” (Lee 222-223). This uncertainty in the legal decision regarding Tom’s life shows just how much dispute would be generated over Tom’s lynching; if a court would probably not successfully sentence Tom to death, than their would certainly be powerful repercussions for a lynching. So powerful that change would certainly enue. As Patrick Chura analyzed, “Lee’s novel therefore ends where the civil rights movement begins, with a resolve born of disillusionment to improvise ways and means of justice born within a and outside a system that could convict Tom Robinson…,” (Chura 53). He acknowledges the power that Tom’s martyrdom had to change the United States. Tom was lynched in an appalling enough way that would reach the right people’s ears, not just the citizens listening in Maycomb. It could have positive impact on the entirety of the U.S. Much like Jesus’s death, Tom’s martyrdom extends to influence not just those who knew him, but also many others and would be able to change the world. The nature of this change, as in the fact that positivity came out of such a vile thing, seems strange. However, Robert Butler mentions this “...Christian paradox that good can come out of evil and that our ‘falls’ can be “fortune...,’” (Butler 74) in his critique of To Kill a Mockingbird. This idea of good from evil is truly Christian, the strongest example, of course, being Jesus’s death. Both Tom and Jesus had negative deaths that would undoubtedly make incredibly powerful changes in their worlds.
Tom Robinson lived a life with a startling number of comparisons to that of Jesus.

Despite strong opposition, some people listened to him, just as they listened to Jesus. Jesus, Tom, and both of their believer groups were persecuted. This persecution culimnated in execution. The execution, though, gave way to change. The death of Tom was, in itself, bad. After all, the statement referred to in the title, “... ‘it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,’” (Lee 93) strongly applies to Tom Robinson, whose last name is even illusive to a bird. But the goodness that could come out of his death, the equality that could be born from an act of inequality, was a wonderful blessing, much like that the change that came from the death of Jesus Christ. This similarity made Lee’s message all the more powerful; if things were bad enough for African Americans that she could make a realistic character who faced persecution like Jesus did, things must be changed. Even then, people looked back on the sins against Christ as abominable; Lee showed those same people that they were just as

bad.