Preview

Examples Of How Time Heals In To Kill A Mockingbird

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
531 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Examples Of How Time Heals In To Kill A Mockingbird
Cindy Tung
Mrs. Maus
010.006 H
22 March, 2009
“Time heals all wounds.”

Slavery is a major issue in the South. Although it may have been abolished sooner, racism is still a prominent issue. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, there is a myriad of perfect examples of how time will heal all wounds. Even if racism exists in Scout’s time, generations will learn from their mistakes as time “heals“ all of the wounds that are inflicted on humanity. The killing of Tom Robinson truly portrays how time will heal all wounds that the human race has brought down upon themselves. In Scout’s time, the segregation of African Americans from society is inevitable. They are still looked upon as scum, not equal to the likes of whites. They are not even looked upon as human beings with a family, emotions, and preferences. Tom Robinson is a self-respectable African American, who has the nerve to “feel sorry” for a white girl like Mayella Ewell. Because of this, many people in both the audience and the jury are confused “But the damage was done. Below us, nobody liked Tom Robinson’s answer. Mr. Gilmer paused a long time to let it sink in” (Lee 264). This is supposedly the comment that confirmed
…show more content…
Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards” (Lee 272). Because society will shun them, Mayella has no choice but to save her reputation at the cost of Tom Robinson’s life. Many people in the jury know that Tom Robinson could not have raped her, since the evidence is extremely conclusive. However, the jury, who consisted of white men (who are all seemingly racist), did not accept the facts and pronounces Tom Robinson guilty of raping Mayella

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • 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
  • Good Essays

    Tom Robinson is an African American male who was wrongly accused of raping a poor, white woman, named Mayella Ewell. During the Great Depression, the Jim Crow laws (DBP Jim Crow laws 7) were put in place to segregate white people and people of color. The laws restricted intimacy and most everyday interactions between white women and black males. The laws were technically applied to everyone during the 1930’s, but males were especially protective of the women in the south. In a series of events, Mayella Ewell is able to gain power by using her race, gender, and class against Tom Robinson. Mayella is able to use people’s outlook on African Americans to her advantage in court and also the fact that she is a female. Although Mayella’s class isn’t her strongest suit, in the eye of the jury and everyone else in the South, no matter how poor you are as long as you are white you will have authority over African Americans. Knowing this, Mayella is able to find a solution to her father’s sexual abuse by gaining power through Tom Robinson.…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tom Robinson Trial Essay

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Tom Robinson was accused for raping a young women named Mayella Ewell on May 18. Mayella Ewell is the oldest of 8 sibling in her family, she is motherless and takes care of the smaller children while she works around her father’s house. The whole court house was filled with white families sitting on the bottom rows of cowhide-bottomed chairs while the blacks had to stay in the balcony. The trial started with Mr. Heck Tate in the witness stand, on the left of him was Judge Taylor. Mr. Tate described Mayella's injuries to the solicitor, Mr. Gilmer “Well I was called by Mr. Bob Ewell yonder, it was the night of November twenty-first. I was just leaving my office to go home when Mr. Ewell came in, very excited he was, and said get out to his…

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Underneath all of these people lies the African American population. Even though they have admirable qualities, just because their skin colour is black, they are inferior. Bob convicted Tom of harassing his daughter when there was no real proof, other than Bob’s daughter, Mayella, and Tom. The prejudice is what allowed Bob Ewell's to put Tom Robinson, into jail. Another example is that, Scout cannot understand why Aunt Alexandra refuses…

    • 140 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Being a Black man in Maycomb, Alabama was difficult; Maycomb was a racist town with people who did not want the Blacks to be equal to the Whites. People discriminated Robinson’s race to the point where his race was what defined his character. The Whites in Maycomb had a mentality that all blacks were not to be trusted. This affected Tom Robinson because during his rape trial his lawyer, Atticus Finch states “. . . You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral; some Negro men are not to be trusted around women—black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men.” [Lee, 48] Atticus was trying to say that we need to judge people as individuals rather than by their race. Robinson’s race caused him to be discriminated against by the Whites in Maycomb, in particular Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell had seen that his daughter had kissed a Black man and was very upset. He said "I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella!" [Lee, 84] Because Robinson…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird depicts the childhood and coming of age of a young girl named Jean-Louise “Scout” Finch. The main focus of this novel is the trial of an African-American man named Tom Robinson, who was accused of raping a white woman, and Scout’s father, Atticus, who has been assigned to defend him. Written during the Civil Rights Movement, Lee’s purpose is to highlight the racial prejudice that had permeated throughout the Southern culture. She achieves this in the trial scenes, where she embeds Atticus’s strong dialogue into the context of the vivid imagery she presents of the trial.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The remarks about Atticus helping Toim Robinson were arising from all over Maycomb County. Family, adults and even children who repeat whatever their parents say talk about Atticus in a poor manner. For instance, in the process of Francis aggravating Scout, he explains to her that Aunt Alexandria had said that Atticus was, “ruinin’ the family”, because he’s turned into a “nigger-lover”, and therefore they’ll, “never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb County”. If the people of Maycomb County put themselves in Tom Robinson’s shoes and showed empathy towards him, then the community wouldn’t shame him as much as they do now. In addition, in this particular case, empathy for Tom Robinson wouldn’t only justify and clarify the prejudices people have towards him, it would also stop the rants against Atticus Finch, because since Tom Robinson is being represented in court by Atticus, he often gets kicked out of the…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To kill a mockingbird is an insightful novel that effectively educates its reader about the discrimination and prejudice against African Americans that was occurring at the time. Through the pity and intensity of Tom Robinson’s trial the reader learns how the rights of African Americans were very different than the white Americans at the time. To kill a mockingbird highlights the pure injustice that Tom Robinson faces, when accused of a crime that he didn’t commit. Due to these accusations Tom’s fate is put on the line and his dignity is robbed from him as the whole of Maycomb assumes that Mayella Ewell is right. Immediately the town people build a sense of hate and anger towards Tom Robinson and attempt to act on their thoughts and opinions. Throughout this text one will learn how not only Negro’s were affected by this prejudice and discrimination but how innocent white Americans, such as the finch family were too.…

