Everyone in Maycomb knew that “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (Lee 276). Mayella Ewell claims to be raped and beaten up by Tom Robinson after she asked him to help her in the house. During the testimony the truth that Robinson did not rape her emerges. Scout realizes during the testimony “that Mayella must have been the loneliest person in the world” (Lee 218) because first, her father beat her up and raped her. Second, she had no friends, so she was desperate for some affection, which she thought she could find in Tom Robinson, who sometimes helped her when she asked him to. “She tempted a negro” (Lee 231) when her father saw that, he wanted to kill her, and Tom Robinson ran for his life, which made him look guilty. …show more content…
At the same time, the southern rape complex includes a “passive, white, heteronormative woman” (Halpern 11). Mayella Ewell might have been considered white trash, nevertheless, in this case “she necessarily symbolizes the pure and sacred white Southern womanhood” (Vestil). The irrational fear of the black rapist stereotype made the southern society keen to protect their white superiority. A white female, regardless of class and at any cost, would have been believed, in contrast, a black male would never be trusted but he would be convicted of a capital crime. The jury into Kill a Mockingbird does not believe Mayella, but because of race Tom Robinson will be sentenced to death. In this part, the intersectionality of race and gender developed by Critical Race theorist can be used. Critical Race Theorist argues that “race does not occur independently of the histories of
The trial that was held two days ago included an innocent man, Mr. Tom Robinson, being tried in court for rape and abuse. Miss Mayella was badly beaten on the right side of her face. For Mr. Robinson to beat Ms. Ewell on the right side of her face it would require him using his left hand. When Tom was a boy, he got his arm caught in a cotton gin while working for Mr. Dolphin Raymond. When his arm got caught in the gin, it made his left arm twelve inches shorter than his right.
In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A MockingBird, she teaches us that you don’t want to judge people for what they look like or how they act. For instance, it talks about how how Tom Robinson was found guilty, when there wasn’t reliable evidence for him to be found guilty. They know he didn’t rape Mayella, but since he was black, they confirmed him as guilty. He wouldn’t have gotten a fair trial, so judge Taylor appointed Atticus to Tom. Tom Robinson was found guilty because he was black.
The Biased Trial of Tom Robinson Tom never would've been guilty if it weren't for a biased courtroom. In To Kill a Mockingbird Tom Robinson is accused of raping a young white girl named Mayella. Tom Robinson had lots of evidence that he was not guilty but the community was against Tom Robinson. Here is some evidence that proves that the accusations were motivated because he was black.
THE INTRODUCTION Good evening, my name is Kylee Marshik, it's my job to represent the state of Maycomb and serve as a prosecutor on this extremely important case. On August 26, 1936 the defendant Mr. Horace Gilmer was representing his client Bob Ewell in the case of Maycomb vs Robinson, when he allegedly disrespected and abused the defendant on stand. When it was time for the defendant to go on stand and testify, the defendant Tom Robinson was being questioned by Mr. Gilmer when the allegations took place, Mr. Gilmer said disrespectful and hurtful things to the defendant Tom Robinson that were not called for, Tom was called hurtful and offensive names, slurs, and phrases. At the conclusion of the trial, when you have heard all the evidence,
I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and I am on page 304. So far this book is about the Tom Robinson trial and how Scout, Jem, and Dill react. Even with all of the evidence pointing towards Tom being innocent, he was convicted of rape and sent to prison. In this journal I will be characterizing and predicting. Tom Robinson is compassionate and realistic.
In the news today, the biggest things are the killings of African Americans like Mike Brown, and Eric Gardner; and how their lives didn’t matter because they are black. In a novel written by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is accused of raping a nineteen year old girl, and he is given an unfair trial just because of his skin color. Depending on what kind of situation someone is in, their character and personality are going to change. Most people are just going to want to finish their job and get it over with and go home, but then when they are put under pressure they snap and can’t focus. Other times they might be the most caring person out in the world, and is trying to help people out.
Have you ever heard anything about an innocent man who was accused of raping a 19 year old girl. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee states how people were mistreading colored people. First, Mayella and her father accused Tom Robinson of “raping Mayella”, then Tom Robinson is called guilty without any evidence of a doctor exam of rape, and how they shoot Tom Robinson 17 times when he tries to escape by climbing a fence. Mr. Ewell accused Tom Robinson of raping his 19 year old daughter. Tom Robinson was in court, with Atticus as his layer, for “raping” Mayella.
2. In chapter 19 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is called to witness the events that happened the night of the rape. He was sweaty and nervous during his questioning and was even more nervous when Mr. Gilmer pointed out the fact that Tom felt sorry for Mayella. It says in the book that saying that was the worst thing he could have said because a black man, which was the lowest class in society, having sympathy for a white woman was a disgrace to the family. In chapter 24, aunt Alexandra says “The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only” (Page 270).
The United States prides itself on the principle of equality. In the Declaration of Independence, the very basis of the nation, it states "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Despite this promise, Maycomb county lacks the humanity and fairness that America promises. Not only do the whites of the county show obvious contempt for the blacks, but they are willing to go as far as to murder one, Tom Robinson, in cold blood, depriving him of the basic right promised by our great country. Tom deserves the appeal due to the biased jury, the insubstantial physical evidence given by Mayella, Mr. Ewell, and Heck Tate, and the
Tom Robinson was her daily reminder of what she did. What did she do? She tempted a Negro. ‘She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man’”
Today was the day of Tom Robinson's trial. I prepared all my evidence and I knew I was ready for the battle. I told the Judge that there was no evidence to connect Tom to this crime. There was evidence that a crime was committed, but not that he was involved in it. Also, all the injuries were located on Mayella's left side.
There is no justice in accusing a man of a crime he did not commit, especially when that man is innocent. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee explores themes surrounding the ideas of justice and stereotypes, through the trial of Mayella Ewell, who accuses Tom Robinson, a black man, of rape. A question commonly asked, is whether Mayella Ewell, a focal point of this novel should be held accountable for her actions. Mayella Ewell should be held accountable for her actions because she indirectly took a man’s life, committed her actions for self-preservation and abused her privileged status. When Mayella Ewell accused Tom Robinson of rape, it leads to a series of repercussions that cost Tom Robinson his life, proving that she should
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.
Considering all the facts given during the trial, I believe Tom Robinson to be innocent. During the trial, four key people gave testimonies and underwent cross examination. Mr.Heck Tate, Tom Robinson, Mayella Ewell, and Bob Ewell’s testimonies give significant evidence that Tom Robinson not only did not rape Mayella Ewell, but he is incapable of committing such a physically taxing crime. On the other hand, Bob Ewell, “Mayella’s father, is capable and possibly had a history of abusing her. Tom Robinson is not guilty, because no medical evidence of rape that was ever tested found, Tom Robinson’s crippled arm would have made it impossible to hit Mayella in her right eye, and an insinuation of Bob Ewell’s abuse towards Mayella and dominant left
The outcome of Tom Robinson’s trial was most certainly unfair and based on the racism in Maycomb. There was a plethora of evidence that he was not guilty in any way. There were marks of two hands’ fingers around Mayella Ewell’s neck, bruises that were mostly concentrated on the right side of her face (meaning that the attacker would be left handed as Bob Ewell was, and Tom had a crippled left arm), and the changing stories told by the each of the Ewells. As Atticus, the man defending Tom, makes his closing statement, he remarks on all of the evidence against the Ewells, and states that if Thomas Jefferson was correct, all men are equal; so, Tom Robinson should be parallel to Robert E. Lee Ewell, especially in the court. When the verdict is