Tom Robinson Trial

Words: 997
Pages: 4

The Trial "We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe- some people are smarter than others,.But there is one way in this country in which all men have been created equal. That institution, gentlemen, is a court." (Lee chapter 20) Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, which took place in the 1930s, where segregation was very common. This book is told from Jean Louis’ perspective. Jean Louis, Jem, and Dill, go through many adventures together, and they find themselves getting into trouble on occasion. Jean Louis is known as Scout, and her father, Atticus, is a lawyer that takes on the task of defending Tom Robinson. Tom is an African American who was put on trial for raping Mayella Ewell. Segregation …show more content…
Scout observes, "The Negroes, having waited for the white people to go upstairs, began to come in. Whoa now, just a minute," said a club member, holding up his walking stick. "Don't just start up their stairs yet awhile. 'Scout, come on, there ain't a seat left. We'll hafta stand up' " (Lee 186). The old man was stating the fact that the white people needed to fill up the seats on the balcony before the African Americans could. Even though the African American community was there to support a man of their race, they still had to stand because of the racism that existed in this time period. Sadly, this was not the only instance of injustice because later on in the trial, Tom was prosecuted guilty, when all of the evidence proved him innocent. During the trial, unfair acts were committed against Tom Robinson, when the jury pronounced Tom as guilty. Before Tom stood on the stand, it was discovered that a left-handed man was the only culprit that could have injured Mayella because of the way the bruises were positioned. It was also revealed that Bob Ewell is left-handed and has been known to hit his daughter when he gets