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Important ethical dilemmas that occur throughout killing a mockingbird
Moral dilemma in killing a mockingbird
Important ethical dilemmas that occur throughout killing a mockingbird
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It seems clear to me that Bob Ewell is the antagonist. In To Kill A Mockingbird, it is obvious that Bob Ewell is making up the story about Tom Robinson raping his daughter Mayella. . In a town like Maycomb, if a black man is accused of doing anything to a white woman, then that means he’s guilty, no matter what. During the trial, Bob Ewell reveals more about himself than he does about Tom when he testifies under oath in the Maycomb County courtroom. Bob claims that Mayella was raped, yet he does not call a doctor or take her to the hospital. When Atticus questions him if he was not worried about his daughter’s condition, he replies that he has never called a doctor to any of his family in his life. It is common sense to take a family member to the …show more content…
Again, if he was too concerned about Mayella, he would take her to a hospital. Ewell states that he ran immediately to the Sheriff despite Mayella’s condition. Then he complains about the neighborhood that the Robinsons live in saying that it is “too dangerous to live around ‘sides devaluin’ his property” (Chapter 17, pg.175). This is ironic because the fact is that the Ewells are notorious for being the lowest of the low in social class. They live behind a dumpster and are isolated from the rest of Maycomb because they lack social skills to do so. The Ewells add no value to the community whatsoever. The most major piece of evidence is when we figure out that Bob is left-handed. All of the injuries on Mayella are on the right side of her face. Someone would have to have a strong left hand to cause the wounds. After Bob signs his name on the back of an envelope, Judge Taylor says that he is left-handed. In Chapter 19, we see that Tom Robinson is crippled when they try to swear him in and he cannot keep his left hand on the Bible. “Thomas Robinson reached around, his ran his fingers under his left arm and lifted
Tom Robinson is a kind black man whom Atticus is defending against the charge that he raped Mayella Ewell. Atticus knows that he will lose because Tom is black, but he also knows that Tom is innocent and that he has to defend him. Tom Robinson is portrayed as a hard-working father and husband in the novel and he was only attempting to help Mayella since no one else would, but she made advances that he refused and her father saw them. On the witness stand, he testifies that he helped her because, "'Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun.'" (256). Even though Tom helps Mayella out of kindness and pity, Mayella is trapped and must accuse him of raping her to save her own life. Shortly after being wrongfully convicted
Mayella Ewell is a woman in the 1930’s and yes, women back then were not treated as citizens. As Atticus is delivering his closing argument on how the person who beat Mayella with his left, Tom cannot use his left due to a job accident. By contrasting the difference in race and gender, in the 1930’s these were a big thing, To examine the results of race, gender are way different. Mayella may be white, but in her role as a female, it just goes downhill from that. Although it is different from Tom Robinson point of view. As Atticus is delivering his closing argument after proving that Bob Ewell is left-handed and Tom Robinson is not able to use his left hand. ‘“...What did her father do? We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left…’”. Tom Robinson is unable to use his left hand due to a job accident. Mayella took advantage of Tom, she knew he would help her because he is a nice man. Mayella was not taught respect while growing up, Tom on the other hand was amiable. Mayella is anxious of her father and what he does to her. Some readers might be anxious too, but might confess up to what their father is doing to them. Since she was not taught respect from her father, she would not know much about it. “Won’t answer a word you say long as you keep on mockin’ me,’Mayella said.
(263,264). By demonstrating that Jem did not instigate the attack upon him or his sister, Lee is able to show that Jem is a non instigator also known as a “Mockingbird” because he did not do anything to bring the attack upon himself or his sister. Also, Lee demonstrates the none “Mockingbird” Mr. Bob Ewell by attacking the young Finch children. Another instance of “Mockingbird” characters is Tom Robinson, a hardworking, family loving African American who was put up for his life against the word of two white people even though he had not committed any offences he was being charged for. Tom Robinson was found “Guilty. .
