Similarities Between Emmett Till And To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, a classic novel by Harper Lee, is a quintessential example of a novel that brings to light the social injustice that occurred throughout history. This social injustice is not only experienced by people of color, but also people that aren’t perceived as high class in society. Some people that face social injustice in To Kill a Mockingbird are the following: Tom Robinson, the Cunninghams, and Arthur Radley.

Despite their similarities, the book To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scottsboro Trials are different in many ways. First, the Scottsboro boys had different appeals

“To Kill a Mockingbird”, written by Harper Lee and “Mississippi Burning” directed Alan Parker can be compared and contrasted with each other. Both texts share many themes especially the theme of prejudice where one group of people had bigoted views against another. It is shown in the form of racism throughout the two stories where whites discriminate the blacks. In the town of Maycomb and Mississippi, there is bias, discrimination and injustice between the blacks and whites. Both Harper Lee and Alan Parker explore this theme of prejudice through what their characters stand for, the events that took place during both text and the context behind both stories.

From the late 1800s to the mid 1900s there was a lot of controversy within the United States concerning race. Due to this time being very unconstitutional, it inspired many articles and books on the topic. Such as the article, A Brief History of Jim Crow and the book To Kill A Mockingbird. In reading both A Brief History of Jim Crow and To Kill A Mockingbird, I found many similarities between the two. First, everything is segregated by race. Second, false accusations were always being made against colored people, and white supremacy was largely believed. Lastly, violence wasn’t an uncommon subject to hear about when concerning colored people. Keeping different races apart was a huge priority in the South.

When Harper Lee was writing about the trial of Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” she had a very real case to look to for inspiration. The trial of the Scottsboro Boys was a world renowned case in the 1930’s in which nine black youths were accused of raping to white girls in Alabama. Lee’s novel took this case and created the fictional case of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a lower class white girl in a small town in Alabama during the Depression-era. The Scottsboro trials were the main source of inspiration for Lee’s novel, and although the circumstances of the novel differed from the real-life scandal, the similarities between the two cases are quite abundant.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson was killed for being accused of trying to romanticize with a white woman, in the case of Emmett Till, he was kidnapped and murdered for being accused of flirting with a white woman. Comparing the two cases, you might find some similarities, such as how both Emmett and Tom were accused of romanticizing with white women. Both Tom and Emmett were killed due to the blame of romanticizing with a woman of another race. The amount of racial imbalance in the time periods of Tom Robinson and Emmett Till was a lot. Colored men and women everywhere were unable to do many things, due to their lack of freedom, including romanticizing with anyone of the white race.

The prejudice seen in the fictional novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee corresponds with the real narrow-mindedness during this time period. A fair trial would be unlikely during this time period between a white and a black man. Tom Robinson was presumed guilty because of his race.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about a girl growing up in a southern town. This story was written in 1960. Today this book is considered an American literature masterpiece. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird one of the themes the author had in her story was racism that existed in the south. Much of the book is filled with racist comments, talk, and actions. In this book even the “lowest” white people are “better” than blacks. The book also shows that a white man’s word overpowers a black man’s word. The author uses stylistic devices to show examples of racism.

Have you ever been treated unfairly, based on your ethnicity or skin color, even if you hadn’t done anything? Sadly, this is the way daily life was Emmett Till and Martha Salinas. Imagine going to your regular corner store to buy some chips and a soda, and a week later men kidnap you from your home, because you allegedly winked at a girl who ran the store. This was the terrible scenario for Emmett Till, a boy defined by his skin color. He was kidnapped by two grown men for allegedly shifting with a whites female, and there was no proof of this. Sadly, he died on August 28, 1955, and his death was one of the major sparks for the whole Civil Rights Movement. This movement helped create equal laws for all African Americans.On the other hand, Martha

But, one of the most noticeable connections, is the the trial in the novel. The Scottsboro Boys’ and Tom Robinson's case are very much the same. One major similarity between the two is that they are both rape accusations against african america men in the south around the 1930’s. Harper Lee writes in her book, “The witnesses for the state have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, on the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption-the evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber” (Lee 204). This quote is referring to the racism that was going on in the south. What Atticus was trying to convey to the court was that not all african americans are bad, not all of them want to steal kill and destroy. But yet, the court couldn’t see past their racist prejudices and sentenced Tom Robinson to punishment and he was eventually killed. Just as Tom R`obinson was wrongly accused of rape and found guilty for it, as were the 9 scottsboro boys. Harper Lee was inspired by the Scottsboro Trial to write To Kill a

Comparing Tom Robinson and Emmett Till isn’t going to be easy, but they have a lot in common. “In 2004 the Federal Bureau of Investigation reopened the case for Till, just like what Atticus did for Tom. Tom and Emmett were both ones getting accused for things they may or may not of done.

Emmett Till and Tom Robinson, both black men. Tom Robinson, who is a fictional character, has to undergo a trial because he is accused of sexually assaulting Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson, even though found guilty was killed. Emmett Till, a real teenager, was murdered for trying to flirt with a white woman. Both stories are very similar, but very different.

In the article about Emmett Till. It talks about how he was a reporter at a young age. This article compares to Tom Robinson for To Kill a Mockingbird, because they were both killed and did the same thing and same way. When Tom Robinson was on court with Mrs. Ewell it was because he was flirting with a white female. So was Emmett Till.

There are multiple examples of prejudice and racism throughout To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. During the course of the novel, numerous characters experience terrible and demeaning examples of prejudice. Even though the Jim Crow Laws are contemporaneous with the Great Depression, there are still many different examples of racism and prejudice present throughout the 1930’s.

Harper Lee used To Kill a Mockingbird to address the all too forgotten issue of the discrimination of black people in the legal systems of the South. Tom Robinson is the epitome of legal