to kill a mocking bird essay
To Kill a Mockingbird: Racism: Tom Robinson In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird he presents many themes including racism. Main focus is about Racism in the southern states of America in the mid-1930s. The center for this is the charge brought by Bob Ewell against Tom Robinson and the way in which the anti-African-American feeling in Maycomb is the cause of hostility towards Atticus and his family because of his defense of Tom.
The most obvious victim of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird is Tom Robinson, the black man who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Falsely accused of the crime by Mayella and her father Bob Ewell, Tom is brought before a white jury for trial. Atticus Finch knows the man is innocent and tries to prove so, but despite his best efforts, the white jury declares him guilty. Tom is sentenced to death. Although Atticus is sure they may have a chance if they try an appeal, Tom believes that he will once again be judged by the color of his skin, and not by his innocence. Rather than take that chance, he decided to take his own and attempted to escape from jail. He was shot seventeen times. The Finch family is the only one to show him any sympathy or understanding. Atticus says: “I couldn’t in truth say that we had more than a good chance. I guess Tom was tired of taking white men’s chances and preferred to take his own.”(TKAM, pg. 237).Whatever chance he chose, Tom faced a tough decision. If he returned to court, the racist jury would convict him and he would be hung, and when he tried to escape, the racist prison guards not only killed him, but mutilated his body with unnecessary bullets. Tom Robinson’s life was first ruined, and then ended, by racism. Yes, there was racial discrimination. It took place in the 30s, which meant African Americans didn’t get full civil rights until thirty years later. The reason why Tom lost the case was because white people never thought highly of the African American people, and the fact that
The most obvious victim of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird is Tom Robinson, the black man who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Falsely accused of the crime by Mayella and her father Bob Ewell, Tom is brought before a white jury for trial. Atticus Finch knows the man is innocent and tries to prove so, but despite his best efforts, the white jury declares him guilty. Tom is sentenced to death. Although Atticus is sure they may have a chance if they try an appeal, Tom believes that he will once again be judged by the color of his skin, and not by his innocence. Rather than take that chance, he decided to take his own and attempted to escape from jail. He was shot seventeen times. The Finch family is the only one to show him any sympathy or understanding. Atticus says: “I couldn’t in truth say that we had more than a good chance. I guess Tom was tired of taking white men’s chances and preferred to take his own.”(TKAM, pg. 237).Whatever chance he chose, Tom faced a tough decision. If he returned to court, the racist jury would convict him and he would be hung, and when he tried to escape, the racist prison guards not only killed him, but mutilated his body with unnecessary bullets. Tom Robinson’s life was first ruined, and then ended, by racism. Yes, there was racial discrimination. It took place in the 30s, which meant African Americans didn’t get full civil rights until thirty years later. The reason why Tom lost the case was because white people never thought highly of the African American people, and the fact that