Jim Crow Laws In To Kill A Mockingbird

Jim Crow Laws in To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, takes place in the brutal 1930’s. Through the book, she unveils society’s unsightliness, not withholding Jim Crow laws. She wanted to expose the flagrant and unsenseful discrimination of the 1930’s. Some readers of To Kill a Mockingbird say that the book, though it addresses racism, does not demonstrate 1930’s laws. However, when read carefully, one can pick out many of the book’s scenes that only transpired because of those laws. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is openly affected by many of 1930’s laws, such as laws that target black people for marriage, saying a white person is lying, and body contact. One of the laws that affects the people of Maycomb’s behavior …show more content…
“Never assert that a White person is lying” (www.eastconn.org). During Tom Robinson’s case in To Kill a Mockingbird, the Ewell’s lawyer, Mr. Gilmer, asks Mayella Ewell to tell what happened. Mayella Ewell, the white alleged rape victim, lies. Mr. Gilmer then asks the “rapist”, a black man named Tom Robinson, for his side of the story. It is much more detailed and blatantly contradicts Mayella’s testimony. With this Jim Crow law in mind, Mr. Gilmer seeks to trip Tom Robinson up. “‘Then you say she’s lying, boy?’” (Lee 167). He knows that if Tom Robinson slips up by answering in the affirmative, the jury would take his side. The case would have been an effortless win for the Ewell’s if Tom had told the truth- if Tom had said that Mayella lied. Luckily, Mr. Robinson recollects the law and manages to work around it. “Atticus was on his feet, but Tom Robinson didn’t need him. ‘I don’t say she’s lyin’, Mr. Gilmer, I say she’s mistaken in her mind’” (Lee 167). If Harper Lee had not taken 1930’s laws into account, Tom Robinson could have won the case. The jury takes the Ewell’s side simply because the law says that a white person’s word should always be taken over a black person’s. Tom Robinson could not win because of 1930’s racist …show more content…
“Obviously, a Black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a White woman, because he risked being accused of rape” (www.eastconn.org). Tom Robinson thinks of this law when Mayella makes advances on him. He apprehends that this law renders him powerless, so he struggles internally until Mayella lets him go. If the author had disregarded this law, Tom Robinson could have easily eluded her grip with a little force. If 1930’s laws are nonexistent in the story then the case would not be in the Ewell’s favor. Tom Robinson would have said that he fought the white woman back in self defense and likely won the case. “‘Mr. Finch, I tried. I tried to ‘thout bein’ ugly to her. I didn’t wanta be ugly, I didn’t wanta push her or nothin’’” (Lee 165). Tom assures Mr. Finch that he did not lay one hand on Mayella, not even to nudge her away. He knew that he had no legal way to physically resist her advances. Atticus later tells Scout that Tom knew he could not strike a white woman and hope to live. “‘She was white, and she tempted a Negro’” (Lee 172). Mayella Ewell targets the black man because she knows that the law will protect her. She also knew that the case would be in her favor due to the Jim Crow laws. Harper Lee deliberately allows the laws of the 1930’s to decide the fate of the

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