The Case Of Tom Robinson From To Kill A Mockingbird

Tom Robinson is a man that lives in Maycomb, Alabama and he is a field worker. Tom Robinson is an African American that is on trial for allegedly raping a 19-year-old women Mayella Ewell, her father was the one accusing Mr. Robinson of raping her daughter on the 21st of November. A man by the name Atticus Finch was appointed as Mr. Robinsons defense attorney, he was criticized by many people in Maycomb for defending an African American man. When interviewing one of Mr. Finches nephews he said,” Grandma says it's bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He's ruinin’ the family, that's what he's doin’.” Also, there were four witnesses attending the trial, Sheriff Heck Tate, Robert Ewell, Mayella Ewell, and Tom Robinson. From the four witnesses, the first to testify was Sheriff Heck Tate, in his testimony he stated, “Ewell told the sheriff to get out to his house quick some nigger'd raped his girl.' Mr. Finch went out to ask, “Did anyone call a doctor”, in which the sheriff responded to, “No sir”. When asked about injuries sheriff Tate stated that her eye was banged up and he can see bruising along her arm. However, with this evidence Atticus came to the conclusion that Tom Robinson did no inflict the bruises on Mayella because Mr. Robinson only has one good arm, his right arm and by the mark on Mayella face it clearly shows that someone left-handed had to do it. Also, it the marks around her indicate someone that someone with two hands had to choke her.

The second one to testify was Bob Ewell, he begins by saying that he was coming back form walking in the woods when suddenly he hears his daughter scream and when he got there, he saw his Daughter with Tom Robinson. Supposedly he saw his daughter and Mr. Robinson having sexual intercourse. The third one to testify was the daughter of Mr. Ewell, Mayella Ewell, Mayella accused Tom Robinson of sexually assaulting her, Mayella’s testimony was that she was on a porch when it all started then Mr. Robinson attacked her. She stated, “I went in the house to get him the nickel and I turned around a ’fore I knew it he was on me.” While testifying she got very nervous and sweaty. When Atticus starts to question her, the first question was how old she is because he wanted to remind everyone in the room that she is very young and not educated and then he starts to describe her daily life so then he can show how she is lonely and poor. Then Mr. Finch shows that Mayella’s dad was abusive and that Mr. Robinson was one of her friends to show that Tom wasn’t the one abused her.

Atticus continued asking questions, he asked the question “Do you remember him beating you about the face?”, he asked the question a second time and she responded with, “No, I don’t recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me.”. Mr. Finch went on to describe where she was hurt and what hand had to be used to inflict the damage and then she was asked to identify the man that raped her and points at Mr. Robinson, Mr. Finch had Mr. Robinson stand up and everyone sees that he doesn’t have a normal arm so that means her couldn’t be the one that hit her as how she described it. The person to testify was Tom Robinson, Mr. Robinson says tells Mr. Finch that he never went on the Ewell property without an invitation, Mayella saved money for a long time so she can get treats for the children around the area so she can be alone with Mr. Robinson. Mayella asked Tom Robinson for help inside her house and then she grabbed him around the leg, Tom stated, “She reached up an' kissed me 'side of th' face. She says she never kissed a grown man before an' she might as well kiss a nigger. … She says, 'Kiss me back, nigger.” Mr. Robinson tried to stop her by being polite and then Mr. Ewell saw them and threatened his daughter rather than Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson’s description of the event is more believable than Mayella’s Ewell description, and it was clearly obvious that her father was the one that beat her rather than Mr. Robinson. Then, it was the verdict Mr. Finch tried his hardest on giving evidence and defending Mr. Robinson, however this wasn’t enough to convince the jury of 12 white men. Mr. Robinson was convicted of rape and sentenced to death, Mr. Finch tried to appeal, but Mr. Robinson had no faith anymore and tried to escape the prison and in attempt he was shot.