Dear ladies and gentlemen of the jury I urge you to bring back a verdict of guilty. There are many reasons for you to find Tom Robinson guilty. Tom has the strength to hurt Mayella, he ran away very fast, and there is evidence to prove Tom had a crush on Mayella. There is no reason Mayella would want Tom and Tom felt sorry for her. This is a case of who to believe and I am going to convince you that you should believe Mayella and Bob Ewell and not trust Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson has the strength to hurt Mayella Ewell even with only one good arm. Tom was convicted with disorderly conduct for fighting a man who tried to cut him. Atticus, you asked him if the other man succeeded and Tom you responded with, “‘Yes suh, a little, not enough to hurt. You see, I-,’” (190) and then you were cut off. Obviously you are a strong man with only one working arm otherwise you would have been hurt much more severely by that man. Tom also does a lot of work with only one hand. The jobs he is able to do include busting up a chiffarobe, chopping wood, …show more content…
I have came to the conclusion that he ran because he knew what he did and didn’t want to end up where he is today. In the book it says, “Until my father explained it to me later, I did not understand the subtlety of Tom’s predicament: he would not have dared strike a white woman under any circumstances and expect to live long, so he took the first opportunity to run- a sure sign of guilt.” Tom admitted he pushed Mayella, but I don’t think that was all he did otherwise he would have not run away like he was guilty. Tom said that he heard Bob Ewell yell, “‘you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya (194) .”’ After this Tom ran away, but why didn’t he stay and help Mayella if he thought she was in danger. Atticus you are trying to argue that he helped her because he was a nice person yet he still apparently heard Mayella get a threat and didn’t help her. And if Tom was so scared, why didn’t he go get Heck
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
Atticus had enough evidence to prove to the Jury that Tom’s right arm did not work and that would mean that Tom could not have pulled Mayella to the ground and bruised her as the policeman described. The crowd was surprised but the Jury and the Judge did not believe Atticus’s evidence. They were prejudiced and if Atticus came up with the best possible explanation the Judge still believed the Ewell family and they did not come up with a reasonable explanation about Tom. “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash” (Atticus) chapter 23. Prejudice hurts people who are black and people who were different and young
Tom Robinson is not strong enough to cause those severe injuries with one hand. Mayella is the oldest sibling in the Ewell family, she sacrifices her teen life to take care of her younger siblings as well as help around the farm more due to the death of her mother. Mr Ewell failed to put himself into Mayella’s shoes to understand her, she is so lonely due to not having someone to talk to. Tom Robinson is the only person that she could talk to and Mr Ewell got rid of him. The trial ended with Bob Ewell’s last shred of pride gone.
It would have been impossible for him to abuse Mayella because he cannot use his left arm. Mr Heck-Tate said that she had a black right eye, suggesting her attacker was left-handed. Her father, Bob Ewell, was, suggesting that he beat her up. Because Tom couldn't punch Mayella with his left fist, it couldn't have been him. Tom Robinson is an admirable character and very brave.
When Tom Robinson?s trial begins, evidence begins to show that Tom Robinson is actually innocent. When Mr Ewell takes the stand we see that he is not a soft hearted person because he is blaming Tom Robinson for something that he has not done,
One of the things that Atticus says to the people of the court is that “ she tried to put away her evidence of her offence away for her but in this case, she was no child hiding stolen contraband: she struck out her victim of necessity she put him away from her -he must be removed from the presence of the world.” What Atticus is trying to say here is that if Tom was not a black man then this case would not be going on but because he is black there is a case on to prove he really did rape Mayella Ewell. Another thing that Atticus said is that “her father saw it”. What Atticus is trying to say here is that if Bob Ewell saw the rape then why would he not chase after Tom Robinson or call the doctor before he even called the cops. If she had been raped the first thing that Bob should have done would be to call the doctor for the bruises she got during the attack. This case should not even be going on here because both of the people that say that Tom Robinson raped Mayella Ewell where both racist so you can’t really tell if they are really telling the truth about if Tom Robison really do this horrible crime
On June 22nd, 1994, one of the most high-profile crimes to hit the media will occur at the home of one of the most adored football players in American history. O.J. Simpson was at one time considered to play the lead role of The Terminator, but producers thought the public wouldn 't be convinced that he could be a robot on a murder spree on film. O.J. was that likable that no one could believe he could be a killer, and people today still don 't believe it.
