Who Is Wrong In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of the trial of a black man, Tom Robinson for the raping of a white woman, Mayella Ewell, in racist Alabama in the 1990’s.

The story, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is about racial discrimination in the 1960s. The conflict in the story is when a black man named Tom Robinson is unjustly charged with raping Mayella Ewell and the townspeople believe he is guilty because of his race. A white lawyer named Atticus defends Tom during the trial in order to persuade the Jury to ignore the wrong accusations. Atticus tries to persuade them through the use of pathos and logos to create a feeling of guilt within the Jury and townspeople to influence their decision on Tom Robinson innocence.

The Mockingbird symbolizes that you don’t harm something or someone that is innocent. Atticus tells Jem that

Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” is set in a small Southern United States community called Maycomb during the Great Depression era. The whole book primarily revolves around segregation and racism and how it relates to Maycomb’s history. It eventually leads to the trial of Tom Robinson where he is accused of beating up and raping Mayella Ewell. Even though it was clear that Tom Robinson did not do anything wrong he was convicted by an all white jury simply because he was black. The trial of Tom Robinson and its verdict shows an example of how segregation in the court system prevents fair trials from occurring.

Imagine being in a society where people are judged because of the color of their skin. Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. As much as, Atticus wanted to help Tom Robinson with his case. Unfortunately, Atticus lost the case to Mayella Ewell and her father Bob Ewell. It was very difficult to help an African American man with a case like his because many white people at the time disliked African Americans. Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird uses the theme of racism, which is shown through segregation, events in the school, and has situations of racism that compare to racism in the modern world.

To Kill a Mockingbird took place during the 1930s, a period shortly after the American civil war in Maycomb County, Alabama, the deep south where black people suffered from racism and discrimination. In this book, Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white woman, which was something that he’s never done, even though all the evidence proved that he did not violate that white woman, Tom was judged guilty because he was a black man. Racism is presented throughout the entire book especially when Scout got teased by her family about Atticus taking Tom’s case, and the townspeople's perception about Atticus, as well as during the trial of Tom Robinson.

The story line of To Kill a Mockingbird unfolds with Atticus’s representation of Tom Robinson. Robinson has been accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. While he is assigned by the judge to be the public defender, Atticus earns the townspeople’s displeasure because he is determined to defend him to the best

Tom Robinson was a black male who was put on trial for raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Tom Robinson did not get a fair trial because of his skin color. The jury did not give him a fair trial, because it was easier to blame someone who was already lower class. In the story Lee makes people pity Tom because she showed that the town was judging Atticus, Toms attorney, for defending Tom. This shows that the towns

Atticus explains to Jem that “in our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee 295 ). Atticus explain the justice system’s flaws to Jem, shows readers how racist people were in the 30’s. Therefore the novel does show some of the oppression that people of color were being forced to go through. During the trial, Tom Robinson says he ran from the Ewell house because “[he] was scared [he’d] hafta face up to what [he] didn't do” (Lee 265). Tom’s confession of his worried feelings of court prove how terrible and bias the southern justice system is. Even though Tom’s life before the trial was never mentioned in the novel, readers can still get a glimpse of the racist views in the south through his trial. Also at Tom’s trial, readers can “see the town of Maycomb in its worst light, willing to execute an innocent man for a crime he did not commit rather than question their belief in black inferiority and their social taboos about interracial relationships” (Felty). The trial truly shows the racist beliefs and the horrible lives African Americans were forced to live through with no freedom and fear of each new day. The novel does show some of the daily difficulties that African Americans went through and for that reason it should be looked upon as an example of racism in the south. Overall, the

Continuing the ideals of innocence, the Mockingbird is greatly used to represent more than just one character. Harper Lee uses the Mockingbird to foreshadow Jem, Scout, and possibly Tom’s loss of innocence, from the beginning of the book, to the end. The symbol is first seen when Atticus gifts Jem and Scout new air rifles, and Jem is looking for anything to use it on. Atticus suggests that he’d “rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds”. Shoot all the bluejays you want if you can hit ‘em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119).

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee introduces the racial injustices of the 1930’s. The book takes place in the quiet and tedious town of Maycomb, Alabama. Then comes a trial, where a black man by the name of Tom robinson is falsely accused of raping a white woman. The family who accuses Tom Robinson of rape is Mayella Ewell and her father Bob. When asked “Who is responsible for the death of Tom Robinson?”, Bob Ewell is the one to blame.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem, Scout and Dill’s innocence are destroyed from the ignorance and racism witnessed in their hometown Maycomb. The children’s view of the people in their town changed after spectating the Tom Robinson trial. Tom was a black man convicted for raping a white girl and although the evidence was on Robinson’s side, he was found guilty and was sentenced to death. Scout, Jem, and Dill witness discrimination and injustice for the first time.

One of the biggest themes in To Kill A Mockingbird is racism. The story takes place during 1963 in Maycomb, Alabama. At that time slavery was legal and many people in the South had slaves and treated them badly. The theme of racism is very significant to the story because Scout is a kid and doesn’t really understand why people are racist, she thinks everyone should be treated the same. The trial scene was very important because it was one of the first times Scout experienced major racism especially when they took a white man’s word over a black man just because he is white, there was undeniable evidence proving that Tom was innocent, and how it took the jury 5 hours to come to a consensus.

This young, African American man is accused of rape by Bob Ewell, but in reality he had done nothing that was inhumane or unlawful. The majority of the white community in Maycomb automatically believe that he is guilty just because he's black. In Atticus's eyes, Tom is innocent and deserves the same justice and support as whites do. In the court case, he tries to make the audience in the courthouse set aside racism by saying, "[T]he truth is that some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women—black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men" (ch. 20).

In the book to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, set in 1930s Alabama; was a racist town in the Deep South called Maycomb who did not care for the African American race. But, Atticus a secondary main character believes everyone is born equal, leaving him to try innovative ideas to save Tom Robinson an African American man who is being prosecuted in the court of law on a false claim made on him. Throughout, evidence will be shown that life is difficult and unfair for the Blacks; showing us that there is an apparent theme of uncertainty and injustice at this time period. At the beginning of the story not much-involving race occurs it's more about this mysterious Boo Radley who no one really accepts. Later on, around chapter 9 is when things