Compare And Contrast Tom Robinson And Bob Ewell

During Tom Robinson’s trial, the strong prejudice of Maycomb County and the negative effects of its social stratification were clearly demonstrated. Whilst Tom Robinson is innocent of the crime of rape, he gave the Caucasians more reason to convict him on the basis of daring to feel sorry for a Caucasian - it is not expected that a negro (considered as being a part of the lowest class of society, event lower than the ‘white trash’) could feel sorry for a Caucasian and the Caucasians could not accept such a presumption.

The whole town of Maycomb is racist, which makes Atticus’s job harder trying to defend Tom Robinson against the word of a white man.Tom Robinson’s case is unjust since he is black and the majority of Maycomb revert to the stereotype that all blacks are immoral and criminals. “Quote” shows that it is a situation where little is possible to do when defending a black man because the town of Maycomb is deeply affected by racism they tend to only make decisions based on the race and so immediately think Tom Robinson is guilty, that he did indeed raped Mayella when there was so much evidence to prove otherwise. This is challenging for Atticus, since he has to persuade everyone to pretend there is no stereotype about blacks and that they are human

Atticus says that even though Tom is innocent, the all-white jury will find him guilty anyway because he is a black man. The people of Maycomb are livid that their best lawyer would defend a black man who “raped” a white woman. Up until now, Maycomb has been displayed as a happy little town, it’s been seen as nothing but positive. The racist and unflattering side of Maycomb has been exposed as they attack the Finches. Even some of the Finches’ family members disapproves of Atticus’s choice. The town believes that Atticus defending a black man puts the Finch name to shame. They believed that he shouldn’t have done what he

First of all, there is always a right way to treat someone and the way you treat someone shouldn’t be depended on what color of skin they have. “It couldn’t be worse, Jack. The only thing we’ve got is a black man’s word against the Ewells‘. The evidence boils down to you-did—I-didn’t. The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells’—are you acquainted with the Ewells?” (48). This shows that Tom Robinson has no chance at winning the case because of his color. Even though, the one place that should respect any color and treat everyone fair is the courtroom, but judges carry their feelings right into there. Since the Ewells are white they are going to get respected more and treated better and more trustworthy, so when they say Tom Robinson is guilty, they all believe them over Tom’s word. Tom wasn’t being cruel

Racism was a normal thing in Maycomb County, but out of the entire county Bob Ewell was the worst. “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella.” (Lee 231) Bob Ewell refers to Tom Robinson as (a) “black nigger” on the witness stand in front of everyone. Clearly, he doesn’t care about discriminating Tom Robinson right in front of his face and also in front of the people that are in the courtroom. “As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life…” (Lee 295). If Bob Ewell had put himself in Tom’s shoes, he would have seen how hard of a life it is for African Americans. He is one who will “cheat black men everyday of (his) life”, because of his ignorance. (Lee 295) Being racist not only hurts the victim, but ruins your reputation and your life.

In Maycomb, a black man named Tom Robinson is on trial for raping beating up Mayella Ewell. From the beginning Mr. Robinson never really received a fair trial. The law states that someone should get a fair trial from a jury of their peers. However, in Maycomb this doesn’t happen. The Courthouse in Maycomb is filled with local white people. Two men say “You know the court appointed him to defend this nigger...Yeah, but Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what I don’t like about it”(163). This quote is important because it shows the overall attitude of Maycomb’s white citizens. One critical moment may have shown why the trial wasn’t a fair trial. Atticus proved that Tom Robinson was not involved in the attack. “His left arm was fully 12 inches shorter than his right and hung dead at his side” (186). This represented the physical

Maycomb's unjust beliefs on race determined the outcome of Tom Robinson's trail. Atticus´s defence was more than enough to set Tom free, but Maycomb's ignorance and narrow-minded view on African Americans set an innocent man to jail. Atticus told Jem "If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man" (Lee 295). The jury members had been affected by the ignorance of society. They convicted Tom because when they grow up they learned racists beliefs and they do not know any other way. In Maycomb, racism is a normal part of everyday life. When kids at Scouts school call Atticus a n***** lover. Atticus explains to Scout what it means, "Scout," said Atticus, "n*****-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything—like snot-nose. It's hard to explain—ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves.¨ (144). The racists views and attitudes determined the guilty verdict of Tom. In Atticus closing argument, he says "She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man¨(272). Society has a set of rules which are not written but known, these rules tend to be ignorant and impartial. When it comes to race and the misguided beliefs about race, there is a profusion of ignorance. The expectations on race set by society affect the actions and events of life.

