Why Is Tom Robinson Innocent In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, I believe that Tom Robinson is innocent. I believe that this man is not guilty because of all of the evidence and information that was provided. Also, the amount of respect that Tom Robinson had in the courtroom towards everyone and his overall character. You can tell that in the information provided that something is off in the stories and it was proved with so of the information that we gained from the characters. With Tom Robinson being so respectful and truthful in the court, it’s hard to imagine that he would ever commit a crime like that, compare to how Mayella and Bob Ewell were acting in the courtroom.

Tom Robinson’s case contributes to how he resembles a mockingbird and shows the injustice of society. Tom Robinson, an African-American man accused of raping a girl named Mayella Ewell, has his case taken to court. Tom is tried in front of a jury of twelve white men along with a white judge which does not display a fair representation of his peers. This results in them finding Tom guilty and sentencing him to death, even though all evidence points to him being innocent. Tom later gets shot while trying to escape prison. Atticus Finch, Tom’s lawyer, says in the beginning of the book, “‘It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’” (Harper Lee 119). Using the word “sin” shows harming an innocent being would be a very cruel thing to do, especially coming from Atticus. This relates to Tom Robinson’s situation because every piece of evidence from the trial proves he is not guilty, yet he still gets sent to jail and ends up being shot. The town’s newspaper publisher, Mr. Underwood, writes about Tom’s death and says, “ [I] likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children” (Lee 323). This quote emphasizes the similarities between Tom’s case and a mockingbird. Equally important, it uses words like “senseless” and “slaughter” to further highlight the severity of harming a creature who did nothing wrong. Lee compares Tom Robinson to the “songbirds” because both of them have positive effects on their surroundings and do nothing but be beneficial. Through the case of Tom Robinson, Lee shows the connection with the innocence of Tom to the symbol of a mockingbird.

Undoubtedly, one of the most controversial subjects in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, would be whether or not Atticus Finch should have defended Tom Robinson. However, in order to understand this controversy, a person must first be able to understand Atticus Finch himself. Atticus as a character is a very intellectual person who possesses the fortitude to stand up for whatever he believes is right and will not let other people’s choices affect his own. Furthermore, it is also important to understand that Atticus is not a racist, nor does he approve of the idea that one group of people are better than another based on their appearances in general, and because of this, a person can generalize that Atticus’s characteristic traits are why he did not complain when given the task of defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who had been wrongfully accused of raping a white woman. A man that he, as well as a small group of other people from town, viewed as the picture of innocence. In their eyes, Tom was no more than a mockingbird, “[and mockingbirds] don’t do one thing but make music for [people] to enjoy” (Lee 119). Knowing this, anyone with a reasonably strong sense of what is right and what is wrong can conclude that it does make sense for Atticus Finch to have taken the case due to his belief that it is a sin to kill the innocent as well as his courage that allows him to stay true to his ideas, even though when taking the case, he was inevitably going to be putting his

Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mocking bird. In Harper Lees’ book To Kill a Mocking Bird, she tells the story of a girl names Scout and her father, Atticus, who is defending an African American man. Tom is being accused of raping a young white girl, Mayella. Her father, Bob Ewell, is an alcoholic, Maycomb is not fond of black people. Because Tom was innocent and he should be created equally.

Atticus Finch, a character from To kill a Mockingbird defends Tom Robinson, an African American, who is accused of raping Bob Ewell daughter, Mayella. Although Tom Robinson is innocent, the Judge finds him guilty because Tom Robinson told the jury that “I felt sorry for her”(Lee 197). This symbolizes the judgement in social class because Tom knew he made a great mistake saying to the town of Maycomb that he felt sorry for a white female. This was a turning point during the trial because in Maycomb, people in a higher class viewed other lower classes as not important and no respect to them. Their judgment towards the lower classes based on their skin color or what they are wearing is how people in Maycomb divide themselves from one another. In addition, another judgmental aspect in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism. Someone who shows racism is called a racist which is major factor in the novel. On Jem’s birthday, Scout

Martin Luther King Jr once said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” There are people in our world that are silently good like M.L.K said. The silently good people can do great things all the time without much people knowing about it, or they can just mind their own business and leave other people alone. Some of those good people get taken over by bad people even though they are innocent. Those people are like mockingbirds, as Harper Lee explains through the book To Kill a Mockingbird.

