Mockingbird Essays

In to kill a mockingbird the defendant Tom Robinson is a young black man and the plaintiffs is Mayella Ewell, a young white girl . Through colorism black people seem to appear as “bad” whereas white people are seen as “good”. Tom Robinson has the poor event of being judged .

First off, in the book, prejudice is shown through the trial. The trial shows the race part of prejudice because Tom is found guilty because of his skin color. “Judge Taylor was polling the jury: Guilty... guilty…..guilty” (Lee 282). Tom Robinson is a black man living in Maycomb, Alabama. He is found guilty for raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. During the trial, Atticus Finch is trying to help Tom Robinson live his life, and be found not guilty. Tom Robinson is, unfortunately, found guilty. The color of his skin determines this decision of the jury. In this time period, black men and women were treated differently than white men or women. There were many facts that were shown in the trial that pointed away from Tom, like when Atticus said

The theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is developed through the character of Tom Robinson and his court case. To paraphrase, Mayella Ewell and her father accused Tom of rape. Because Tom was a black man, he was automatically assumed to be guilty. On page 294, Atticus, Jem and Scout’s father, states that, “Tom Robinson’s a colored man, Jem. No jury in this part of the world’s going to say ‘We think you’re guilty, but not very,’ on a charge like that.” This shows that the jury, along with just about everyone else, thought Tom to be guilty, even though he wasn’t. It was a black man versus a white man, and in that day and age, Tom didn’t stand a chance.

The kids are exposed to racial prejudice throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. One example of racial prejudice is how Dolphus Raymond’s children don’t fit in anywhere because the African American race is prejudice towards the whites and the whites are prejudice towards the blacks, so the kids become outcasts. Jem explains this to Scout in the book: “He’s half white. They’re really sad...They don’t belong anywhere. Colored folks won’t have ‘em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ’em cause they’re colored, so they’re just in-betweens, don’t belong anywhere” (Lee, 215) This shows how the kids didn’t do anything wrong but society doesn’t accept them. Another example of one races prejudice towards the other race in the book is the trial. The trial clearly shows racial prejudice by the whites to the African Americans. There is only circumstantial evidence in the trial and Atticus clearly proves that Tom Robinson is innocent

To conclude the novel, “to Kill A Mockingbird”. Despite being published decades ago, still portray various social injustices that occur in today's society. In the novel the black community is treated unfair, as if they are worthless and inhuman. This also happens in the u.s however, not only people of the black community are being target but people of other dark skin races are as wel. Some people cannot afford a lawyer and some aren't granted a fair trial and sometime will get no trial. This happens in the court scene involving tom robinson, even though he had evidence that proved his innocence he was still found guilty all because of his skin color. But the true injustice is the fact that there are laws that are supposed to prevent this unfair judgment in courts but

Prejudice is “an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge” (Merriam); according to Lystra Moore Richardson of Yale University: “prejudice… was part of the very fiber of Southern life [during the Great Depression].” With these two pieces of information, it is derived that people formed judgments and opinions of a person without just

In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, the black man falsely convicted of rape, had absolutely no chance of a fair trial. There is proof of this in the time period in which it occurred as well as evidence from the novel itself. Tom Robinson had an unfair trial because it was his word against the Ewell’s, a white, trashy family.

Prejudice is seen when Atticus is talking Scout about the case and says “Atticus, are we going to win it?” Atticus said “No honey” (Lee )Atticus knew it was impossible for Tom Robinson to win the case because he was black. The jury was all white and knew that Tom was innocent but they used their prejudice and decided he was guilty. Prejudice can be seen because the jury made an negative assumption about Tom because of his race. While the evidence is clearly shows that prejudice is still present in 2017, there are those who believe prejudice is not seen today. Many of those who believe prejudice is not present in 2017 firmly believe everyone is treated equally and no one is treated different because of their race. While it is true that some people aren’t prejudice, it is clear that people are still prejudice and do treat people different because if their race. This is important because African Americans are discriminated everyday because of their race. An example of this is police brutality. Many black males have been shot and killed over small reasons for the simple fact they were black. While the amount of discrimination is not as large as it used to be people are still discriminated with no reason behind it.

