Tom Robinson Trial Essay

Anybody who opposes him has to hear and feel his ugly language. That is his rage he cannot simply hold in. Atticus asked Mr. Heck Tate, the sheriff, to describe Mayella’s injuries. “Well, she was beaten around the head. There was already bruises comin’ on her arms...”(168.) Mayella was supposedly beaten by her ‘attacker’, Tom Robinson. Though there is proof that Bob beaten Mayella. Firsty, Tom cannot use one arm/hand therefore he couldn’t have strangled Mayella. Secondly, she had a bruise on her right eye which only a left handed/ ambidextrous person can do. Tom can’t use his left arm and Bob is left handed. During Mayella’s testimony with Atticus she claimed her father was tolerable expect when he’s drinking. Since Bob Ewell has quite a temper. He abuses his own children to make himself feel better. He will go after anybody who stands in his way. “ 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”(217.) Bob was enraged by the people involved with Mayella’s rape case. He started to go after them by harassing, assaulting, and stalking them. Technically there’s nothing good about Bob Ewell. Not only is he a cruel coward, he shows little guilt in his

Tom Robinson enters To Kill a Mockingbird accused of raping Mayella Ewell but leaves To Kill a Mockingbird dead. Atticus Finch the defendant in Tom Robinson’s case and the father of Jem and Scout, did not fail Robinson, Robinson’s family or his own because he tried his best to prove that Tom was not guilty. For example , Miss Ewell explained that the attacker in her testimony, Tom Robinson had force himself on her, began to hold to her by the neck and hit her repeatedly after she asked him to bust up a chiffarobe for her. Heck Tate, the sheriff and witness of the trial had said Mayella only had bruises on both the neck and right side of her face, this now raised a red flag for Atticus. For Robinson to beat Miss Ewell repeatedly on the right side of her face he would have to use his left arm which got caught in a cotton gin years before. The disability that Tom Robinson had created great evidence for Atticus’s defense but didn’t work because of the unjust community they both live in. Maybe it would have worked if the trial was held in a courtroom that is built on justice for all, not just for the white.

The first reason that Bob Ewell is the most guilty for the death of Tom is because he was the one who forced Mayella to prosecute in the first place. If Bob weren’t a drunk, then he would not have hurt Mayella, and he would not have to blame the bruises on Tom. Atticus said, “...it’s

In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Atticus is given a case where he needs to defend Tom Robinson, who’s accused guilty of raping Mayella Ewell. Evidence points come to the surface, like the fact that Mayella Ewell has a black eye on the right side of her face. Tom Robinson’s left arm was cut off due to a working accident, however, it is brought up that Mr. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, is left handed. “‘What’s so interestin’?’ he asked. ‘You’re left handed, Mr. Ewell.’ said Judge Taylor.” (Lee, 177). Through the trial, other points are brought up to show that Tom Robinson clearly wasn’t the one who raped Mayella Ewell. She goes on to talk about the way that her father gets when he’s drunk; “‘Except when he’s drinking’ asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded. ‘Does he ever go after you?’ ‘How do you mean?’ ‘When he’s-riled, has he ever beaten you?’

In proving Robinson’s innocents, Mayella Ewell was beaten on her right side concluding that whoever beat her was dominantly left handed. Robinson was paralyzed on his left side of his body. Although on trial, Bob Ewell was proven to be left handed. When asked “are you ambidextrous?” by Mr.Gilmore, Ewell responds “I most positively am not, I can use one hand as good as the other” (238). More importantly, when Mayella Ewell was on trial, she stated “(Bob Ewell) he never touched me” (246) but before she said it, she looked around. Her gestures made it seem as if she was lying was nervous to answer when she was asked has Mr.Ewell ever beaten her.

Furthermore, Atticus wishes to portray Tom positively and the Ewells negatively. Atticus’s pathos appeal attempts to do this as shown when he says, “...there is … evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell is beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left” (272). This insinuates that Mr. Ewell is the true perpetrator of Mayella’s injuries as he is left hand dominated. Tom on the other hand, has a useless left arm, making the accusations directed at him very unlikely. This takes the feeling of indignation the jurors have for Tom and places it on a new

Atticus first defense was logos, “Tom Robinson reached around ran his fingers under his left arm and lifted it” (Lee 254). Atticus using this information to explain Tom is incapable of using his left hand. Mayella was beaten on the right side of the face, so someone left handed person beat her and Bob Ewell is left handed. Atticus use of pathos is when he asked Mayella this “who beat you up? Tom Robinson of your Father? No response” (Lee 251). This shows pathos because Atticus got into the emotional part of Mayella and she was incapable of answer the question with a straight face. Finally, Atticus use of ethos was “She called me in suh. Seems like everytime I passed by yonder shed had something for me to do.” (Lee 256). This points out that Tom Robinson was a nice man, a gentleman and always took time out of his day after already working to help Mayella. This also explains that if Tom Robinson wanted to rape Mayella, he had many opportunities to but he

During Tom Robinson’s trial to prove he was innocent from the Ewell’s lies, Link Deas spoke out from the crowd. Mr. Deas, a businessman in the town of Maycomb, was justified in speaking his mind because he knew the truth, was overcome with emotion about the outrageous conviction, and desired to prove that Atticus wasn’t the only decent person in the courtroom. This made him well qualified to stand up during Tom’s trial and declare, “I just want the whole lot of you to know one thing right now. That boy's worked for me eight years an' I ain't had a speck o'trouble outa him. Not a speck.”

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.

Small towns can lead to many bad rumors that aren't true, trust me, I would know. After Tom Robinson's trial, about a black man raping a white woman, some trouble stirred up here in Maycomb County. Bob Ewell, a very racist man, spit in Atticus's face for defending a black man, it's a good thing that Atticus, Tom Robinson’s lawyer, kept his cool, who knows what he would've done. This town has been having so many troubles lately, with the snowy winter and then Tom being convicted then killed. Everyone thought that I was scary and a complete myth, but it was almost time for them all to know the truth. I had been watching out for the kids, they'd been getting into a lot of trouble lately, but I was there to watch out for anything that happened.

“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 word, the white always wins. They’re ugly, but these are the facts of life” (Lee 295). Judging someone based on their ethnicity and culture, and saying that one race is better than the other is expressed numerous times throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus experiences a lot of racism because he protects Tom Robinson, a negro going to trial for getting accused of beating a white woman.

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 conflict between whites and blacks had been going on for years. Even after the blacks were freed from slavery the whites never treated them as equals. The story of To Kill A Mockingbird tells of a trial against a white family and a black man Named Tom Robinson. Although Harper Lee, the author of this book, wrote the book making Tom guilty, I believe that in a truly equal world this is how the trial would have gone.

During the trial it is obvious that Tom Robinson did not committed this crime. This is proven when they go to trial and see that Mayella did not have very good evidence about the situation. “Mr Ewell wrote on the back of an envelope and looked up complacently to see judge Taylor starring’...”’you're left handed, Mr. Ewell,’said judge Taylor”’(177). This shows that Mr. Ewell was probably the one to hit Mayella on the side of her face because she was struck on the right side and the person to hit her would have to be left handed. Also Mayella lied and said Tom Robinson hit her in the face, but Tom explains how his left arm was cut of in a cotton gin.

To begin, Mayella lied about the rape to cover up matters of her life that she keeps secret, such as her father's beatings and her seclusion from the outside world. Until now, nobody had any idea what Mayella’s home life was like, her father beats her up when he gets drunk. Even if no one knows exactly what happened, the evidence shows Mayella had bruises on the left side of her face. In spite of what Officer Heck states, Atticus proves Mr. Ewell is, in fact left handed, he proves this by having Bob Ewell write his name in an envelope. On the contrary, Thomas Robinson cannot have possibly hit Mayella on the left side of her face. This is not possible because he got his arm caught in a cotton gin when he was young, and he has no use of his left