To Kill A Mockingbird Trial Essay

Atticus is a credible man, he has a lot of ethos, and when he says something this strong you should accept it. Jem is talking to Atticus about Tom’s trial, and how they convicted him on circumstantial evidence, he doesn't believe it's fair to convict on circumstantial evidence, Jem believes that for a person to be sentenced to the death penalty, there should be one or two witnesses to the crime. Atticus is usually a voice for hope but, plainly says racism is a fact of life. Atticus also believes that when a conflict comes down to race, men lose their heads and are no longer reasonable and rational. “Whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich, or how fine of a family he comes from, that man is trash “(295). Atticus defines 'white trash' as the men who as they grow older grow more bitter and cheat black men, the low-grade white man who takes advantage of the Negro’s ignorance. Atticus has lived a long time and has seen white men cheat and judge black man every day. This quote shows my theme because, after Tom Robinson's trial, Tom was clearly innocent, but because of the racist jury and their prejudice opinion, he was found guilty of rape. What Atticus means, is that no one should be judged or discriminated, for any reason, whether it is skin color, religion, or that person's background. If you judge other people, it doesn't show what kind of person they are but, what kind of person you

Throughout most novels, characters encounter obstacles or events that once faced change their lives for the better or worse. In this book, that obstacle is racism. This is evident in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird when ... ____________________. Due to... ____________________. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Dolphus Raymond, Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell each encounter racism in different ways; however, they all suffer as a result.

Jem asked Atticus how the jury could convict Tom Robinson when he was obviously and undeniably innocent, Atticus retorts with,”I don’t know but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it again tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it-seems only children weep”(213). Unfortunately due to the creed and outlook of the rural community, Tom was convicted due to the reason he was black even though he was proven guiltless. Most if not all the jurists knew Robinson was not guilty, yet convicted him of a crime he didn't commit because the mindset of blacks are bad and whites are good is much more meaningful than law and integrity. Atticus was apprehensive with the case and Harper Lee had him foreshadow the outcome of the trial when he said,” couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells”(88). He is saying that the cards have been stacked against anyone who is defending a black person against a white person in a court case; he realizes he is going to lose the case by default. “ Maycomb’s usual disease”(187) was expected to take Tom Robinson’s life by Atticus and the reader. Although, some people like Atticus and the rest of the Finch family never surrendered to the prejudiced way of thinking that everyone had seemed to adjust

The American actress Goldie Hawn once said that “the biggest lesson you can learn in life, or teach your children, is that life is not castles in the skies, happily ever after. The biggest lesson we have to give our children is truth” (Safire 99). In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch, a lawyer, emphasizes teaching his children the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. To Kill a Mockingbird exposes the reader to several situations in Maycomb County, Alabama, in the 1930s, and reveals Atticus’s beliefs concerning those situations. Atticus’s beliefs can be seen through the lessons he teaches his children, which center around a reliance on coping skills and personal fortitude when dealing with unjust

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.

I grew up in a home where my parents taught us to serve our country, community and those around us. They taught me through example, my father was a scout leader when I was a child. He often took me camping and to merit badge Pow Wow’s. As a boy I began to dream about becoming a boy scout. When I became old enough I joined the cub scouts. While in Cub scouts I learned about being part of the pack, about working together to accomplish large projects, to work together to accomplish a larger goal. Then when I was older I was able to join the boy scouts they taught me about being a citizen in the community, about being a good neighbor. They taught me about doing a good turn daily, and being prepared. When I was 13, I became a life scout. Being a life scout is not anything special, other than I was able to start working on my eagle project.

To Kill a Mockingbird was a very influential book in the eyes of a growing young woman in America in the 1930’s from the eyes of Jean Louise as a child and Jean reminiscing or reflecting as an adult about the past. Mayella Ewell was a white woman who was looked down upon by her own race and the African Americans were too scared to talk to her. Mayella was looked at to be powerless over her own life and others. If she is, then why does she win the case against Tom Robinson? In the town of Maycomb race, class, and gender played larger roles than some may think let's determine how.

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

   The trial of Tom Robinson is central to our understanding of racial and social prejudice in Maycomb. Harper Lee uses Tom Robinson's 'crime' to bring tensions in the town to a head and the author uses the trial as a way of making the ideas behind such tensions explicit for the reader.

In the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" Atticus Finch protects a black man named Tom Robinson in court for good reasons despite the fact that everybody opposes him to do as such. The court case is between the Ewell family and Tom Robinson who they are blaming for beating and assaulting Mayella Ewell. The main motivation for Atticus to be supporting Tom Robinson is that it is the just thing to do since Tom is innocent. Tom Robinson tries to tell the truth in court and show how Mayella is the person who was really behind it all. According to the novel it states, "She came to up and kissed me in favor of my face.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. Discuss this quote from Atticus in relation to 3 characters from the novel.

Firstly, Tom Robinson is just one character that is prejudged in the novel. He is accused of raping a white girl named Mayella and it is a problem to the jury that a black man is trying to defend himself in court. Atticus realizes how Tom is being treated unfairly and that it is uncommon for African Americans and white people to associate with each other. During Atticus’s speech, Mayella is accused of lying in her testimony when “she kissed a black man [which is] something that in our society is unspeakable” (Lee 272). The black man who Atticus refers to is Tom. He is ridiculed and judged by several people in the book and he gets all this

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird a major theme is the loss of innocence. Whether from emotional abuse, racial prejudice or learning, Boo, Tom, and Scout all lose their innocence in one sense or another. The prejudice that each character endures leads to their loss. Through the responses of Boo, Tom, and Scout, Harper Lee shows how each character responded differently to their loss of innocence.

With plentiful evidence that he could not have raped Mayella Ewell, it is obvious he was convicted due to the color of his skin. Atticus chooses to defend him even though he believes it is hopeless. Mayella, whom is the girl accusing Tom Robinson, is considered above the African American community even though she is considered “lower class.” In a conversation Atticus had with his son, Jem he says this ¨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.” This is unfortunately an accurate statement for the time period and that is why Tom Robinson is convicted for something he did not

I belive that the most significant passage in the book To Kill a Mockingbird is when Atticus is explaning why Tom was convicted to Scout and Jem. At this time, the two are trying to figure out why Mr. Robinson was convicted even though there is substantial evidence that proves him otherwise. Luckily, their father is there to clarify that the reason he lost the case was due to racial prejudice. Because Tom was black, the jurry refused to take into consideratition the solid evidence that was presented. This is a pivotal point in the book because, after this, Jem becomes more independent and Scout gets more intrested in becoming a "lady." This also forces Scout to realize that, even in her nice little town, there will always be impurity in