Prejudice In Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

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Chapter 19-21: Truth
Atticus brings his witness Tom Robinson to the stand for his cross-examination. Tom describes the events mindful and after it’s clear that Tom is the real victim. He is a nice man who only had good intentions. He would often go to help Mayella because she constantly had to do the chores around the house without the help of her father or her siblings and even though he too was poor, he didn’t even demand to get paid for doing the work.
The night of the alleged crime, he entered the Ewell’s house to help her fix a door. While he was doing it, Mayella initiated physical contact by grabbing his leg and hugging him. Tom was actually innocent. In fact, he even didn’t want to push Mayella who was preventing him to leave because he didn’t want to hurt her. Then, Mr. Ewell arrived and the truth is that once he saw Mayella kissing Tom, it was him that beat her because it’s unspeakable for a white to kiss a black person. The proof is that Mayella received someone’s fist on her right eye, meaning that the person who punched her must have been left handed, which Mr. Ewell is. In fact, Tom couldn’t have been the one that did it. His left arm is visibly shorter and to put his hand on the Bible, he “ran his fingers under his left arm and …show more content…
Therefore, Jem, who thought that the jury would do what is morally right was especially shaken when he witnesses the reality. This forces him to see that life isn’t all just good. However, the adults already knew what the verdict was going to be. “‘Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard-’ ‘Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…’” (279). It’s also the reason Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra thought it was inappropriate for them to attend the court; they knew the prejudice the jury would
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