Racism causes people to lose all compassion and sympathy for their fellows. Being a southern town during the Great Depression, Maycomb is a society where racism against African-Americans is still goes on. Atticus proves this when he says, “Why people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand” (117). The citizens of Maycomb shocked by this behavior when Atticus is asked to defend Tom Robinson, an African-American who has been accused of raping a white girl. Unfortunately, there is only one possible solution for this trial, and Tom Robinson is convicted. Even though the prosecution has no credible evidence, Robinson’s race is enough for the jury to convict him, because he is an African American and they lie. Atticus even states that a colored man’s word is useless against the word of a white man (295). To make matters even worse, Tom attempts to escape from prison because he can’t keep this guilt inside of him of raping a white girl; unfortunately, the decision ends up taking his

In Maycomb people thought of African-Americans as untrustworthy animals, so the jury convicted him. They decided that Robinson didn’t deserve to live because he was black, and Mayella

Tom Robinson’s case, in which we see in that time period how a white man’s word goes against a black’s, is perceived as unfair by Scout, Jem, Atticus, and many of their neighbors. As Atticus says to Jem, “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.”(295) This quote explains that there is great injustice and extortion for personal gain. This is disturbing in its own right; The fact that Atticus needs to even make a comment like that is disturbing in its own right, let alone that any person would do that to another, also tells Jem this: “So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process. Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, Tom’s jury, but you saw something come between them and reason. You saw the same thing that night in front of the jail. When that crew went away, they didn’t go as reasonable men, they went because we were there. There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads–they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.”(295) Even a man like Atticus, a sort of rebel in that time period, accepts that the system is

As the first day considering the Tom Robinson case ends, multiple citizens of Maycomb were asked their opinion. Many white men of the county, has expressed that Tom Robinson should be punished and that Bob Ewell, the defendants father, is telling the truth. The white community despises Tom Robinson’s attorney, Atticus Finch. Although Atticus is very well respected, a single case degraded his social status and was described as a “Nigger Lover.” The white community strongly agrees that Tom is guilty of abusing and raping Mayella, even after knowing that Mayella was most likely abused by a left hander man, which his father, Bob is, instead of Tom Robinson who has a less coordinated and functional left hand. “He deserves the death penalty, his

You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women,” establishes the false racial stereotypes society believed and juries made assumptions based on the color of a person’s skin. (Lee 172) In addition, African Americans in the South frequently faced false allegations and juries wrongfully convicted men who were innocent because of biases. Furthermore, this quote, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed,” proves the court was unfair to Tom even with the evidence that verified his innocence, a white woman’s word was put over a black man’s word.

The racist of Maycomb County treated Negroes like dirt beneath their feet. They accused every Negro of lying, cheating, and stealing. Tom Robinson had a genuine heart and dark skin, but the white people of Maycomb overlooked his heart and stereotyped him. Later, they accused Tom Robison for raping Mayella Ewell. Sadly, the jury of white men charged Tom Robison guilty, and that later resulted in his death.

Bob Ewell, the man whose daughter is said to have been raped, is one of the least wealthy white residents in Maycomb. However, he seems to have a high opinion of himself so he does not let people look at [him] like [he] was dirt” (253). Even though Mr. Ewell is very poor and generally considered as someone who they must not be seen speaking with, he is still given priority over the black man, Tom Robinson, even though he “ain't never been causing any problems in the years that he's worked for [Link Deas]” (189). This shows that even though Tom Robinson is clearly a very honorable and respectable man, he is still being treated unfairly in the trial. This means that in this example, racism is triumphing over classism because of the hatred that the people have towards Mr. Ewell for being poor and an overall terrible person, is not enough to cancel out the impacts of racism, even though Tom Robinson is a good man. If the people of Maycomb were not racist, then the verdict of the trial would have easily been that Tom Robinson was innocent. The evidence all clearly pointed to Bob Ewell beating her daughter, but the strength of Maycomb's racism was too strong.

Due to prejudice, the community of Maycomb expects Tom Robinson to have negative intentions entirely. People decides to hold grudge against Tom because of his skin color, even when the collected evidence obviously suggests Tom Robinson as an innocent black man. Because of biased opinions towards skin color and race, many people are being discriminated, accused, and punished. Just like Harper Lee had shown, Tom Robinson was discriminated, sent to jail and executed at last. Tom faces relentless torture such as not being able to redeem and prove himself as innocent.