Preview

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay on trial

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
698 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To Kill A Mockingbird Essay on trial
Everything Has A Purpose To Kill a Mockingbird is a book that focuses on discrimination. The County of Maycomb believes that white people are superior in everyway. Lee uses the trial to emphasize the severity of the Maycomb viewpoint. She uses it to show the readers instead of just telling them. It is also a way to discreetly show the readers how severe the Maycomb fever is without needing to have Scout, the narrator, comprehend the problem. By carefully choosing what happens and who is involved in the trial Lees proves her point explicitly.

The author uses characters to help show how the people of Maycomb believe that black people are far below them in social hierarchy. “Atticus sa[ys] the Ewells ha[ve] been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of [the Ewells] ha[ve] done an honest day’s work in [the Ewells] recollection.” (30). Lee choses the most disrespected and disgraced family to be the prosecutors in the trial. By doing this she is showing that any white family is better than a black man. The author also carefully uses characters to represent the defense. She choses a respected black man who has been in an accident because it helps show that with discrimination there is no mercy. Also by putting Atticus as the lawyer representing Tom Robinson, the black man, it helps keep the story close to the narrator. The reader gets some background to why Tom will lose. “Simply because [the defense] w[as] licked a hundred years before [the defense] started is no reason for [the defense] to try not to win.” Atticus says. (76). By having Atticus as the lawyer we get some insight that we may not get if it was a random character who was the defense. Character choice is crucial, especially for Lee trying to develop an extreme idea.

No concrete evidence is shown in this trial. The only thing considered is what people say. By using a “he said verses she said” trial Lee

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The main body of the second part of the book is the Tom Robinson case; a black man being convicted of beating and raping a white woman. Because Mr. Robinson can not afford legal council, the presiding judge appoints Atticus as his defense attorney. To the shock of most of the town, and the horror of some, Atticus accepts the case. Because of his accepting the case, much of the community seizes the opportunity to ridicule him, saying that he’s “in the courthouse lawing for niggers” (Lee117). Despite Atticus’ moral code, this is an odd move, for any southern attorney at this time, let alone him. At that point in history, if a white person even thought about persecuting a black person, the accused were nearly guaranteed a trip to either the gallows or the electric chair. The main reason for this is the deep racism that ran through the south at this time; as it were, most of Maycomb wanted Tom Robinson dead, despite the fact that few thought him guilty. The fact that Atticus takes the case clearly shows his opposition to the common idealism.…

    • 804 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    White people think they are better than them and consider it a crime if a black man beats a white man in any way shape or form. This is when Tom Robinson comes into play. He is a huge aspect of the book. He is put into trial for supposedly raping Mayella Ewell. When the court date comes, the information gathered from both sides point to Tom as being innocent. Many people suspect Mr. Bob Ewell was the man that beat Mayella for coming to a black man. Evidence suggest that Tom Robinson only losses his case because of his colour. Even in the courtroom, people are divided by their colour and class. The black people of the crowd have to sit on the balcony while the white folk sit on the floor. This is discrimination against the black race. They are treated differently than the white people because of false and prejudice judgement and opinions of others. “A white man’s word against a black man’s word, the white man always wins.”(Lee, 243) This quote is a significant piece of evidence that represents the injustice and biased treatment against black people in Maycomb. This can also demonstrate the fact of how Maycomb tends to be bias towards characteristics of people or families that are out of their control such as age, gender, wealth, race or even your family. Everything the people in Maycomb are is based upon these factors that are out of their control. Atticus…

    • 1682 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the trial, Atticus argues calmly but adamantly for Tom Robinson’s innocence, but also for the jury to give him fair trial. In his closing argument, Atticus reminds the jury that the “case [was] as simple as black and white” (Lee 207), and he also dispels the “evil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber” (Lee 208). For Tom Robinson, the case would have never gone to court if he was not black. This is a clear critique on the racism of Maycomb, which is only supported by the fact that Atticus had to remind the jury that African Americans are human beings of the same moral…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The two main themes in the second part of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee are Social inequality and perspective. Social inequality is ubiquitous throughout the book, showing up in interactions, thoughts, and behaviors. The Ewells are a stain in the fabric of Maycomb’s society, stealing, lying, and acting disrespectful because of lack of education and Moral development. The social inequality also sheds light on another issue, because the Ewells blamed a black man for raping their daughter, and the Ewells are eventually even caught in the act of lying about it. In the end the black man still gets crap for it, and eventually gets shot.…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    a.i Boo Radley is a man who is feared by the society even though he has done nothing wrong…

    • 288 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    "To Kill A MockingBird''

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee). In the Maycomb County there is a lot of whites, blacks and even some mixed. There are some that are wealthy and some that are not. Some get along and others do not. Even in a small town, they all live so differently. Throughout Harper lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, hypocrisy, injustice and evil is envisioned in an adult society. Miss Gates and Lula contradict themselves. Atticus is harassed, Tom Robinson gets accused for a crime he did not commit. Bob Ewell tries to kill Scout and Jem and Maycomb is loaded with rumours of Boo Radley,…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tom shows maturity towards Becky when they are trapped in the cave. Tom and Becky are stranded in the cave and are starting to lose hope in finding civilization again. They envy all of the things they had taken for granted such as their beds and all the food they had. When Becky starts sobbing her heart out, instead of Tom watching he decides to do something about it.“He sat down by her and put his arm around her; she buried her face in his bomon, she clung to him, she poured out her terrors , her unavailing regrets, and far echoes turned them all to jeering laughter” (Twain 226). This gesture helps comfort Becky during a tough and scary time. This shows maturity because he isn’t thinking about just himself and is trying to be strong even…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Tom Robinson Trial

