To Kill A Mockingbird Trial Analysis

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The trial reveals a great deal about the prejudices that existed in Maycomb in the 1930s. Mayella would not have tried to kiss Tom if social prejudice had not excluded her from white society - Mayella does not even seem to understand the idea of 'friends' when Atticus asks her about them. The arrival of Bob Ewell at the wrong moment involved several aspects of racial prejudice. White women were not supposed to have anything to do with black men and Bob is so shocked by his daughter's behaviour that he beats her savagely. Once the charge of rape is brought, Tom becomes the victim of prejudices about black men and white women. These are so strong that the townspeople's first reaction is to lynch Tom without a trial. When Atticus agrees to defend