To Kill A Mockingbird- Tom Robinson's Case

The Tom Robinson Case Atticus Finch was recently appointed to be a defense counselor for Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. The townspeople here in Maycomb are quite mad that Atticus Finch is attempting to defend Tom Robinson. Atticus is doing this case to seek justice, and that is all.

The day of Tom Robinson's trial was hot, damp, and uncomfortable. The seats were hard and painful to sit on. But it still seemed as if everyone in Maycomb was packed into the courthouse. There was a separation of the court, the blacks sat on one side and the whites on the other. Sheriff Heck Tate was the first witness. He testified that he had found Mayella at her home. He described her awful conditions; her head was full of blood, she had bruises on her arms and neck, and her right eye was black and blue. She claimed to have been beaten and raped by Tom Robinson. Sheriff Tate also added that he realized that a left-handed person had attacked Mayella because her wounds were on her right side.

The next witness was Bob Ewell, Mayella's father. He described that when he came home he had found Tom Robinson attacking his daughter. Then he said that Tom just ran off. Then Mr. Ewell claimed that he had immediately fetched the sheriff. Right before Bob Ewell was just about to leave the stand, Atticus had asked him to write his name down on a piece of paper, and so he did. Atticus demonstrated to the jury that Bob Ewell was left-handed which meant a whole lot to the trial even though it didn't seem like it.

Then Mayella Ewell was next to testify. Through careful questioning, Atticus was able to show the jury the type of life Mayella led. As she answered the questions she began to stutter, it may have been because she was nervous. She answered all of the questions, and then left the stand.

The final witness was the defendant himself, Tom Robinson. As he took the oath, it became obvious to all that his left arm was paralyzed and totally useless. It had been crippled in a farming accident. Tom Robinson told a whole other story, even the date was different.

Atticus concluded his closing statement using Thomas Jefferson's words - "all men are created equal." All men aren't created equal, he argued. One person may be faster than another or some are gifted, and that doesn't make us all equal. But this country exploits that all men are created equal; in their rights before a court of law.

Despite the many hours the jury spent deliberating, Tom Robinson was declared guilty, Though Atticus tried to describe that they would probably win when the case was appealed to a higher court, Tom was left without hope. Only a few weeks later, as he tried to escape from jail, he was shot and killed. If only Tom Robinson had waited there could've been a chance for him to be free.