No one person can end something as huge as segregation in Jim Crow, people are able to speak out, but speaking out can cause horrible stuff to happen to the person who spoke out. Very few people were able to successfully speak out, but this was because they were able to inspire others and cause more people to speak out. Sometimes, speaking out against Jim Crow racism will not work. In other cases, it may make it worse, or cause harm to you or others. One example of someone who tried to speak out was Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch, a character from To Kill a Mockingbird, was assigned to be defend Tom Robinson, a black male. Atticus showed lots of evidence that one hundred percent proved that Tom was innocent. When the jury went back to talk, they …show more content…
Atticus was also earlier, attacked by a mob, but his kid stopped the mob of people. Eventually Tom Robinson was put in jail. He tried to escape, but was killed. This is an example of how trying to speak out may not work and how it can harm you and others. Speaking out against the Jim Crow racism may not hurt you, but it won't help. According to the Ransdall Report, Ruby Bates, one of the accusers, came out and said that the brothers didn't rape her. Victoria Price, the other witness, quickly shushed her and told people that she didn't know what she was talking about. Ruby Bates was not hurt, but she was ignored. An example of someone who didn't speak out because they would have probably been hurt if they did was the doctor who examined Ruby Bates and Victoria Price. According a class presentation, the doctor examined the two girls and found out that there were no tears or lacerations, there was no sign of rape. The doctor didn't come out and say it because if he did the community would likely never do business or associate with him. This is how the pressure of Jim Crow drove people to not speak up. There are a few people who were able to effectively fight Jim
Tom Robinson’s character exemplifies the mockingbird because he is a black man who is denied justice based on racial prejudice. After Mayella Ewell accuses Tom of rape, there is no way for him to be judged fairly because the narrow-minded, white townspeople are unable to get past their prejudices towards blacks. At his trial, Tom’s lawyer, Atticus, argues,
Even if Tom Robinson is innocent, it comes down to a white woman against a black man. Atticus simply puts a sense of doubt in the jury’s mind, allowing them to recognize that it is wrong no matter what way they look at it.
Tom Robinson had been accused of raping a white woman, and Mr. Finch is his lawyer. Because of racism in this time period; Atticus had no hope of winning the case, but winning wasn’t his ultimate goal. He fought for Tom Robinson because he felt that everyone deserved justice in the court no matter what race. “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal” (Lee 274). The lawyer wasn’t fighting an impossible case for the challenge of winning. He was arguing for this man so that he could walk with courage, knowing he had done the right
The defense lawyer, Atticus Finch, in his closing argument proves the innocence of Tom Robinson. Finch’s purpose is to persuade the jury that Tom Robinson is not guilty, but someone else is. In his closing argument Atticus Finch uses unquestionable evidence and credibility to sway the jury to disregard their biased conscience and to not convict Tom Robinson. Atticus Finch begins his closing argument by emphasizing the case’s simplicity to alter the conscience of the jury.
This improves his argument because the jury probably do not believe that men are created equal. Because he says this the jury will feel that maybe they shouldn’t convict Tom because he is black, because he is equal to them in some ways if not all. Atticus then proves that not everyone is equal by providing proof. He says, “...some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they’re born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others…” It is true that some people are really smart, have better jobs, or are better cooks.
In the 1930’s (a time when black people were treated very poorly) at Maycomb county Tom Robinson was accused of a serious crime and Atticus Finch was appointed to defend Tom in court.
Atticus Finch is a man with strong morals. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the people of Maycomb County have finally met their match. Tom Robinson is a negro in early 1930’s Maycomb County. Tom has been accused of rape and Atticus FInch is his best hope. It makes sense for Atticus to be the one defend tom because he is compassionate and very brave.
Atticus is defending Tom Robinson on trial. Tom Robinson is innocent, but because of his color, he doesn't have a good chance of winning the case. Tom Robinson
Atticus also stood up for what he believed in. He tried his best to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, in a case of rape. The likeness of a black man winning in a case of rape was very unlikely back then, but Atticus still went all out during the trial. He listen carefully to all of the witnesses statements. With those statements from the witnesses, Atticus found some fact that contradicts the abilities that Tom could do.
Atticus also does a good job in defending Tom Robinson because he gives a whole speech near the end of the trial. In the speech Atticus points out, “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 woman…... there is no particular race of man,” (273-274). In this speech Atticus defends Tom Robinson by saying that it is unfair because many people around him have the assumption that negroes like Tom Robinson are evil people, and even if they are innocent, people will still think that they are guilty. Atticus also continues to argue in his speech, talking about the court system, and how even though there are flaws in the court, it should be a fair place.
In "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is a rare kind of person to meet during the times of racial prejudice. Throughout the story, Atticus raises his two children, Scout and Jem, and helps them learn what is right and what is wrong. Atticus is a very ethical and fair character that stays constant about his beliefs. One of the main conflicts for Atticus in the story is the struggle to prove Tom Robinson's innocence. And, despite the jury's inevitable guilty verdict, Atticus still tries to make Tom's trial as fair as possible.
In a small county called Maycomb, in the 1950’s, racism is viewed as normal, but a white man defending a black man of his own accord is ridiculed regularly. Atticus is an interesting character in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. He is an excellent lawyer who is very humble and kind. In the story he is assigned an impossible case to win, defending a black man, Tom Robinson, from the accusation of raping a white female. He could deny the case but he wants to take it.
However, Atticus knows since Tom is a black man he will not get a fair trail since the jury is all white and since people back then didn’t favor or teach color people this is why Atticus had to defend Tom which was a man who was wrongly accused for raping a white woman which her name was Mayella Ewell ; she was a very poor white woman the oldest of many children which was in her family .
Atticus is a late middle-aged man, who works as a lawyer for the city of Maycomb. However, the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird is in the Southern United States of America, Alabama, to exact. Resulting in the heavy bias against people of color, especially with the unfair biases of the jury in court. In Chapter 9 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus has just been given a case on the accusation of Tom Robinson raping a white woman. “‘. . .
The second section of the novel shows that Atticus Finch defended Tom Robinson, a black, Negro man charged of the rape of a white girl. Tom was known as a respectable, reliable and hard-working man. He had never shown disrespect of any kind to anyone and until this point, he was known as an innocent man. The