Tom Robinson In To Kill A Mockingbird

“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, is the story of racial segregation and inequality of black men and white women. To be completely honest, I feel everyone should know that he is not guilty. Tom Robinson should not be the convicted man. There was never enough evidence to prove him so. On top of that, how should he be considered guilty he couldn’t have done the crime because he only has one arm and was said to be choked which normally requires two hands.

Atticus' argument for Tom Robinson was perfectly executed, and it was blatantly obvious that Tom was innocent. Even if the jury (pre) decided Tom Robinson as guilty, the partiality and discrimination were evident in the trial. The text state, "Atticus Finch won’t win, he can’t win, but he’s the only man in these parts who can keep a jury out so long in a case like that. And I thought to myself, well, we’re making a step—it’s just a baby- step, but it’s a step.”" Like Miss Maudie said, Atticus' eloquence and strong arguments created a ripple in the stone-hard racism in County. In conclusion, I gather that Atticus did the correct thing by defending Tom Robinson. His actions allowed him to successfully raise his children morally and possibly change the outcome of Maycomb's future, even if it caused

To start, I will predict the case verdict of Tom Robinson. There is reasoning why he is guilty, and reasoning why he may not guilty. The first evidence that, he is guilty is that no black man has won a trial against a white person in court during that point in time. During that point in time racism was extremely common. Whites looked down at blacks just because the color of their skin. From their perspective, they were the part of the hierarchy, while the black were considered apart of the lower class. The whites thought that by putting the blacks down it was there from of authority, and showing their power. From that you can see that the chances of Tom, a black man wining a case against a white woman were slim. In addition, is when Mayella testified her story. When she first got up the chair she started to cry, she said it was because of Atticus scaring her.

Though the black community is sad that Tom Robinson was found guilty they are still faithful that Atticus will protect and defend the black community. Bob Ewell is not happy at all with the way Atticus questioned him and his daughter and the way he defended Tom Robinson. Miss Stephanie says that"this morning Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he'd get him if it took the rest of his life"t Jem's reaction to the verdict is that he leaves the courtroom and cries because he didn't think Tom would be guilty and he feels that it is an unfair verdict and he sees the town in an unfair way. I personally thought that this judging was just a way to seem like society was fair by giving a black man a “trial”. However, I think that they were going to say Tom Robinson was guilty either way.

In order to prove a point to the jury, Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, uses many rhetorical devices in order to show Tom Robinson’s innocence. Even though his speech was heavy on the ethos, Atticus also uses pathos and logos many times. Sadly, everybody knows that Tom Robinson is innocent and did not commit the crime, but because his skin color is black, Tom is simply used as a scapegoat to hide somebody else’s crime. Mayella Ewell, being both physically and emotionally abused, was forced to lie in her testimony by her drunken father, Bob Ewell. Mayella needed to lie in order to hide her sin: kissing a negro.

Citizens in Maycomb show heroism and the good in themselves by helping others. Atticus is doing the good by defending Tom Robinson when most were against him. Scout asks him why he is on Tom’s side, and he replies, “I’m simply defending a Negro- his name’s Tom Robinson. He lives in that little settlement beyond the town dump. He’s a member of Calpurnia’s church, and Cal knows his family well. She says they’re clean-living folks.”(Lee, 100) Atticus believes that everyone is created equal and that everyone deserves a chance. People were making fun of his family because it was not normal in this time to do this. Atticus showed courage and hope when he stood up for Tom Robinson.

My assigned multigenre project character is about Tom Robinson. He is first introduced in chapter nine, on the following page 100. Tom Robinson is illustrated as a Negro, that “lives in that little settlement beyond the town dump. He’s a member of Calpurnia’s church, and Cal knows his family well. She says they’re clean folks” (Lee 100). From this short little summary, it’s possible to conclude that Tom Robinson is a dark-skinned (Negro), poor man (lives near the town dump), who is in need of a lawyer (Atticus is a lawyer). I feel that Tom Robinson is going to be a very substantial character in this particular book because of Atticus’ decision to support a Negro when himself is a white male. Since this book is set in the early 1930s, it’s around

Due to the fact that Tom Robinson is a black man opposing two white folks, he has a great disadvantage against them on the account of the highly prominent racial discrimination seen in Maycomb. Atticus serves his best to bring Tom justice and he accomplished it despite Tom being wrongfully convicted for a crime he did not commit. Scout and Jem uncover the truths of their small county, Maycomb when they realize that significant racial discrimination is present in their county. The prejudiced attitudes prove to lessen following the trial due to how everyone knows that Tom is innocent but was still convicted solely based on his skin colour. The racial discrimination proves to be less extreme than before the Tom Robinson trial due to how even the most racist and biased people are able to change, the trial made the court attendance question their embedded perspectives on the black community, and the immense duration of time to how long the jury needed to finalize the verdict. Having present all these facts, how could one still believe Maycomb remained the same after the

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

chance of winning this case, but he wanted to try anyway. Atticus believed that the accusations were unfair and that Tom Robinson should be legible to a fair trial. Tom should be defended by someone who believes in him. Atticus thought it would be hypocritical of him to tell others to treat others fairly if he didn’t follow that rule

Tom is a single character that exposes how much racism and unfairness a coloured person has to experience every single day. Tom was put on trial for being accused of raping Mayella, Mr. Ewells daughter. Atticus provides sufficient evidence defending Tom Robinson by saying how is left hand was already broken from working at the cotton mill and also explaining how Tom is married and has a family. ADD ATTICUS'S QUOTE IN SPEECH The coloured people in Maycomb are viewed as less than human and are not accepted in their society.

Racism was a normal thing in Maycomb County, but out of the entire county Bob Ewell was the worst. “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella.” (Lee 231) Bob Ewell refers to Tom Robinson as (a) “black nigger” on the witness stand in front of everyone. Clearly, he doesn’t care about discriminating Tom Robinson right in front of his face and also in front of the people that are in the courtroom. “As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life…” (Lee 295). If Bob Ewell had put himself in Tom’s shoes, he would have seen how hard of a life it is for African Americans. He is one who will “cheat black men everyday of (his) life”, because of his ignorance. (Lee 295) Being racist not only hurts the victim, but ruins your reputation and your life.

He was like a player for instance, he was never satisfied so he had lot’s of things to keep him entertained. Tom moves often, showing he can't stay put in one place because he would get bored so he always had to be doing something, even if it was him stealing another man’s

My thoughts on this issue are listed below. They are my reasons why I think Tom is innocent. First, however, some insight on the story and background. Atticus Finch is a lawyer in Maycomb County, Alabama. He and his two children live in the 30’s during the great depression. The Finches are a well mannered, respected, christian family. Times are hard, and even harder for the black community. Tom Robinson is a young, hard working black man, who is married with children. He was arrested on the charges of rape against Mayella Ewell. The Ewells are a disrespectful family with an absent mother and a father who is a known drunk. There is no discipline in the children that live there. The family is referred to as “white trash” on more than one occasion throughout the book. When Tom is tried, the ending verdict on the case is guilty. In my mind, and hopefully yours too after this argumentative essay, Tom is Innocent.

Tom Robinson was a man who respected others and had good moral standards. He was a truthful man and always helped those who were in need. For his kindness he was repaid with the judging eye of the whites and it cost him his life. ‘You’re a mighty good fellow, it seems- did all this for not one penny?’ He died in prison when he should have been a free man. He is seen as a man of truth, love and dignity. Tom Robinson was an innocent man who told the truth throughtout his trial while the whites lied just so they could see a grateful, kind, helpful man pay the price for their wrongdoing and all because he had different coloured skin.