One of the storylines in the novel is the Robinson-Ewell trial. Tom Robinson is an innocent African-American, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a lower-class white girl. At the trial hearing, everyone is able to tell his or her side of the story before Tom is allowed to speak. All stories, however, offer two different versions of Tom and Mayella’s relationship. Moreover, Mayella and Bob Ewell tell the jury what they expect to hear, about Tom being a monster. They explain that there was no reason for his actions against Mayella. According to them, along with the rest of Maycomb, it's just expected that a black man would rape any white woman if he had the opportunity. The Tom spoken of by the Ewells shows the stereotypes that justify whites to be superior to blacks. However, Tom tells the jury about his innocence. He pr...
First, the trial of Tom Robinson is an eye-opening experience for Jem and Scout; there they discover hatred, child abuse, and lying. Seeing pure hate is new and strange for Jem and Scout. They know that prejudice does exist, but listening to and watching Bob Ewell during the trial is astounding to them because Bob Ewell abhors all blacks, especially Tom Robinson. Bob’s daughter, Mayella, makes an advance on Tom, which is absolutely unspeakable and shameful at that time. In addition, Bob Ewell’s hate grows (especially for Atticus) because after the trial his reputation and respect is ruined, even though he does not have a high degree of integrity to begin with. Also, through the
In a racist town where people are overly judged based on rumors spread around. A man who has yet to be seen named Boo Radley is made into the town monster. Little do they know that Bob is one of the only people in Maycomb who does not judge people by their race. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, the main character Atticus Finch is a lawyer in the little town of Maycomb. Atticus Finch the father of Scout and Jem has been faced with one of the hardest cases of his life. Atticus is forced to defend a black man named Tom Robinson on the fact that he raped a white girl named Mayella Ewell. Some people may argue that it does not make sense for Atticus to take a stand to defend Tom Robinson, because he will lose his trust
There are no two characters in To Kill a Mockingbird that differ in identity as much as Atticus Finch and Bob Ewell. Atticus is a man of the law. He defends Tom, an innocent man wrongly convicted, despite the flack his family get from it. “‘ My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an’ that nigger oughta hang from the water tank!’” (Lee 76) He sets a good example for his children. He calls everyone he know ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma'am’.
To begin with, being opposites, they hold the different viewpoints held in Maycomb’s society. Firstly, the most influential thing concerning a person’s viewpoint is their inner psyche, which can be portrayed by a literary device which shows a person’s stream of consciousness. Now, the only character that Lee really gets into is Scout. But, through Scout’s innocent eyes we see Atticus Finch and Bob Ewell as they really are. And it shows us on many different accounts that Atticus believes in equality for all. This does concur with some of Maycomb’s residents. The evidence that Bob Ewell is totally different, however, comes in the verbal output. Where Bob Ewell explicitly says at the trial: “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella.” We can clearly see how he regards coloured people like Tom Robinson. He cannot even be bothered to refer to him by his name, and instead uses derogatory terms. Lastly, when it comes to expressing a viewpoint, knowingly or unknowingly, body language is often the best teller. Take for example the Atticus’s cool and impeccably courteous manner, even when being shouted at by Mayella, he kept his head, or rather his body, in check. Contrastingly Bob Ewell is rather easy to read with his short temper and such. ...
In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, racism is a major theme. Atticus Finch, the narrator’s father, defends a negro, Tom Robinson, in the court of law against a white man, Bob Ewell. Robinson had reportedly raped a young white girl, Mayella Ewell. But according to Robinson he had gone to help Mayella, as he often did, with work around the house. As he starts helping Mayella, she tries to get Tom to kiss her and will not let him out of the house. Bob Ewell sees this and chases Tom out of the house and accuses him of raping his daughter. Atticus goes against almost everyone in Maycomb County’s opinion in defending Tom Robinson. Throughout the course of the novel, racism effects many characters such as Tom and Helen Robinson, Scout and Jem Finch, and Mayella and Bob Ewell. All these characters had there lives
In To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Bob Ewell assumes the racist, biased, and unjust motivations in order to retain any scrap of dignity in Maycomb County. Bob Ewell sees that he has been bested, and that the town knows the truth, however, he is able to abuse his racial standpoint, using racism to scapegoat his actions. The town, even though they all are aware that Bob Ewell is guilty, has been racially obligated to oppress Tom Robinson, due to the racist roots embedded in the town.
