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Tom Robinson Trial

Decent Essays

The town was struck in wonder as they awaited Tom Robinson’s trial. In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Mayella Ewell is powerful. She convinced the jury to decide that because Tom Robinson was so masculine, she was easily taken advantage of and raped. As a white woman in the South during the 1930’s, her word, or any other white person’s word was more reliable than an African-American’s.(DBQ. page 19) Using her ethnicity to give her the upper hand against Tom Robinson, she utilizes her feminism to conceive the courtroom into thinking that she was helpless in her situation. Her race sets up a bias in the courtroom against her oppressor. Because of his race, Tom was scared that he would be accused of something he did not do.(DBQ. page 19) People in the South during the 1930’s, assumed that all African-Americans lie. In this time period, it was stereotypical to think that all …show more content…

One may use the analogy of comparing Mayella to a baby because they are both helpless and subversive, this is why Mayella’s gender was beneficial. Women are known to be impotent and weak against men. The court took this concept into consideration and modified it to help convict Tom of something he did not do. Mayella relies on the jury so that her father will stop sexually abusing her. The one thing that could be argued proving that Mayella is powerless, is her class. Mayella is referred to as “White Trash”(To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper, Chapter 17). She is identified to be poorer than any African-American. Tom Robinson states that “he felt sorry for her,”(To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper, Chapter 19, page 135) because he knew that she was so low ranked in society and was abused by her father. Even though her social ranking could be used to name her powerless, Mayella is still able to convince the court that Tom is guilty. Ultimately, her class indeed, does not change the decision of the

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