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The history of American literature
Critical analysis of how to kill a mockingbird by Harper lee
What message is Harper Lee trying to convey about prejudice in To Kill A Mockingbird? What solutions does she suggest for her audience
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Tom Robinson answers every question direct and clear. Tom was injured on his left arm which would've made it physically impossible for him to commit this crime. When you inspect Mayella injuries, its obivious the bruises found around her neck and the how the right side of her face is bruised could have only been made by a person with two arms. There was no evidence that Mayella was sexually assualted or even that it couldve been Tom Robinson. Tom had felt sorry for Mayella due that she had a hard life with Ewell. She had also trusted him enough to bring him into her house. Tom Robinson knew the high risks of putting himself in the position of being in a white mans house. But was still willing to help her. The fact that Tom was a black man …show more content…
prevented the jury from believing him. they though just because of his skin color he was already guilty. But the children had no hesitation of believing Tom. They knew he didnt commit this crime which made some people in there town turn against them quickly. I do not believe Mayella story, her styory keeps changing that it makes it hard to believe Tom couldve done this. It also was obivious she was very scared of her father for a reason, which is why it was easy for her to blame the black man. Black men are judged so easily because of their skin color, that just because they're e black they're automatically crimnals and up to no good.
People give them the benefit of the doubt. They're never praised for there accomplishments but for there wrong doings. Black and white arent treated fairly nor given the same amount of respect. Racism is very much alive in this novel. They were so easy to jump to conclusion that the black man did it and not the white father. What makes them believe that the black man did it? What evidence do they have. That points him out to be this criminal and not just peoples opinions. There was no witnesses to prove he was the one do this to Mayella. Its all a bunch of he said she said. "Atticus was trying to show, it seemed to me, that Mr. Ewell could have beaten up Mayella. That much I could …show more content…
follow. If her right eye was blacked and she was beaten mostly on the right side of the face, it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it". Tom left hand was injured which elimnated him from being the person who had beated Mayella. "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". She knew what she was doing when she welcomed him into her home. There would be no problem blaming the black man and have no one question that. Mayella claims that Tom Robinson had came up behind her and grabbed her neck but how's that physically possible with a man who has one working arm.
It was actually Mayella who grabbed him. She testified that he thrown her to the floor and began choking her. It'dbe incredibly impossible for a man with one arm. When you exam her bruises on her neck it looks like a strong man with two hands could've done this. She also cant keep her story straight, she keeps changing it everytime asked the same question. She later retracts her statement that Tom had beaten her, then changed her mind, and said that "I just dont remember". Mayella lies to protect herself from embarrassment. She doesnt want to admit that she had made moves onto Tom Robinson. Its more than obivious she's trying to protect her father. Her father has already hit her for kissing him, he may even do more harm to her if she tells the police who really hit her. But atleast it saves this innocent man from going to jail for a crime he did not
commit.
During the trial Mayella said, “Long’s he keep telling me ma’am and sayin’ Miss Mayella. I don’t hafta take his case his sass, I ain't called upon to take it”(Doc C). During the trial, Mayella was treated a lot better during the case. But on the other hand, for Tom Robinson he was treated unfairly by Mr.Gilmer since he was called “boy” and many other rude names since he was a black man. During the trial, Reverend Sykes said, “Now don’t you be so confident, Mr.Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favour of a colored man over a white man”(Doc D). Given these points, Mayella had a better advantage because of her race since most of the county and people were racist. Also it would be very rare for Tom to win since most of the jurors judged off from race instead of actual facts and reasoning.
Mayella (white), goes to court against Tom Robinson (African American), where Mayella is accusing Tom Robinson of rape. When Atticus asks Mayella questions, Atticus mishears Mayella. An example of Mayella’s lack of power is when Atticus closes his argument by describing Mayella’s injuries during the court case. “Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.”
It would have been impossible for him to abuse Mayella because he cannot use his left arm. Mr Heck-Tate said that she had a black right eye, suggesting her attacker was left-handed. Her father, Bob Ewell, was, suggesting that he beat her up. Because Tom couldn't punch Mayella with his left fist, it couldn't have been him. Tom Robinson is an admirable character and very brave.