Every day when Tom walked by Mayella’s home, he helped her since he felt sorry for her. During Atticus’s speech at the courthouse, “And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to ‘feel sorry’ for a white woman…” (Lee 204) If Tom Robinson felt sorry for what her father has ne to her, he wouldn’t attempt to harm her. When he stood on the witness stand, he described the story in his own words, Tom remarked, “She reached up and kissed me ’side of th’ face…” (Lee 194) Tom didn't follow Mayella and kiss her, however she kissed him. Since this is against the rules of society, she made it have the appearance that he disturbed her so she wouldn't be in trouble for kissing a black
Tom Robinson had been accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the eldest child of the worst white trash family in Maycomb. In all actuality, Mayella had flirted with Tom and got caught by her father. Her father, Bob Ewell, had beat Mayella with his left hand, which proved Tom not guilty since he could not move his left arm. Atticus explains the motives in his final speech of the trial. “‘I say guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her. She committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with. She is a victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she is white… She was white and tempted a negro. She did something that in our society is unthinkable: she kissed a black man… There is circumstantial evidence that to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left… Tom Robinson now sits before you… with the only good hand he possesses- his right hand.’” (272) Most people in this day and age would be easily swayed into Tom’s defense with the evidence provided by Atticus, but this is the 1930’s in the deep south of the United States, and a black man could never be innocent in a case as such. “Judge Taylor was polling the jury: ‘Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty...’” (282)
Tom was very confused when he was accused of this incident because he had never been anything more to Mayella Ewell than an acquaintance. “The older you grow the more of it you’ll see. The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box”(Lee 220). This is how Atticus described the trial to his son Jem because he could not comprehend how unjust the trial was unfolding on a daily basis. The proceedings were not equitable towards Tom Robinson because everyone should have realized at the trial that he had not done anything wrong. In the end, Atticus lost the trial. Not because the jury and judge thought Tom Robinson had committed the crime, but simply because he was black and they were racist. Tom was sent to jail for doing absolutely nothing wrong, except being black. He never had the luxury to grow into old age, as his life was taken from him when he was shot seventeen times during his attempt to escape from jail. Tom Robinson’s life would have been completely different if he had not been black. The discrimination would not have occurred and the accusations would not have been leveled or
verdict of the trial, Jem and Scout see the hate in jurors for blacks, for it is obvious that Tom Robinson is innocent. Another new and disturbing element that Jem and Scout discover is child abuse. Having never been hit by Atticus, the children know nothing of physical, mental, emotional, or sexual abuse. However, Mayella Ewell knows too well of these abuses and is a victim of them from her own father. Bob Ewell shows he has no consideration for her by his actions or words, and this is clearly displayed during the trial when he is being asked on the stand, "Are you the father of Mayella Ewell?" (172) His crude reply is, "Well, if I ain’t I can’t do nothing about it now"(172). This shows he has no class or respect, while on the other hand, Jem and Scout are used to seeing the example of their tactful father. Also, during the trial it becomes lucid that Bob Ewell beat Mayella up and not Tom Robinson.
With his right arm missing, it is almost impossible to cause destruction. As a matter of fact, Tom died because of his disability. Since he knows he has no power to win his case, he loses hope and attempts to escape the prism. Tom is then shot multiple times and Atticus explains: “They got him just as he went over the fence.if he’d had two good arms he’d have made it” (235).
These injustices have begun long before Tom’s trial, but it is his trial which epitomizes the problems with our society. The first witness was simply just a misguided fellow named Heck Tate who it seems didn’t have much to offer to the case. Next, Atticus Finch called Bob Ewell to the stand. When I saw Ewell take the stand such a fierce hatred rose within me that I began to shake and tremble. Ewell wrongfully accused Tom of raping his daughter Mayella, however, with the grace of God, Atticus Finch had shown that it was very possible that it was Bob Ewell who because he was a lefty could have beat Mayella. If it were not for great men like Atticus Finch I would have lost all hope for this world. As I watched Mayella take the stand I wondered how such a kind looking person could be someone of such poor character. Her words seemed to paint a picture of a sad life; one where a father neglects her and she has fallen under hard times. Atticus, after pointing out it was probably Bob who beat her, asked Mayella who it really was that beat her. Mayella made it clear it was Tom Robinson, upon which Atticus asked Tom to stand. To the astonishment of the court Tom was handicapped! Tom was then called to the stand where he laid open for all to see the truth, explaining that it was Mayella who came on to him (that treacherous woman!). Soon enough the trial ended and every one awaited the verdict of the jury. The next few hours were the most nerve wracking of my life.
Bob Ewell, after seeing Mayella with Tom Robinson, knows that Tom Robinson has done nothing, and that Mayella is the culprit of this circumstance. However, Bob Ewell makes claims against Tom Robinson because the culture of this society has been formed to
Being an African-American and living in a generally prejudiced town like Maycomb, Tom was already licked from the start. Tom was allegedly accused of raping a white person and as Atticus says, “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (295). During his trial, Tom could have lied about his reasoning for helping Mayella, to keep himself from getting into more trouble, but instead he showed real courage by revealing the real reason behind his actions: “I felt sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em” (264). Since Jim Crow laws were active in Maycomb, Tom’s answer was seen as a terrible mistake: “Below us, nobody liked Tom Robinson’s answer” (264). It showed that he, being a black person, thought he was better off than a white person.