Preview

How Did Tom Robinson Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
494 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did Tom Robinson Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird
In To Kill a Mockingbird Mayella is powered by three different factors class, gender, and race. Mayella and her father were poor and dirty meaning her class was not very good, when she was in the courthouse she was looked at differently than some others. During the trial with Tom Robinson she was more likely to win because of her race being white and his being black. With Mayella being a female and in a bad situation she doesn't have as many rights as some of the females and males.
As an illustration of race in the 1930’s whites and blacks did not get along with each other, African American men and women were not treated right during this time while whites were. As a white female Mayella is treated better than most of the populations, black men and women, this happens when Tom Robinson ( a black man ) is on trial for raping Mayella. There were good evidence that proved Tom was innocent but because Mayella is white and Tom is black he is
…show more content…
Mayella isn't like all women she is treated badly by white people because she lives among pigs, and by black people because she is white( DBQ Mayella, 21 ). During the trial with Tom she is a white female who accused him of hitting her and raping her so in that time period the jury decided to put Tom as guilty for raping a helpless girl who was white. In other words Mayella is more powerful than Tom in that situation because she was a woman who was raped and was white.
As shown above Mayella’s power isn’t all that great but it's there, she has more power than than we can see with our own two eyes reading the story. Mayella’s power was determined by looks and what the color of her skin was during this time period. There were many times in a specific part of story where she was doing the trial stuff with Tom and her winning, and her being poor and filthy and looked at differently so it was up and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    An example of this is when Tom states that Bob Ewell says to Mayella “you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya (Doc.B)”. This shows that Mayella gets verbally abused. An example that shows Mayella is sexually abused is when she says “what her papa does do to her don’t count” (Doc.B). And an example of her being physically abused is when she said “Except when he drinking? Asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded.” (Doc.B). All of the evidence provided shows that because of her gender, Mayella has no power.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tom Robinson was innocent of raping Mayella Ewell. In the story it talks about how Mayella got punched in the eye with the left hand but Tom couldn’t have done it because his left hand is crippled. Reverend Sykes said, “He got it caught in the cotton gin, caught it i Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s cotton gin when he was a boy...like to bled to death...tore all the muscles loose from his bones-”(186). This explains what happened to Tom’s hand and that he couldn’t have punched Mayella with his left hand because he could not use it. Furthermore, when Tom was telling his side of the story he said that Mayella kissed him and that he tried to get away because he knew that it wasn’t right for her do that. Tom explains what happens when Mr. Ewell sees them,…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The incident occurred on evening of the 21st of November. According to Mayella's testimony, when she was staying outside near to her house, Tom came by and beaten her. Also her father, Robert Ewell testified that he heard his daughter screaming and saw Tom using violence to her. But Tom's testimony was totally different. He complained that Mayella had tricked him and let him inside and acted…

    • 156 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tom Robinson was a civilized man who was trying to get home from work one day,and Mayella Ewell ruined that for him. In the unfair case of Tom Robinson he was accused of raping a girl he never found interest in.The case had a ruling set before it even started,because he was a black man. There was so much evidence that Mayella wasn't raped by Tom Robinson,some of the evidence were Tom's physical handicap from a cotton gin as well as his left arm being twelve inches shorter than his right and was not able to use his left arm.His color works againt him,the jury decides to believe mayella instead of Tom. Therefore, he was convicted and sent to jail.…

    • 255 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    During the trial of Tom Robinson, he encounters false accusations on behalf of the Ewell family. “Miss.Mayella...you’ve testified that the defendant hit you, grabbed you by the neck, and took advantage of you.” This quotations explains the false accusations Mayella Ewell made up to save her father Robert Ewell from the jury.Mayella Ewell obviously thought if she traps a black man, which is already disrespected by society instead of her father the jury will take her side either way.This act of pleading innocence was wrong of Mayella because she took advantage of an innocent man that has a family of his own to be there for. Mayella’s loneliness and isolation from the rest of Maycomb county lead her to take such actions. But she was smart enough…

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Who Is Mayella Powerful?

