Summary:
In To Kill A Mocking Bird, Tom Robinson was as innocent and pleasant as a mocking bird. However racial prejudice and ignorance called for his death for a crime he didn't commit.
Tom Robinson In To Kill a Mocking Bird, by Harper Lee, is a mockingbird that gets killed. Tom is unjustly killed over something that's obviously a very "shady" subject. He is referred to as the mockingbird because he never does anything to anybody and is always there to help. Just like a mockingbird is. The reason why Tom Robinson is unjustly killed is because when you read the story and see all of the fact from his trial and Mayella's trial, you see that she is lying and he is telling the truth. Also, the way Bob Ewell is acting throughout the whole book makes him look as if he has something to hide, almost like he is guilty of something. Tom isn't guilty, the book doesn't say he is, but we all know it. In the novel, Atticus tells Scout that until you stand in another person's shoes you shouldn't judge them. Well in Maycomb, everyone is the opposite of this; they judge people not only on what they hear, but on the color of their skin. We can see just how this is when Bob Ewell gets up on the witness stand.
Bob Ewell shows that Maycomb County is a really racist county in this part of the book, when Bob Ewell is on the stand. At the trial it shows just how messed up they are. During his testimony it is discovered that Mayella's right eye has been beaten. Atticus points out that only a left-handed person could have done this, and then he shows us why Tom couldn't have done it; because his arm was hurt in an accident when he was little. Bob Ewell is the only left handed person that could have done this, he was the only left-handed person at the scene. Atticus shows the reader this by giving Mr. Ewell a test, and asks him to write his name; Bob, not being very bright fails to see that this is showing that he is left handed, not illiterate. After Bob gets done writing his name, Atticus shows the jury that he is left-handed. After showing that Bob Ewell is left-handed, Atticus then insinuates that Bob Ewell beat his daughter. This, and the way he tells his story ruins his credibility. This alone should get at least one of the jury members to start to sway to Tom Robinson's side. What is really disturbing is that the whole time Mayella was supposedly getting beat up; Bob Ewell never called a doctor. When asked about it he had this to say, "I never thought about it at all, all it would have done is cost me five dollars." But what really proves that Tom was unjustly killed was the fact that after Bob was out of the trial, he spits in Atticus's face. Why would somebody do that unless they have something to hide? It wasn't like Atticus had done anything; he had just defended an African American in the depression. With all this talk about what happened with Mayella, they decided to ask her about what happened.
The next person on the stand during the trial is Mayella Ewell, the accuser of Tom. When she first gets up on the witness stand, she swears on the Bible that she will tell the whole truth. This is the first of many giveaways that Mayella is a liar. As it states in the narration of the story, ."..she seemed somehow fragile-looking." When interpreting the scene as a reader, it gives light to the fact that her story is weak as well. Once she is asked about the incident, she bursts into tears and exclaims, "Don't want him doin' me like he did Papa, tryin' to make him out lefthanded..." This statement tells the readers that Mayella obviously isn't very smart, which proves to be her demise in the end. Consequentially, when Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor, asks her what happened, she has this to say: ."..he come into the yard so I went in the house to get him the nickel and I turned around and 'fore I knew it he was on me." Her testimony goes well until Atticus Finch begins questioning. This is when Mayella's whole testimony fell apart. First, he questions her about her unstable family life, in which she lives motherless with an abusive father and all of her siblings to care about. Atticus was also able to call her out on specific details and flaws in her story. First, she lies about the fact that Tom had been inside the fence of the property before. Secondly, she lies about if Tom hit her at all, wherein she goes back and forth on where he did or not. Lastly, Mayella found it very hard to explain any details of the actual rape. In the end, Mayella provided a very weak testimony. Her outburst at the conclusion of her testimony was riveting to the courtroom, which was probably the only thing that would swing the jury, especially if they were actually unbiased. Tom is next in line for the witness stand but we all know what is going to happen by now.
As Tom takes us through his story the reader realizes that he didn't do it. His story is that as he walked by the house, like he did every morning, she had him come inside and fix the door hinges. As he walked in he noticed something, all of her brothers and sisters were gone, and there was a complete and udder silence in the house. The other thing he realized was missing was the squeaky door. But, by the time Tom realized all of thing, Mayella was already on him, she tried to do the one thing that was forbidden in the Depression, "tempting a negro", he tried to push her off but since he was black he didn't touch her, in fear of getting hung for sexual harassment. About this time Bob Ewell came home and looked through the window, and then snapped. He had just seen Tom and his daughter kissing. Tom ran away because he knew that if he had stayed, he wouldn't be living. Tom was unjustly killed; he was gunned down by people like ob Ewell, people who don't know anything, people who judge other people on the color of their skin, racists.
In conclusion, Tom Robinson was unjustly killed. Atticus made it clear that Tom didn't do it. Very clear. But, back in the depression it didn't matter if you were right or wrong, they based their judgments on one thing, the color of your skin.
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