How Did Tom Robinson Fight For Equality In To Kill A Mockingbird

Words: 1013
Pages: 5
Open Document
The award-winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird is about the racial tension America experienced in the 30s but with a small dusty town in Alabama as its main focus. Harper Lee, the author of this novel, wrote it in response to the race relations as she tried to make southerners see the error of their ways. As a native of Alabama, Lee knew exactly what she was undertaking writing a novel that criticized the way of life of a particular group of people. But she did it anyway and this resulted in one of the greatest contributions to American literature. However, Maycomb County, the targeted town in the book, did not make progress towards equality for various reasons. The first being that colored people made up the bottom class of society, association …show more content…
Beginning with the lack of evidence that proves Tom Robinson was even at the scene of the crime because there were no medical reports to prove rape. “You [Bob Ewell] ran to Mayella, ran for Mr. Tate. Did you, during all this running, run for a doctor?” Atticus continues, “Did you not think the nature of her injuries warranted medical attention”(243)? But the lack of evidence isn’t taken into consideration because the jury felt Tom Robinson’s skin color automatically makes him guilty. Atticus proves the jury which consists of white men only, have prejudices against black men when he states during his closing speech “you gentlemen [speaking to jury] would go along with them on the assumption- 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” (273). Atticus during cross-examination spoke to Bob Ewell and Mayella Ewell with utter respect and dignity but this reciprocated when it was Mr. Gilmer’s turn to cross-examine Tom Robinson. Mr. Gilmer repeatedly called Tom Robinson ‘boy’ with a tone of voice filled with so much hate that it brought Dill to
Show More

Related Documents: How Did Tom Robinson Fight For Equality In To Kill A Mockingbird

What Are The Stereotypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

A racist stereotype story is what “To Kill a Mockingbird” comes out to be. This story shows what it was like to be a black man in the early 1900’s. As the story starts off Atticus was forced to take on the challenge of defending a black man for rape, which in this time period blacks were guilty no matter how much evidence was on the table. Blacks had an extreme disadvantage. Although it seems like there is no way out of this accusation, Atticus still finds the courage to stand up for what is right…

Words 1140 - Pages 5

Atticus Finch Civil Rights

called To Kill a Mockingbird. This story gives an inside look at Atticus Finch, and his journey of defending a black man. The story also follows his children’s lives, mainly his six year old daughter Scout, but it also follows his ten year old son, Jem. A “Mockingbird,” in the story, is a bird that the children shouldn’t kill. Simply because the bird is innocent, and it doesn’t do anything but give the people music. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee masterfully uses Tom Robinson, Atticus…

Words 1103 - Pages 5

Atticus Social Justice

achieve it? In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the character of Atticus to reveal the ideas of social justice. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the peaceful character of Atticus to portray social justice. When Bob Ewell approaches Atticus after the trial, “…Atticus was leaving the post office when Mr. Ewell approached him, cursed him, spat on him, and threatened to kill him…Atticus didn’t bat an eye,…

Words 1108 - Pages 5

Essay on To Kill a Mockingbird

in life. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus is a very courageous character, Atticus tried every way to help others were in the need of it. First of all it Atticus bravely faced the racist, prejudice judgment of Maycomb and took Tom Robinson’s case. Secondly, Atticus still takes a fight even though he knew he was still going to lose. Lastly, after losing Tom Robinson’s case Atticus still pursue for justice. Therefore, In Harper’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch moral compass…

Words 1544 - Pages 7

Equality: A timeless Struggle Essay

Charly Smith Equality: A timeless Struggle The trial is the most gripping, and in some ways the most important, dramatic sequence in To Kill a Mockingbird. The trial overall covers about five chapters with no breaks. The courtroom scene, where Atticus is picking apart the Ewells in front of the whole town, is the most cinematic portion of the book, as is the main focus of the movie of the book produced in 1962. Though the trial targets Tom Robinson, in another sense it is Maycomb that is…

Words 700 - Pages 3

To Kill a Mocking Bird Mwds Essay

Grant Schroeder AP English: Literature and Composition Name: Major Works Data Sheet: Do not cut/paste from a website, which is a form of plagiarism. Title: To Kill a MockingBird | Biographical information about the author: | Author: Harper Lee | Born April 28, 1926Grew up in a small townFather was a lawyerOnly novel publishedWon Pulitzer prize | Pub. Date: 1960 | Genre: Historical Fiction | Historical information about the period of publication or…

Words 2200 - Pages 9

Summary Of Chris Crowe's Mississippi Trial

Comparatively, Chris Crowe’s Mississippi Trial, 1955 fluently describes the issue of how one person can make a difference by presenting a novel of how one boy, Hiram, influences his grandfather by disputing the morality of southern codes after the unjustifiable and tragic murder of a local, colored boy named Emmett. Additionally, the novel supports the following theme by displaying the interactions between Hiram and Naomi and how Naomi was able to manipulate Hiram’s perception of the South. Once Hiram arrives…

Words 1016 - Pages 5

Tom Robinson's Trial

The trials of Tom Robinson and Bertram Cates both speak of the fundamental necessity of the balance between reason and passion. The trials are both housed in strictly biased communities that refuse to sacrifice their beliefs for the greater need to uphold justice and abide by constitutional beliefs. Atticus Finch, in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, both struggle to establish the concept of equality in the prejudiced…

Words 1245 - Pages 5

Racial Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

strictly segregating Blacks from Whites, were still in effect in the South and racial tension was high. (PBS). To show how terrible and unjust this racial inequality was, Harper Lee creates the town of Maycomb, Alabama, a small town where prejudice against Negros is very common. We see the town and meet the people through the eyes of a young, innocent…

Words 1157 - Pages 5

Examples Of Perception In To Kill A Mockingbird

reality of things is that there is never no bias or prejudice in life and that everything is based on how people perceive it. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird clearly demonstrates how quickly people are to judge a situation or a person while knowing little to nothing about it. Prime examples of this are Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson. Atticus was a well respected member of the community and Tom was a black man living in a white man’s world, and both of them are victims of prejudice even though…

Words 605 - Pages 3