In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there is a trial regarding Tom Robinson. Tom, has been accused of raping Ms. Mayella Ewell. Atticus, a white man, is told to defend Tom, who is black, as a defense attorney. This is not a problem for Atticus, as he is not racist, however, others dislike him because of the situation with the case. Atticus, loses the case, because of the jury disliking him, and black people.

The unfairness of the trial that occurred when Tom was falsely charged with rape reveals people’s imprudent prejudice. It was clear that the case was evaluated unjustly–based on Tom’s race–yet there was enough evidence defending him, according to the book, “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.” (Lee 202). Undeniably, Atticus brought enough evidence to convince the reader that Ewells are dishonest. The final decision of the court can only be

Prejudice is a very prominent motif throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee conveys the message that prejudice deprives us of understanding reality and the world around us. One of the most noticeable cases is the prejudice against Tom Robinson due to his skin color. In the trial, the jury had agreed Tom was guilty because of his race, even though there was no substantial evidence to prove so. Atticus knows the men on the jury are blinded by prejudice and racism, so he says to them, “The witnesses for the state...have presented themselves to you gentlemen...in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted...on the assumption that all Negroes lie” (273). Although the men of the jury understood that the Ewell’s testimonies

Prejudice and discrimination is looked down upon, yet people still continue to be judgmental and have preconceived assumptions about others. It is a common thing that still happens in today’s society. To be particular, racial discrimination is one example of prejudice and is based solely on the color of one’s skin. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is a caring individual who tries his hardest to treat everyone he meets with appreciation and respect. However, he is African American, which influences him and the other characters' lives in different ways. All he wants to do is help out another character, Mayella, which inevitably costs him his life in the end. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the character of Tom Robinson to illustrate the fact that innocent people are sometimes victimized to a racist society.

Scout said,"A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson. I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: “Guilty . . . guilty . . . guilty . . . guilty . . .”(Lee 282). The poem is also about justice and there wasn't any during the trial. The poem says that justice should be blind but it isn't. The jury looked at Tom Robinson differently because he was black.The only reason why Tom Robinson was guilty was because of his race. All of the evidence was against Bob Ewell but he was not guilty because he was white. The verdict doesn't represent the ideas of the Constitution. The jury was breaking the 14th amendment which states that people were/are guaranteed “equal protection” under the law. In To Kill a Mockingbird, black people weren't given the same rights as whites people were. Equal protection is all under the Bill of Rights so any person has the right to freedom of speech or religion,

The most common prejudice people encounter is that of race. During Tom Robinson’s trial this type of prejudice is shown. Tom was a black man accused of raping a white woman, a crime that is punishable by the death penalty. Even though all of the evidence should prove him innocent, the jury still found him guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt. The justice system didn’t allow this man to have a fair trial because of racial prejudice. The character Jem was heartbroken by consequence of racism “His face was streaked with angry tears, ‘it ain’t right’ he muttered.” (212). The jurors had disregarded Tom’s credibility or that of the other witnesses. All they could focus on was his race because they could not see though the frost in that window.

People in the world are not ready for change, and it may take many generations to fix it. “Some of the parents in Prom night in Mississippi do not want one prom for everyone” (Prom night n.pg.). This shows that the parents could not accept change and would do anything for the prom not to happen. When Dill Scout figured out Dolphus only drinks coca- cola he says “You little folks won’t tell on me now, will ya”(Lee 267). The people in Maycomb pitted Dolphus for living with a black girl, and blamed it on his so called drinking habit, when in fact he only drank coca-cola. When people are not ready for change they tend to hide who they really are in order to fit in with the norm.