When the Hater Meets the Hated- Why is Tom Robinson Guilty? One may be punished for something he or she never did depending on the circumstances in their community. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows in Maycomb County, a society being controlled by racism, Tom Robinson is punished for assaulting Mayella Ewell even though he is the victim. If the majority of the inhabitants of a community are racist, the racist social values influence everything that takes place in the courts of the community. Thus the racist social values of Maycomb County are responsible for the failure of Atticus Finch’s defense for Tom Robinson.
From the racial prejudice used against Tom Robinson, to the economical prejudice against the Cunningham family, To Kill a Mockingbird has shown how people in Maycomb look at people. This book truly shows how the people in Maycomb Alabama are prejudice towards each other. It is very devastating that people would ever treat people like this and be prejudice like they are in this
5/25/10 Stereotyping In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson was killed because he was stereotyped. They believed that he beat and raped Mayella Ewell because a white person said so. Many of the characters in the book were stereotyped because of their lifestyles. For example, Dolphus Raymond was stereotyped because he was a drunk. But in reality, he pretended to be a drunk so he can give others a excuse why he likes blacks more than whites.
It is a sin to kill the innocent and helpful mockingbird. But around the time of the Great Depression, important morals like that one seem to have been tossed aside. At that time, when a black man went to court, it didn’t matter whether he was guilty or innocent. The fact that he was a colored man made him the target for unjustified accusation. Innocent human beings have been killed for nothing but the crime of being different.
In the course of the novel, Lee uses the symbol of a mockingbird to articulate justice by stressing the sin of killing one, as it is utterly innocent and defenceless. Tom Robinson, convicted of crime he did not commit because of his race, and Boo Radley, imagined as a lunatic and monster by townspeople who consider him an outsider without attempting to seek the truth, are both metaphors for a slain mockingbird and for the perversion of justice. The language is appropriate for the various contexts and speakers of the
He is almost completely shunned from the town because he is trying to help a black man accused of rape. Mayella had told Tom, “I said come here, nigger, and bust up this chiffarobe for me, I gotta nickel for you.” (p.241) She had tricked him to coming over to her. Then that’s about the time when she accuses him of rape. He had felt sorry for her, which is why he was falsely accused in the first place. Courthouse segregation was one of the biggest bits of racism I found in this book.
Brooks contrasts a strong feminist theme and positions us to see their heroic gestures to the weaknesses of men as the villagers are faced with great tragedies. Joss Bont is one of the villains of the plague year. Brooks positions us to see that Joss views the tragedy merely as an opportunity, and his extreme greed and insensitivity know no bounds. His exploitation of the dying and their families makes us see that Anna is glad she no longer shares a last name with him. When Bont adds attempted murder to his other crimes, the demoralized village finally calls him to account.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells the story of Tom Robinson. A black man falsely accused of raping a white woman, Mayela Ewell, through the eyes of Atticus’ daughter Scout. Atticus Finch chooses to take his case and defend him. Although the case was lost from the beginning, Atticus masterfully used logos, pathos and ethos in an attempt to win over the jury so they would declare him innocent. Atticus used logos to attempt at logically convincing this racist jury that there was no way Mr. Robinson could have committed the rape.
The Significance of Symbolism in “To Kill a Mockingbird” toward Social and Racial Prejudice The novel by Harper Lee, “To Kill a Mockingbird” mainly discussed about prejudice in many aspects. One aspect is about the prejudice against Tom Robinson, a black man who is falsely accused of raping a white woman and convicted to be guilty by all white jury because of the custom of the society and the racism of the people. Harper Lee uses symbolism which carries the message better than words to signify the prejudice that can be seen as symbols throughout the story, mostly about the problems of social and racial prejudice in the South in 1930s. The use of prejudicial symbolism can be studied by looking through symbols from the book. The paper will be discussing about symbolization of the prejudice against Tom Robinson, the causes from historical context and the evidence of prejudicial thought which is upheld by people in Maycomb society.
Despite Atticus’s powerful arguments for Tom’s innocence, the all-white jury convicts the black man. The verdict adversely affects the Finches, especially Jem. When Tom is killed trying to escape from prison, Jem’s struggle with injustice comes to its culmination. Humiliated by the trial, Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, continually threatens Atticus,