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In addition to Boo Radley, Tom Robinson is also a case where it has made a alteration in Scout’s maturity level. While discussing Tom’s trial and conviction with Atticus, Scout says, “It would be kind of like shooting a mockingbird.” That statement is a great representation of the amount of growth she has undergone. She makes the connection between the killing of a mockingbird, which Atticus has identified as a sin to do because it hasn’t done any harm…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”(39) In this quote Atticus is trying to give Scout, the main character in To Kill a Mockingbird, that some advice about having a general code of moral ethics. This novel is the recollection of events that happened when the author was a young girl. It tells the story of how she grew up in a town called Maycomb with her older brother Jem and her father Atticus. It’s main event is the trial of Tom Robinson, in which he is falsely accused of “carnal knowledge of a woman without consent,” as Atticus’ definition of rape states. In, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee introduces the theme of racism through the characters of Bob Ewell, Scout’s Aunt Alexandra, and Calpurnia. She shows how the theme of racism can shape someones views on things majorly through the trial of Tom Robinson.…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with, Atticus demonstrates empathy towards African Americans when he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, an African American, who is being falsely accused of raping and beating Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Atticus explains to Scout that everyone is equal despite their skin color and is the reason why he is defending Tom. Also, Atticus defends Tom because he is trying to fight for equality in his town Maycomb that is known for great discrimination. Atticus understands the fear and pain Tom Robinson and his family feel about the case, regardless if they are African American.…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Scout and Jem’s father, Atticus, is an honest white man who is defending an innocent Negro man, although he is frowned upon by others. The white folks of Maycomb County think that they have a higher social status than the black community, and that the views of a Negro does not matter. The most blatant example of racism in the novel is when Tom Robinson was convicted of raping Mayella Ewell. Although the people of the town know that Tom Robinson was innocent, the jury still saw him as guilty because he is an African American man, and would never be able to win over a white man. This jury ruling causes both those who encouraged Robinson’s conviction and those who were convinced of his innocence to question their views of justice and fairness. This decision forces Scout and Jem to confront the fact that the beliefs that Atticus has taught them cannot always be accustomed with the reality of the world and the evils of human nature. Even their neighbor, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, who the children are scared of, is racist and calls Atticus a "nigger-lover" to his children. The children despise of her and “hated her. If she was on the porch when [they] passed, [they] would be raked by her wrathful gaze, subjected to ruthless interrogation regarding our behavior, and given a melancholy prediction on what [they] would amount to when [they] grew up, which was always nothing”…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “To Kill a Mockingbird” a black hardworking man named Tom Robinson, is accused of raping a white women named Mayella Ewell. The truth of this matter is Tom Robinson, is Mayella threw herself at Tom. Mayella was a lonely women whose father abused her. She wanted to have intimacy with Tom Robinson, which “brings shame to her family”. When her father finds out Mayella tried to throw…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of life in the 1930’s from Scout Finch’s point of view. In any story there are problems and situations that nee to be dealt with. Atticus, being a defense attorney, shows Scout a first hand view of what really goes on in the little town of Maycomb, Alabama. This sparks her curiosity in her father’s newest case, which is Tom Robinson a middle aged black man with a wife and kids. He was arrested under the accusations of beating and raping Mayella Ewell a white female of the age of 19. Many don’t realize that segregation was beginning to heat up in the South during the 30’s, but that is the cause of tense controversy in Tom Robinson’s case.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To kill a mockingbird

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages

    "She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man.” In the book To Kill a Mockingbird a rape trial takes place, between Tom Robinson, a black man, and Mayella Ewell, a white women. Though most people believe Maylla because she is white, I believe Tom is not guilty because of the lack of medical evidence, lack of witnesses, and the fact that Tom Robinson was crippled in the left arm.…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays