Teo Reid
English 10-32
Final Essay - Essay #4
The condemned court
Fated to fail, but adamant to attempt. Atticus takes the position of court defendant for the case of Tom Robinson. Tom, a 25 year old black man, was accused of assaulting and raping the 19 year old Mayella Ewell. In the prejudiced town of Maycomb, the court ruling would inevitably rule in favor of Mayella, but he accepted the case nevertheless. Atticus took the case because he thinks that Tom deserves a fair trial, he wants to confront the prejudice of Maycomb, and because of his morals. Atticus wants to give Tom the fairest trial he can have. “There’s been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn’t do much about defending this man” (Chapter 9, Page 100). What this implies is that Atticus is aware of the prejudice that is bombarding Tom, even before he enters the courtroom. Knowing that the trial’s outcome is nearly inevitable, Atticus takes the position to give Tom a chance and to ensure that he has the greatest chance of an innocent verdict. Without a doubt, he knows that all people, including the jury, have a bias in the case, but that his efforts in the case may tilt the scales of the court back to equality, giving Tom a just trial.
…show more content…
“Simply because we were licked for a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (Chapter 9, page 101). With this quote, Atticus is attempting to elicit the idea that white people have a distinct social advantage over black people and that the court is representative of that. By Atticus taking this case it demonstrates his goal of proving the prejudice to be wrong and ending the trial in favor of Tom. Regardless of the outcome, the point and the perspective will be shown to the people of
In To Kill a Mockingbird, a black man named Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white woman. Although Atticus had helped Tom Robinson as his lawyer, Tom Robinson had not received a fair trial, because he had no witnesses to back him up. Since the jury was not impartial, it made the trial even harder on Tom’s part. When explaining the trial to Scout, Atticus tells her, “’ Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started.
‘I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty.” Atticus becomes very passionate during this last moments of his closing argument, almost pleading or even begging the jury to make the moral, and just decision; to actually analyses the evidence, and events. He does so because he is certain, what he proclaims won't be enough to sway the jurors’ minds, as if Tom’s conviction was set in stone, before he even began. Unlike many others in Maycomb, he strongly believes in a strict moral code, to treat everyone with respect and seek real Justice, not based one who the person is but the credible evidence of their
The Mistreatment of Tom Robinson Tom Robinson was a falsy accused man, all because of the community's biased opinion. Tom Robinson’s court case was shown in the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Tom Robinson, was accused of beating and raping Mayella Ewell. Since the town of Maycomb thinks all African Americans are harmful, it is nearly impossible for him to win this court case. Even though the evidence did not line up to where it could not possibly be Tom, he still lost.
Atticus knows justice will be upheld by defending Tom. He knows that if he did not defend Tom, he would no longer maintain self-respect since he knows a man’s life is at stake. This characterization shows how Atticus follows the morally right thing, compared to the socially right thing. He displays empathy by acknowledging the fact that he will be judged, but chooses to defend Tom anyway because he would rather follow what is right than be socially accepted. Additionally, Atticus
He wants to give everyone an equal chance. No matter the race or gender, Atticus is someone to treat everyone equally–He is unprejudiced. When trying to defend Tom in court, he says this. “But there 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
When Atticus was defending Tom, he knew they had lost the court case, but he still made a final argument and tried to show the jury how unfair the court case was and that it was only because of prejudice: "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. " At that time, all people in court are supposed to have a fair trial, no matter their race or where they come from. But people do not do that; they carry their hatred and bitterness into the court, and the court is not ruled fairly. Tom was only convicted because of his color and other people’s hatred and bitterness, not because of the truth. Also, a little before the final argument, Jem was convinced they had won because it was shown that it was physically impossible for Tom to rape Mayella because his left arm was crippled and useless.
Atticus should take the case because, he is strong willed (determined) to get the job done, and he is very respectful towards others no matter how mean they can get towards Atticus he still respects others. He is very strong willed and will never stop trying on anything. He will also respect anyone and everyone weather there boy/girl or even black/white he will never disrespect them. Atticus took the case even though Tom is a black man.
He shows this when he says, “‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,’” (101). Atticus knows the outcome will end in failure and that everyone is against it, but he had bravely chosen to take on the African-American man, Tom
Atticus being familiar to the kind of people in Maycomb, he had a good feeling that he was going to lose the trial. “Despite the danger of a mob of men coming to lynch Tom, Atticus sits outside the jailhouse with nothing but a lamp” (Text 2). Atticus put himself in serious danger by standing up to these angry men wanting to hurt Tom. Later Scout and Jem arrive and this puts them in danger as well.
Atticus made a connection and compared himself to the Confederate forces. They both knew they were “licked” before they started, but still fought with everything they had. Atticus knows very well that he has no chance of winning this trial. Even though he is aware of the soon loss, it does mean that Atticus is going to try his very best to fight for Tom. During his closing argument in Tom’s defense, Atiticus challenges the judge and the jury to forget about the social prejudice at the time.
If Atticus is successful in Tom's case it could boost his own reputation. It could show that Atticus can convince the jury successfully and efficiently in a case, and would result in more people wanting Attticus as their own lawyer. If Atticus takes up Tom's case it would make him well-known. It would show that Atticus is not afraid of anything that a case could bring, and is willing to do everything he can to help his client. By taking Tom’s case it would also show to others that he is a good lawyer and he is willing to help his client as much as he can.
Atticus 's strong sense of morality and justice motivates him to defend Tom with vigor and determination, giving it all he 's got with one mission in mind. He wants the people of
Even though Atticus loses the trail case of Tom Robison, he believes powerfully that regardless of social inequalities, every man is equivalent in the courtroom. During trial, Atticus embraces significant facts in his concluding statements to the jury, and throughout his later deliberations with his son Jem and his daughter Scout on the subject of jury selection and the trial procedure, he makes this declaration all over again.
In the knothole, some treasures that the children find include a knife, a watch, and a ball of grey twine. Scout believes that the person who are leaving these items around is Mr. Avery. The next day, the children sees that the knothole is now filled with cement. Mr. Nathan Radley most likely said this to the kids to keep them away from his yard. The night of the fire, Scout was covered by a blanket by Boo Radley.
Even if Atticus can’t win the trial he fights hard because he wants to be a role model to Jem and Scout. Atticus believes Tom is a mockingbird, meaning his innocent and a victim of racism. For him to take the case makes sense.