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Even if all the evidence proves Tom to be innocent, the jury would be in favor of the Ewells because they are white. Tom Robinson would help Mayella with chores because it “looked like she didn’t have anybody to help her” (263). Because of this, Tom felt sorry for her. However, his feelings were invalidated when Mr. Gilmer exclaims, “You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?” When Tom said he was sorry for Mayella, it implied he was better than her. In Maycomb County, a county divided along racial lines, a black person thinking he’s superior to any white person defies the status quo. The Ewells had been “the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations” (40). The Ewells, especially Bob Ewell, represent ignorance and white supremacy in To Kill a Mockingbird. Bob Ewell’s full name is Robert E. Lee Ewell (227); coincidentally, he was named after the general who commanded the Confederate army, or the army in favor of expanding slavery, during the Civil War. The Confederate army represented white supremacy and racial justice, as do the Ewells. Atticus says to his son, Jem, “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (295). Even with the Ewells labeled as the “disgrace of Maycomb” (40), they are still seen in a higher position compared to Tom…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

    • 5009 Words
    • 144 Pages

    The chapter opens with the introduction of the narrator, Scout (Jean Louise) Finch, her older brother Jem (Jeremy), and their friend and neighbor, Dill (Charles Baker Harris). Next, Lee provides an overview of Finch family history. Their ancestor, a Methodist named Simon Finch, fled British persecution and eventually settled in Alabama, where he trapped animals for fur and practiced medicine. Having bought several slaves, he established a largely self-sufficient homestead and farm, Finch's Landing, near Saint Stephens. The family lost its wealth in the Civil War. Scout's father, Atticus Finch, studied law in Montgomery while supporting his brother, John "Jack" Hale Finch, who was in medical school in Boston. Their sister Alexandra remained at Finch's Landing. Atticus began his law practice in Maycomb, the county seat of Maycomb County, where his "office in the courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, a spittoon, a checkerboard, and an unsullied Code of Alabama." His first case entailed defending two men who refused to plead guilty for second-degree murder. They instead pled not guilty for first-degree murder, and were hanged, marking "probably the beginning of my father's profound distaste for criminal law." Scout then describes Depression-era Maycomb, "an old tired town when I first knew it", summer heat and slow pace of life. She notes, "There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County". Scout describes as her father as entirely "satisfactory," and her family's black cook, Calpurnia, as strict and "tyrannical." Scout and Jem's mother died of a heart attack when Scout was two and she has no memories of her. However, Jem can remember his mother and Scout notices that he is occasionally nostalgic about her. The novel takes begins during the summer. Scout is almost six, and Jem is almost ten. Once this background picture is complete, the real…

    • 5009 Words
    • 144 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atticus Flaws

    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Harper Lee lucidly epitomizes the matter pertaining to this theme in her gothic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee, with southern drama, scathingly condemns racial prejudice through the story of a wrongfully accused black man. However, she also affirms the inherent goodness in human kindness through the story of the protagonist, Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout. In this story, Atticus benefits from the racist Maycomb jury, who was admired and respected, ever since the discovery of the wrongdoings of the jury. Atticus, a small town lawyer, decides to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who was wrongfully accused for raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. He does this despite being disparaged by the racist Maycomb community. Even though his actions may cause turmoil to him and his family, he continues to benefit and act upon the wrongdoings of the Maycomb community by defending an underrepresented man. Through this decision, scout learns how to…

    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the essay we will be talking about the two different sides of the trial. You will here toms and Mayella side of the story. We will compare both sides of the story.…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “If you shouldn’t be defendin’ him, why are you doin’ it? To kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus is a white attorney living in Alabama, who was appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a man accused of raping a white women. At the time there is inequality between whites and blacks. Despite Atticus's complexion, because he's an attorney & it’s his job is to fight justice, he is reasonable and determined to take a stand for Tom Robinson.…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, all of the evidence we have heard has come to a decision to ruin this Negro’s life for something he has not done. He is being separated from his family just because someone cannot speak up and say what truly happened. Can you, the jury, not see that the evidence given by Mr. Ewell, Ms. Mayella, and Mr. Heck Tate clearly does not match with Mr. Tom Robinson’s testimony? The accusations that have been made towards him are not possible, and they could not have been done by a person who only has the use of his right hand. I truly believe Ms. Mayella is a victim of poverty and ignorance. But my defendant is not guilty but someone in this courtroom is, and what they are doing to this Negro is inhumane. People, what kind of society do we live in? Where racism is being brought. Racism is a thing where people hate and despise a person different from them. Don’t let your prejudice ways get in the way of doing what is right.…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Morals generally make up a good person. To know all morals will make you great and wise. If what I say is true, then To Kill a Mockingbird could make you a much better person. In the book, the one who learns how to become mature, wise, have faith and learn life lessons and morals is Scout. She learns not to hurt the innocent, not to judge, and treat everyone as equals.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    * Mayella’s tears make people feel sorry for her ‘she got enough sense to make the judge feel sorry for her’…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays