Tom Robinson Trial Research Paper

The whole town of Maycomb is racist, which makes Atticus’s job harder trying to defend Tom Robinson against the word of a white man.Tom Robinson’s case is unjust since he is black and the majority of Maycomb revert to the stereotype that all blacks are immoral and criminals. “Quote” shows that it is a situation where little is possible to do when defending a black man because the town of Maycomb is deeply affected by racism they tend to only make decisions based on the race and so immediately think Tom Robinson is guilty, that he did indeed raped Mayella when there was so much evidence to prove otherwise. This is challenging for Atticus, since he has to persuade everyone to pretend there is no stereotype about blacks and that they are human

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

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.

According to Bob Ewell, he witnessed what happened and made Tom so scared that he ran away. All of the white people already know who is going to win, based on the preference of skin color, so Atticus, the lawyer of Tom, decides to state his opinion of the unfair trial. “I shall be brief, but I would like to use my remaining time with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, this case should have never come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). From the trial, we can infer from Atticus’ points that Tom Robinson is innocent. But since he is black, he doesn’t receive a fair trial and the jury just sides with Mayella Ewell even though the evidence that Atticus points out, clearly reveals that Bob Ewell actually harassed his daughter. “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

We can see this has happened in Maycomb as the Ewell’s, who are lower class and generally unlikable people, are able to manipulate a bad situation by blaming a black man, the only people that are lower than them. Also, the trial of Tom shows the pre-conceived ideas of Maycomb on show. Even when presented with the most obvious evidence, the jury still convicted Tom guilty of all charges. The jury shows here that the pre-conceived ideas about black people and the lack of knowledge of other’s opinions apart from their own biases them to thinking Tom is guilty anyway, without taking into account he evidence.

One of the most widely watched trials in Maycomb history ended Tuesday December 9th when a jury found Tom Robinson, 25, guilty of raping Mayella Violet Ewell, 19, daughter of Robert Ewell. The guilty verdict hinged on the testimony of Robert Ewell, who claimed to have seen the crime. Tom Robinson’s Attorney, Atticus Finch put up a strong defense, but was unsuccessful in convincing the jury of twelve white Maycomb county residents that Robinson, a black man, was innocent. Finch has stated that he was disappointed in the outcome, but will appeal the verdict. The prosecutor for the state, Horace Gilmer said “he felt Robinson had gotten what he deserved.” Robinson was taken into custody following the verdict. Any appeals will take several

In Maycomb people thought of African-Americans as untrustworthy animals, so the jury convicted him. They decided that Robinson didn’t deserve to live because he was black, and Mayella

After the trial, Tom Robinson was placed at the Enfield Prison Farm, which was seventy miles away in Chester County (Lee 293). Tom Robinson had to wait for the higher court to review his case (Lee 293). However, Tom attempted to escape from the prison and was shot seventeen times (Lee 315). Even though Tom Robinson was declared guilty, the trial was still consequential. The jury spent a long time deciding if Tom Robinson was guilty or innocent. During that time period, it was unlikely for a jury to spend time deciding the innocence of a black person. Miss Maudie believed the justice system was taking baby steps towards racial equality (Lee 289). In addition, Jem and Scout lost part of their innocence. Jem was confident that his father was

Tom Robinson, a hard-working gentleman of color, found guilty for rapping nineteen year old Mayella Ewell although, he is innocent. More than that, Robinson is found guilty because of a prejudiced jury.

So far my evidence has been an outstanding spectacle of injustice in the only supposedly fair system in our government; our courts. My evidence, if it may even be called evidence, show the true and obvious fact that this man being tried by the town of Maycomb, Alabama is not the true culprit of which these accusations would be found true by. I am brought firmly to the verdict that while Tom Robinson is not the one who proceeded to brutally beat and rape Miss Mayella Ewell but that there is one person that infact did; her own father Bob Ewell.

The Maycomb jury accused Tom Robinson guilty of rape of Mayella Ewell, not because they truly thought he was guilty; he was wrongfully convicted because of our town’s long time “honor code” of our society. Our “honor code” is nothing but a meaningless, unbroken rule saying that all whites are infallible, while all negroes are immoral and can’t be trusted around anyone. If a white person were to break this “code”, that person would be considered an outcast in our town. Of course, as I’ve said before, some whites and negroes are immoral and can’t be trusted around anyone. Take the Ewells, for example. Maycomb despises them, and barely keeps them isolated from the rest of town. They represent Maycomb’s worst side, but their word is still taken over a black man’s word, simply because they’re white. None of the jury members wanted to risk their own reputations and be

Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Once this accusation got out, most whites in the community of Maycomb turned further away from the

As it was pretty obvious that Tom Robinson could not have raped Mayella, nor could he have beat her, Then we all know that Tom could not have done anything bad. The 1930’s and the years surrounding it were not good for negros, especially for the south. The people of Maycomb county don’t care about what is happening around and outside it. The black people of Maycomb were not treated well since the racial divide in Maycomb was big and that sorta kept the blacks and the whites separate.

Bob Ewell, the man whose daughter is said to have been raped, is one of the least wealthy white residents in Maycomb. However, he seems to have a high opinion of himself so he does not let people look at [him] like [he] was dirt” (253). Even though Mr. Ewell is very poor and generally considered as someone who they must not be seen speaking with, he is still given priority over the black man, Tom Robinson, even though he “ain't never been causing any problems in the years that he's worked for [Link Deas]” (189). This shows that even though Tom Robinson is clearly a very honorable and respectable man, he is still being treated unfairly in the trial. This means that in this example, racism is triumphing over classism because of the hatred that the people have towards Mr. Ewell for being poor and an overall terrible person, is not enough to cancel out the impacts of racism, even though Tom Robinson is a good man. If the people of Maycomb were not racist, then the verdict of the trial would have easily been that Tom Robinson was innocent. The evidence all clearly pointed to Bob Ewell beating her daughter, but the strength of Maycomb's racism was too strong.

The town of Maycomb hated Atticus for keeping Tom Robinson, the black man he is protecting, safe from all harm. However, Atticus felt it was his duty to keep this man safe. When Jem and Scout asked Atticus why he had to protect Tom Robinson even though the town hates him for it he says, “I couldn't hold my head in this town. I couldn't represent this country in the legislature. couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again"(Lee 100).