To Kill A Mockingbird is arguably one of the most recognized legal movies ever made. It stars Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, a defense lawyer in small town Mississippi. He is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who was accused of raping a white woman. The white woman is Mayella Ewell who is the daughter of Bob Ewell, a poor, racist farmer. In this town, everything is very segregated and Atticus and his kids are constantly ridiculed for him actually defending a black man. Atticus employs a black woman, Calpurnia, who cooks, cleans, and takes care of his kids, Jem and Scout. Atticus has different views on issues than most of the other white men in his town. When asked to take the case of Tom Robison, he knew it was going to be a tough case, but he didn’t think twice about it. He believed Tom Robinson should have an equal chance to a good lawyer as everyone else in his town. There are many legal issues presented in this movie and I
When the trial begins, it is one of the most exciting days during the year for the town of Maycomb. Sheriff Tate is the first witness and describes Mayella’s injuries, including her black eye. The eye that was black was her right eye. Bob Ewell is the next witness and he acts very smug while on the stand. He is smiling the whole time and knows that the jury is already in his favor. Atticus shows the court that Bob is left-handed and that Bob also concurs with the sheriff’s description of her injuries. Atticus also points out that Bob Ewell never called a doctor to check out Mayellas injuries. Mayella is the next witness and she contradicts her father on a few questions. Mayella is very uneasy on the stand and ends her testimony with a hysterical rant saying, “I got somethin' to say. And then I ain't gonna say no more. He took advantage of me. An' if you fine, fancy gentlemen ain't gonna do nothin' about it, then you're just a bunch of lousy, yella, stinkin' cowards, the - the whole bunch of ya, and your fancy airs don't come to nothin'.” She basically said, “If you don’t believe me then you are wrong”. She has no evidence that he sexually assaulted her and all she does have is the fact that she is white and Tom is black. The last person to take the stand is Tom Robinson. Atticus shows the court that Tom is right handed because his left arm was disabled in a Cotton Gin accident. Tom was very genuine and began crying because he knew what was going to happen if he was convicted. Atticus eventually made the point that Mayella’s injuries were on the right side of her face so a left-handed person would have done it. Atticus also implied that Mayella Ewell was caught kissing Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell was the one that beat up Mayella. Atticus showed the all white jury that Tom had done nothing wrong. However, the jury still decided Tom was guilty despite all of the evidence Atticus had brought up.
First off, Tom Robinson shouldn’t have even been accused of his crime. The mindset back then was if a white man said he raped his daughter, it must be true. Back then, there was an unwritten southern code that a white mans voice always beat out a black mans. No matter what Tom would have said, he would’ve gone to a trial no matter what. Bob Ewell and Mayella Ewell needed to make up a story to make it seems true and so they are still credible in the public. Unfortunately, Tom was at the butt of this sick joke. He had to suffer because
One of the first things I noticed in To Kill A Mockingbird was the lack of evidence to convict Tom. There was no physical evidence and the only evidence they did have was Mayella Ewell and Bob Ewell’s testimony. Two white peoples verbal evidence went up against one black mans verbal evidence. During this time, a white persons word was always worth more than a black persons word. Atticus had an impossible task on his hands. No matter how well Atticus proved that Mayella Ewell was beaten by her father, the white persons testimony would always
