The men in both cases were thought to be guilty simply because they were black. Mayella Ewell was Bob Ewell’s abused, lonely and unhappy daughter. She was the women who Tom Robinson was accused of raping. Like many other southern blacks, toms was not educated and thought to be less of a person by whites. Whether Mayella knew it or not, her accusations against Mr. Robinson were like picking a fight with a man who is not capable of fighting back.
During that period, blacks had no say in anything. For example, in the book “A lesson before dying” Jefferson is in the court room getting prosecuted for something that he didn’t commit. As the attorney said himself in the beginning of his case that, “The Defense argued that Jefferson was innocent from all charges except being at the wrong place at the wrong time”. This meant absolutely nothing to the people in jury. From the beginning of the case, it showed many ways that the attorney defending Jefferson did not believe this man was innocent because he was a black
The whole trial is also pretty racist. Everyone on the jury knows that they have to say Tom is guilty because that is how it had to be during that time. They did not want to get caught saying that there was even a slight chance he was innocent. “I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: ‘Guilty… guilty… guilty…guilty…’” (282).
In 1982, dozens of young women in King County, Washington, disappeared (McCarthy). Some were murdered and others were brutally discarded around King County. Many of these young women were teenagers. Almost all of the victims were involved with street prostitution and they met their fate while working on the street. For twenty years, theses deaths and disappearances were attributed to the so-called “Green River Killer,” which was an unidentified serial murderer (The Seattle).
A few things that I think are unjust in the book were Tom Robinson’s trial and the teachers. Some things that are just in my eyes but were not legal was when Boo Radley killed Mr. Ewell, it was just because he saved Jem and Scout’s lives, but unjust because he did not abide by the legal system. First, Tom’s Robinson’s trial was completely unjust. Tom Robinson was falsely convicted of rape. He was wrongfully convicted by an all-white jury, which at that time, racism was the norm.
The women decided that they would falsely accuse these men in order to avoid being caught for prostitution and also for not paying the train ticket. (Faulkner 418-419) The To Kill a Mockingbird Trial was about Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell. Mayella was the daughter of a very poor white family and to the townsmen they were known as white trash. They lived behind the garbage dump in Maycomb. The Ewells were known for being rude and inconsiderate.
Mrs. Stinger Boo Radley- The mysterious Arthur Radley is blamed for virtually any unexplainable act in Maycomb. Any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work. Because of his past history of apparent mental instability and the forced seclusion within the Radley House that his father strictly enforced, he is accused of everything from being a peeping tom to poisoning pecans. There is no evidence or witnesses to any of these accusations, but rumors persist throughout the town, making Boo a man with no friends or expectations for a better future. The jury- Tom Robinson is accused of rape by a white family, the Ewells, who have been, according to Atticus, "the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations."
However, he doesn’t spare black people and forces them to see that their submission to the status quo only perpetuates racism. Violence doesn’t achieve anything either. Bigger is not a hero imbued with every good virtue. Sadly, Wright notes, “In all of [Bigger’s] life these two murders were the most meaningful things that had ever happened to him,” (239). He is a man who reacts with violence and confirms racist whites’ fears about black men.
This was January 6, 1936. Even with the addition of blacks to the jury, all men were found guilty – again! This is what happened to the nine Scottsboro Boys after the trials: ❑ Four of the boys were set free. They were: Eugene Williams, Olen Montgomery, Willie Robertson and Ray Wright. ❑ Haywood Patterson was given 75 years in prison.
Everybody in Maycomb county is affected by racism in one way or another; however there are three people who are particularly affected by it. Calpurnia, the black maid in the Finch residence, must lead two separate lives, one with black people and one with whites; they can never inter-mingle. Mister Dolphus Raymond is suppressed into pretending to be a drunk because he is a white man who marries a black woman, and has interracial children. Tom Robinson must suffer the most, he is seen as guilty for a crime he does not commit and sentenced to death, all because of the jury’s prejudice towards black people. Indeed, everyone in Maycomb County, whether they are black or white, is affected by racism, and sometimes all it takes to see it is a child.