Guilty. The last word a convict wants to hear before going to prison. Or going anywhere, really. And the fact that you have been wrongly convicted by a very judgemental jury and a very biased community makes it all the more worse. It is a miracle that we do not have to go through this ordeal like so many other people. One of these people was Tom Robinson. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson is found guilty of raping Mayella Ewell even though there was enough evidence to support Tom’s testimony. Based on one’s views, one may see this case in a different light than others. Some may think Tom is guilty, and others may think not. In the book, the fact that the verdict is unfair is supported by many of the main characters. Each also had their own views on the matter. Therefore, one can assume that this decision was unfair and unjust, based on the fact that very educated and well-rounded people (like Atticus) thought so. But what really makes this verdict

Tom Robinson was a very deep character. He represented a mockingbird because his innocence was overlooked because of the colour of his skin. Tom was accused of rape by Bob Ewell, and Atticus was appointed to defend him. Atticus defended Tom amazingly, with conclusive evidence proving

The white society already stereotyped that he was guilty because of the assumption that all black men are rapist. “Some Negro men are not to be trusted around women—black or white.” (Lee 20, Pg. 225). This shows that people cannot trust black men at any cost. This attitude is also portrayed by their kids like as an example when the kids are attempting to build a snowman without an adequate supply of snow, they substitute dirt instead, resulting in a dark-complexioned snowman, to which Scout, a sweet, conscientious and nonjudgmental girl innocently remarks, "’Jem, I ain't ever heard of a nigger snowman,’ I said.” These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they are growing up. Lee does not suggest that there is any animosity in Jem and Scout with regard to blacks. Tom Robinson, the kindly, meek and physically disabled black accused of the rape, is the target of innumerable racial taunts and is regularly referred to by angry white town folks as a “nigger.” As the people of Maycomb County cannot accept Tom as not guilty and they are so against him that they decide to kill him when he is proven not guilty. Any one that tries to associate black people is also frowned upon. As an example the people come to Atticus house and start taunting him about why he took the black men’s case. This showcases racism by how the whole society stands

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird there is a trial including Tom Robinson. Tom robinson is a black man that is accused of beating and raping Mayella Violet Ewell, a young white woman. Atticus finch is the lawyer presenting Tom robinson in the trial. Atticus is the father of Jem and scout finch, Scout is a six to eight year old little girl and Jem is a ten to thirteen year old boy. Tom loses the trial and although he is innocent is sentenced to death only because of the fact that he is a black man accused of raping a young white woman so therefore he is guilty of the crime because during that time a black man in an all white court house will lose the trial because of racism. Each character is affect differently by the outcome of the trial.

“Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, people faced racial discrimination, as they lived in the time period of the Great Depression. To Kill a Mockingbird was set in a small town called Maycomb in Alabama in the 1930’s. In the novel, the town lawyer Atticus Finch, a single father of two children Jem and Scout, defended a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Atticus was a man with great courage and honesty. Scout, the narrator of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, was an innocent five year old girl who faced racial prejudice as she gets older. Friends and neighbors object when Atticus puts up a strong and spirited defense

Data has found that black people were four times as often to be searched than white people. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and in “Racial Profiling,” shows that people with color are most likely to be accused or be suspected of something they probably did not even do. The modern day racial based accusations connects to To Kill a Mockingbird when Tom Robinson was at fault for the rape and beating of Mayella.

It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird “shoot all the bluejays you want, but it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”. This quote is said by Atticus who is a lawyer that defends an innocent black man for being accused of raping a white women. To kill a mockingbird is set in the 1930s in Maycomb alabama where there was prejudices. This story is not just about racism but implies a deeper meaning, the mockingbird has a strong message and holds an important metaphorical meaning. The mockingbird is portrayed as a innocent fragile songbird that symbolizes innocence but is killed by men. Tom Robinson symbolizes an innocent fragile songbird because he does no harm to society, his voice is ignored by almost everyone, and he gets shot and killed just like an innocent fragile songbird.

Maycomb, a fictional town in Alabama, is very typical of small towns with most of the citizens in the south in the 1930s are white and their opinions are very derogatory towards black people. Their decisions matter the most because they see themselves as higher, more superior being than the black community. The jury's decisions in Tom’s case affects Tom as a mockingbird because the jury is full of white men with a lot of hatred towards black people, and Tom is one of them. On November, 21, Tom is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, daughter of Bob Ewell. Later on next summer there is a trial that consisted of many witnesses testimony against Tom’s. Through the trial, the jury mainly focuses on the fact the case is a

It is a Sin to Kill Tom Robinson"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. That's why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird." (90) This quote is stated by Miss Maudie, underscoring the point of view of Atticus, who is a lawyer given an uphill job of substantiating a black man's innocence who is accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewells. To Kill a Mockingbird is an inspirational and thought provoking story that is the first and the only novel written by Harper Lee. The basic time setting of the novel is in the 1930s during the Great Depression, in the fictional town of Maycomb Alabama, where prejudice