Why Is The Trial Important In To Kill A Mockingbird

Within this novel, written by Harper Lee, there are many important scenes which contain various key symbols and events described through the life of Scout, a young girl growing up through the great depression and racist times. Throughout the whole story, the most significant episodes show society inequality and capture a very dark time period of American history, that being a high level of racism shown throughout the towns and country. These episodes which are all witnessed by Scout and her older brother Jem, are as follows: The Trial of Tom Robinson, where Atticus has the power to show how a black man was innocent, the scene of Tom being declared guilty, and the scene in which the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” gets its name.
The trial of Tom Robinson is important to this story as it shows how the laws of that time were not fair to people of color. Atticus, Tom’s lawyer who is also Scout’s father, was trying to show the jury that Tom was an innocent man by proving that Mr. Ewell’s daughter, Mayella, lied under oath. While reading this novel I found this part of the story most enraging because of what happens as witnesses are brought forth during the trial. Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell when in reality she is the one that tried to make advances at Tom. At the same time, she was doing this, Mr. Ewell

witnessed her advances and being a wildly racist man, beat up his own daughter and blamed Tom. Mr. Ewell’s action represents the strong racism throughout the whole story.
The next important episode is the results of the trial, Tom was unfairly charged guilty by the jury because of their racist opinions toward someone of color. This part is important by showing how the jury automatically associated a black man with being guilty, no matter what the defense lawyer showed at trial. This personally affected me because I feel that no one should be judged or accused of something that they did not do because of where they come from or the color of their skin.
The meaning of a Mockingbird and why it should not be killed is the last most important episodes of the book. According to Atticus, killing a Mockingbird is considered a sin because they are creatures that do not harm. This is symbolized throughout the story with Boo Radley who is like a mockingbird himself, saving the kids from Bob Ewell and leaving gifts in a tree. Yet he is abused by his father. The book gets its title from this episode. My personal reaction was agreeing to Atticus’s statement and the feeling of rage when someone is hurt which should not be.
To conclude, the most important episodes within To Kill a Mockingbird involves the actions and the way people behave throughout the town during these times of hatred.

These include a very racist trial, how it’s a sin to harm something when they show an act of kindness and the fact that even while showing the truth, the racist’s heritage and hatred take over. Social inequality becomes the book’s meaning throughout these events. To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic book which everyone must ready to stop the continuous racist ways especially in these modern times with our 45th president and the new white movements bringing back hatred in our

cities.