In his book Cry The Beloved Country Alan Paton displays how Absalom, the black man, is not only too harshly punished and given unfair trial due to his skin color, but also he is receiving this treatment because he is in a South African apartheid in the 1920’s. There are many different people in this world and some are murderers, but Absalom Kumalo is not one of those people. At the beginning of the trial the jury and the judge are flummoxed that he pleads guilty. The fact that he does plead guilty just shows that he knows that he has done wrong and wants to make up for it. While Absalom pleads guilty he also says,” but I did not mean to kill” (Paton 192).
When Tom said that he felt sorry for Mayella it was wrong in their minds because he is an African American who should not feel bad for a white person whose class is higher. After Tom said this the trial went down hill from there because he said he felt sorry for a white woman, which shows white supremacy in the town. In conclusion, this proves Tom Robinson to be a victim of racial discrimination and white
Justice Racism has been one of the worst problems black people have endured since they came in touch with the white race. Racism is a belief that one's own race is superior and has the power to rule others. In Martin Luther King's writing “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he answers the criticism given by his fellow clergyman that judged his actions as “unwise and untimely” (King5). King makes the reader understand that black people are tired of being treated as outcasts and as an inferior race thus, reassures the clergyman that black people's inalienable rights are being ignored. However, King proves to the clergyman, in his writing, that black people deserve equal rights by appealing to the reader's emotions, appealing to logic and
Such as the discussion of whether or not we should teach evolution in school or not. To me this shouldn't even be a subject up for debate. I believe people that people should have their own opinions and beliefs because that is what makes us free men and women. That being said there is a difference between believing in something and forcing your beliefs on someone else. What if there are children who don't believe in the same thing you do?
Tom Robinson exemplifies how racism prohibits justice and fairness in the town of Maycomb. Tom Robinson is a black man that is not treated fairly because of his race. In the town maycomb no one is ever going to believe a black man over a white man. The people in the town are prepared to accept the word of the ignorant Bob Ewell over a decent black man. How the town perceives Tom has a lot to do with how he is treated.
In the book, “A lesson before dying”, a story that is set during late 1940’s. The story is focused on the Jefferson, a young black man, who is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and Grant Wiggins, a teacher that wants to help Jefferson, but is dumbfounded on how. The story is told through the eyes of Grant Wiggins. The main focus in this book was Grant teaching Jefferson ‘how to be a man’. Jefferson’s attorney was the reason that Jefferson lost his self-respect.
Alex Rounds Swafford Pre-AP English 10 April 23, 2012 Tom Robinson’s Struggle with his Alienation Societal alienation is perhaps the cruelest way an individual or group can be treated by a community. When alienated, or alone and without any support, it is human nature for person a person to break down. In the American classic Too Kill a Mockinbird by Harper Lee, the character Tom Robinson struggles with this societal behavior ultimately leading to his downfall. He is an example of seclusion and shunning by society for the pure fact of being black. This alienation stems from untrue stereotypes and the disturbing moral values exhibited by the inhabitants of Maycomb.
However, he doesn’t spare black people and forces them to see that their submission to the status quo only perpetuates racism. Violence doesn’t achieve anything either. Bigger is not a hero imbued with every good virtue. Sadly, Wright notes, “In all of [Bigger’s] life these two murders were the most meaningful things that had ever happened to him,” (239). He is a man who reacts with violence and confirms racist whites’ fears about black men.
He was wrongfully convicted by an all-white jury, which at that time, racism was the norm. The jury would never accept a black man’s word over a white women’s, in spite of the proof. One reason you could tell that Tom Robinson did not commit rape was because he was physically incapable because of his broken arm. Mayella and her father were clearly lying about the rape, but Tom was not released.