To Kill a Mockingbird

The Similarities of Till and Robinson In Harper Lee’s story of To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout tells of her real life happenings. Scout tells a story of a black man, Tom Robinson, who people accuse of raping Mayella Ewell. Not only Tom receives accusations, but another case reveals that Emmett Till continues touching a woman’s hand and saying provocative things to her. The people accuse Tom and Emmett of similar things and the jury proclaims them guilty as a result of them possessing black features. The misjudging occurrences and accusations the town makes against racism and the absurd outcomes, prove the jury wrong. The accusations people in Maycomb and the jury make against Tom Robinson makes Atticus Finch furious. Atticus defends Tom in court because inside himself, he knows the truth about Tom. Mayella Ewell accuses Robinson of raping her while he comes to her porch to chop up some old furniture. Mayella says “[h]e got [her] around the neck, cussin’ [her] an’ sayin’ dirt…” (Lee 249). Although Tom, displays acts of a crime, Emmett Till possesses fault of touching and yelling things at a woman with the name of Carolyn Bryant. Carolyn Bryant accuses Emmett of asking her, “[h]ow about a date, [b]aby?” (Huie). Till, in saying this, proves he gets with a lot of white women. Later, Emmett Till, still not regretting what he says, back talks the people of his town and family. With all of the wrong things around him, Tom believes it also wrong to have somebody tell him he accomplishes something he has not done. These accusations show the similarities between the two unreasonable cases of innocent men. Although Emmett and Tom say to have commit crimes, they have obvious doubts for both of them. Things that remain complete with the disabilities they possess may not stay done. Tom Robinson has no way of raping Mayella Ewell, because he contains a cripple arm. When Tom acts younger, “ [h]e got [it] caught in a cotton gin… tore all the muscles loose from his bones…” (Lee 249). Tom has no way of beating and raping Mayella because he only has one good arm to use. Till also has no way of possibly making the remarks he makes due to his speech impediment (Untold). Without flowing speech, Emmett Till pleads guilty because he contains black skin. Even knowing there disabilities, the judge dispays no act of letting them go innocent. Even though Robinson and Till seem innocent, the judge call them guilty because of the white jury. The unreasonable abuse these two people go through, also go with the color of their skin. The guards in charge of watching Tom Robinson shot “ [s]eventeen bullet holes in him” (Lee 315). The abuse he suffers throughout this process proves extremely unreasonable. Since he supposedly climbs over a fence using one arm, theres no possible way to get away with it. Harassment continues when his wife Helen receives more harassing comments from Bob Ewell on her way to work. Just as badly suffering, Emmett Till gets whippings and a shot in the ear then Milam and Bryant “barb-wired [a] gin fan to his neck [and] rolled him into twenty feet of water” (Huie). Milam and Bryant kill Till for no reason besides the fact of him a negro, like Robinson. After that, his mother receives many rude and gross gestures and messages in the newspapers and hears them around the town they live in. The outcomes of these cases led to guilty though some people thought otherwise. During all accusations, doubts, and overall outcomes, Tom and Emmett never had a chance of winning their cases. Falsely accusing the men ends up in their lives taken. Having disabilities throughout their lives makes it even harder for them. In the end, guilty never wins the trial, in the end, innocence wins and the lives of poor Tom and Emmett lose. Lives taken and false allegations end the lives of poor Tom Robinson and Emmett Till.

Works Cited
Huie, William Bradford. “The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi” Look (24 Jan. 1956): 46-50. WEB 5 May 2010.
Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central, 1960.
The Untold Story of Emmett Till. Dir. Keith Beuchamp. Perf. Maime Till-Mobley. Think Film, 2005.

Cited: Huie, William Bradford. “The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi” Look (24 Jan. 1956): 46-50. WEB 5 May 2010. Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central, 1960. The Untold Story of Emmett Till. Dir. Keith Beuchamp. Perf. Maime Till-Mobley. Think Film, 2005.