When Tom Robinson?s trial begins, evidence begins to show that Tom Robinson is actually innocent. When Mr Ewell takes the stand we see that he is not a soft hearted person because he is blaming Tom Robinson for something that he has not done,
While the novel does take place post-Civil War, racism is still an ever-present factor in America. Slurs such as “nigger” or “negro” are apart of the common vocabulary, such as when Cecil Jacobs says, “That nigger ought to hang from the water tank!” (102). Since the black community is looked down upon, kissing Tom was one of the worst decisions she could make in the public eye. As Atticus explains, “She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man … No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards” (272). Even in the judicial system which, by definition, is supposed to serve justice, has the odds stacked against African-Americans. When Atticus expounds upon this unjust bias he says, “When it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins” (295), rendering Tom Robinson’s trial practically useless. Because of the southern biases against the African American community, Mayella would be ostracized and shunned by society had she revealed her true actions. Everyone strives for acceptance, and will go to many extremes to achieve it, even at the expense of another. Therefore, one must give Mayella sympathy as she was only following her instincts as a
Tom Robinson is a kind black man whom Atticus is defending against the charge that he raped Mayella Ewell. Atticus knows that he will lose because Tom is black, but he also knows that Tom is innocent and that he has to defend him. Tom Robinson is portrayed as a hard-working father and husband in the novel and he was only attempting to help Mayella since no one else would, but she made advances that he refused and her father saw them. On the witness stand, he testifies that he helped her because, "'Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun.'" (256). Even though Tom helps Mayella out of kindness and pity, Mayella is trapped and must accuse him of raping her to save her own life. Shortly after being wrongfully convicted
One of the storylines in the novel is the Robinson-Ewell trial. Tom Robinson is an innocent African-American, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a lower-class white girl. At the trial hearing, everyone is able to tell his or her side of the story before Tom is allowed to speak. All stories, however, offer two different versions of Tom and Mayella’s relationship. Moreover, Mayella and Bob Ewell tell the jury what they expect to hear, about Tom being a monster. They explain that there was no reason for his actions against Mayella. According to them, along with the rest of Maycomb, it's just expected that a black man would rape any white woman if he had the opportunity. The Tom spoken of by the Ewells shows the stereotypes that justify whites to be superior to blacks. However, Tom tells the jury about his innocence. He pr...
One of the things that Atticus says to the people of the court is that “ she tried to put away her evidence of her offence away for her but in this case, she was no child hiding stolen contraband: she struck out her victim of necessity she put him away from her -he must be removed from the presence of the world.” What Atticus is trying to say here is that if Tom was not a black man then this case would not be going on but because he is black there is a case on to prove he really did rape Mayella Ewell. Another thing that Atticus said is that “her father saw it”. What Atticus is trying to say here is that if Bob Ewell saw the rape then why would he not chase after Tom Robinson or call the doctor before he even called the cops. If she had been raped the first thing that Bob should have done would be to call the doctor for the bruises she got during the attack. This case should not even be going on here because both of the people that say that Tom Robinson raped Mayella Ewell where both racist so you can’t really tell if they are really telling the truth about if Tom Robison really do this horrible crime
Atticus had enough evidence to prove to the Jury that Tom’s right arm did not work and that would mean that Tom could not have pulled Mayella to the ground and bruised her as the policeman described. The crowd was surprised but the Jury and the Judge did not believe Atticus’s evidence. They were prejudiced and if Atticus came up with the best possible explanation the Judge still believed the Ewell family and they did not come up with a reasonable explanation about Tom. “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash” (Atticus) chapter 23. Prejudice hurts people who are black and people who were different and young
Tom Robinson is not strong enough to cause those severe injuries with one hand. Mayella is the oldest sibling in the Ewell family, she sacrifices her teen life to take care of her younger siblings as well as help around the farm more due to the death of her mother. Mr Ewell failed to put himself into Mayella’s shoes to understand her, she is so lonely due to not having someone to talk to. Tom Robinson is the only person that she could talk to and Mr Ewell got rid of him. The trial ended with Bob Ewell’s last shred of pride gone.
When Tom said in the trial that he felt sorry for Mayella (a crime worse than rape in the jury´s eyes) - the lowest class showing superiority for a class above themselves. The white community was frightened for their own position in society; the only reason Tom was found guilty was to maintain the traditional hierarchies.
Tom was very confused when he was accused of this incident because he had never been anything more to Mayella Ewell than an acquaintance. “The older you grow the more of it you’ll see. The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box”(Lee 220). This is how Atticus described the trial to his son Jem because he could not comprehend how unjust the trial was unfolding on a daily basis. The proceedings were not equitable towards Tom Robinson because everyone should have realized at the trial that he had not done anything wrong. In the end, Atticus lost the trial. Not because the jury and judge thought Tom Robinson had committed the crime, but simply because he was black and they were racist. Tom was sent to jail for doing absolutely nothing wrong, except being black. He never had the luxury to grow into old age, as his life was taken from him when he was shot seventeen times during his attempt to escape from jail. Tom Robinson’s life would have been completely different if he had not been black. The discrimination would not have occurred and the accusations would not have been leveled or
I would never wish to put that girl in harm’s way, or anybody at all, for that matter. If getting yelled at by Mr. Ewell would save Mayella from getting beat, I would be willing to do it anyday. By law a jury is supposed to be unbiased towards one group of people, but poor Tom had an all-white jury that most likely didn’t pay attention to any of the evidence. Even before any evidence was presented at all, the tried to lynch Tom for no reason other than he was a negro. I can remember the other day when a scout asked me “You aren’t really a nigger-lover, are you?”
Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Robinson is caught with Mayella in the Ewell residence by her father Bob Ewell. Bob swears by everything that he saw Mr. Robinson taking advantage of his daughter, Mayella. Robinson supposedly runs out of the back door of the house and Bob states he does not beat Mayella. Then Bob storms into the sherif...
This man is unfortunately victimized since his society does not believe he is innocent due to the color of his skin. Being the black man that Tom is, it is clear that “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella opened her mouth and screamed” (241). There is no way that a black man’s words would override the voice of a white person. No testimony, evidence or speech can help Tom prove he is not guilty. Atticus understands that Tom is victimized by racism, so he explains: “When it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (220).