One of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird is Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell is a selfish drunk who doesn't know how to control himself. He beats his children and he can’t hold a steady job for long. He is obsessed with revenge for Atticus for making him look like a fool at the trial of Tom Robinson, whom Ewell’s daughter is accusing of rape. Because of his false testimony, he can never be trusted again in front of the whole courtroom. He will do anything to get back at Atticus, and is willing to go as far as going after his children. He also has a grudge against the judge in the trial, and against the wife of the accused. Bob is crazy and delusional and is trying to gain back his reputation by taking down all the people that went against him in
In truth, Mayella tells the court that her father is “tollable,” (245) except when he is drunk. She also states that he has never beaten or touched her. In reality, Tom’s testimony proves that Mayella and her father have an incestuous and abusive relationship. In fact, Mayella turns to Tom because in that situation she retains control, unlike the situation with her father. Atticus hints at the incestuous relationship, “‘...What did her father do? We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led most exclusively with his left. We do know what Mr.Ewell did in part:.. he swore out a warrant no doubt signing it with his left hand, and Tom Robinson… having taken oaths with the one good hand he possesses- his right hand,” (272-273). Atticus shifts the blame towards Bob Ewell, who dominates with his left hand. Again, this circumstantial evidence does not point towards Tom Robinson. As a boy, Tom’s left arm had gotten caught in a machine and it caused it to be unworkable. Since Tom needed both of his arms to commit the alleged rape, there is no possible way he could have done
Tom Robinson’s trial, and in fact his entire life, was badly affected by racism. It is truly a testament to the corruption of society when a person who has earned a bad reputation is held in higher esteem than a person who was born with it, as is the case with Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson. Even though Tom was obviously honest in his testament, the jury sided with Bob Ewell because he was white. They made this decision despite the fact that the Ewell family was widely known to be a worthless part of society. Jem, not being racially prejudiced, could not understand this mentality. As Atticus pointed out, “If you (Jem) had been on the jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man.”
Throughout the novel we see the abusive behaviors of Bob Ewell towards people, especially to his daughter Mayella. When Bob Ewell saw what he did from the window he screamed “you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya” (Lee 198). This inferred that Bob Ewell was talking to his daughter and not Tom, who later testified that when Bob yelled this he was looking right at Mayella. Atticus also makes a case on page 127 about how no one, not even Bob, called a doctor to check on Mayella. By not calling a doctor it proved Bob Ewell was only concerned for himself, not even for the own well-being of his daughter, he was a selfish and horrible father. Also, the Ewell family was one of the lowest whites in Maycomb they had no money and no education, the children only attended the first day of school every year. Bob Ewell wanted the people of Maycomb to view them higher than they do now, but was too lazy to do it himself. Mr. Ewell believed that pinning his own abusive behaviors on Tom Robinson would make people believe he saved their town from dangerous man, and they would now think highly of him. Bob Ewells selfish behavior and poor parenting skills lead to him being a responsibility in the death of Tom
Bob Ewell’s hatred towards black people stems from a hierarchical complex that arises from Maycomb’s corrupt social ladder, where wealthier, white families such as the Finches rest at the top, and the poorer, white families, including the Ewells, are at the bottom. As the people of Maycomb look down on the Ewells with condescension and pity, Bob Ewell targets the only group of people in Maycomb that have a lower social status than him, the black community. Moreover, when Bob Ewell opens the case against Tom Robinson, he is knowingly and actively attacking the black community. During the trial, Bob Ewell tells Mr. Gilmer that he knew who had raped Mayella when he found her on the floor, and unnecessarily remarks, “I’ve asked this county for fifteen years to clean out that nest down yonder, they’re dangerous to live around ‘sides devaluin’ my property” (175). Despite the insignificance of Bob Ewell as a citizen in Maycomb, he makes sure to comment on the even lower social status of the black people that live around him. His disproportionate anxiety of needing to establish superiority over a person or group leads him to not only target and subsequently kill Tom Robinson, but also attack the black community, as