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Even though Mayella is the poorest of her class, her living behind the dump and being considered “white trash” still ranks her higher than any and all African Americans, but only because she is white does this give her an advantage. (Class, Gender, and Race in To Kill A Mockingbird: Is Mayella Powerful? Page 7, DBQ)…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Therefore mayella is powerless in the class. “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin (Doc A)”. “Longs he keep callin’ me ma’am and sying’ miss Mayella (Doc C)”. “ Yes Suh. I Felt right sorry for her(Doc E)”. All of these are example from the story that show how she is powerless.…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mayella doesn’t have power, although she is white, because she is a female living behind a dumpster.Why does her gender effect her in the early 1900s? Does her race give her some power? Does mayella have power to control herself?…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book”To Kill A Mockingbird”, there are a lot of characters that have power. One of those characters is Mayella Ewell. In this paper, Mayella Ewell using her class, gender, and race will prove how and why she has power. She has power because of her gender and race mostly. But he class does play a part in why she has power. In the 1930 there were laws that keep blacks and whites separated. Some of the laws were set to keep black men and white women or the other way around from intermingling. Mayella Ewell is an white young woman that is very poor and is abused by her father. Tom Robinson is a older black man that helps Mayella out by doing stuff she can not do. But poor old Tom gets accused of raping Mayella. Tn the 1930, if you were black and you were accused of doing something to a white person, the white person always won the case. Since Tom was an African American and Mayella was white, he was found guilty. As a result, this shows you some reasons why Mayella has power.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lubet characterizes Scout’s story as “a love story pure and simple.” Scout puts her father over everything by saying that he can do no wrong. “All his choices are brave and noble” (n.pg). From Scout’s perspective, Mayella and her father are lying about the rape and that Mayella is lying out of shame. She also shares with the reader that Atticus claimed them to be “white trash” (qtd. in Lubet).…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I tend to my garden as I watch several cars drive along my street back to their homes. Tom Robinson’s trial must be over. Before the trial even started, I predicted that the verdict would be guilty. When I saw Jem, Scout, and Dill arrive back at their house with long faces, my prediction was confirmed. It is still upsetting for me to hear that another innocent black man’s life was ruined because of the way white people treat them. I did not attend the trial; I do not wish to see an innocent person on trial for their life. I take off my gardening gloves and head inside. As I wash my hands, I see the children looking very upset and confused. I decide to make them chocolate cakes to help to cheer them up. They must be extremely confused and disappointed about the verdict of the trial. They are too young to completely understand our unfair society.…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tom Robinson Stereotypes

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Given Mayella’s race, you could say that she is a powerful person. As stated before, in that time period, white people had more power blacks. Black people were treated unfairly. For example, Reverend Sykes tells Jem that he “ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man.”. Even though Tom Robinson was innocent, he was convicted mainly because he was an african american. Race gave Mayella an advantage as she tried to accuse Tom Robinson of raping her.…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Truly Mayella lacks power because of her class.¨He thought he’d be a hero, but all he got for his pain was… okay, we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump (Doc A). ¨ shows she has little power because of her class and where she lived. ¨ As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world… : white people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white… Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her (Doc E). ¨ says that she lacks a chance or power, because of where she lives. ¨Mayella looked from under lowered eyelids at Atticus, but she said to the judge. ´Long’s he keeps on callin´ me ma’am and sayin´ Miss Mayella. I don’t hafta take his sass, I ain’t called upon to take it (Doc C). ´¨ Talks about how unfairly Mayella thinks she was being treated. Because of her class she…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird Dbq

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The proof that Mayella is abused by her father is delivered when Tom is describing his version of the events at the trial: “Tom Robinson shut his eyes tight. “He says you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya.”(Document B). Tom claims that Mayella is verbally abused by her father. Also Atticus states that:“there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left”(Document B). Which proves how she is mistreated because of the fact that she is a woman and she cannot defend herself. The fact that Mayella is a woman makes her powerless because of how men had power over women at that…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mayella does not have power. She is a poor white woman in the South, she is only about eighteen, and has to take care of her seven siblings. She has less power over men because she is a woman and she also has less power because she is in the lower class. Although she might have some power over black people, that little power is not enough to make her a powerful person. Whether you have power or not, someone will always be taking pity of you. The…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays