- Was Tom Robinson given a fair trial? (in terms of the proceedings that took place in the courtroom)
- What elements of discrimination were evident in this scene?
- Why is there a lot of description dedicated to Bob and Mayella Ewells' appearance and demeanor?
- Why does Jem think they've won the trial?
- Why did Atticus wait to reveal Tom's disability?
- Post your own question about the trial.
The trial scene is very telling in terms of how the people of Alabama discriminated against others. Answer one of the following questions about the trial scene and post a response to at least one other person.
13 Comments
Sarah
10/15/2015 04:17:20 pm
2. There was a lot of discrimination that took place in this scene of the book. People already found Tom guilty for what he did before the trial started. The Finch's were picked on for actually trying and making a good trail. The jury always says that the African-Americans are guilty, blacks were separated from the whites. Everybody believed what the towns people thought and did not give the others a chance. "'Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women--black or white"'(Lee 273). People already assume that Tom is lying, immoral, and should not be trusted especially around a women. If they figure he should not be trusted around women then they will not believe his side of the story.
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Jaden
10/15/2015 04:29:52 pm
I think that Sarah's comment is very truthful and shows lots of the ways Tom Robinson was discriminated against. This scene was arguably one of the most powerful in the book because it shows the thought process of the Maycomb towns people and how they did not believe that Tom was telling the truth just because he was a negro.
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Torrie
10/15/2015 04:39:50 pm
I agree with Sarah, there was a lot of discrimination that took place in this scene. Most people believed what the Ewells said because of their race. People didn't even think twice about the situation because Tom Robinson was African-American so they shouldn't trust what he says.
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Samantha
10/15/2015 04:57:47 pm
I agree with Sarah, elements of discrimination was shown in so many ways in this scene. To start, Tom had no chance of winning before he even stepped in the court. Maycomb's people were so quick to assume that all black people were liars or immoral and could not be trusted around women. If the jury had been more like Atticus and thought of the case without the colour of Tom's skin mattering, he would have been proven not guilty.
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Laura
10/16/2015 07:12:09 am
I agree with Sarah. Maycomb already made the decision that Tom was guilty because of his race , proving that there was a lot of discrimination in this particular scene of the book because Tom did not have a chance against a white man's word due to his race.
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Jaden
10/15/2015 04:24:27 pm
I absolutely do not think that Tom was given a fair trial. First of all the majority of the jury most likely already had their mind made up about the case before he even entered the court room simply because of the coulour of his skin. I also believe that since Tom was a part of a different community (Calpurnia's) compared to the other people in Maycomb the towns people probably had already made their minds up about who he was as a person. How is it fair for Tom when the jury and the judge both have white skin, think he is guilty and has hurt a woman of their own? Not to mention there are absolutely no medical records to prove that he beat or hurt Mayella but people still believe that he abused her without proof.There are also two "witnesses" that are testifying against him. It is his word against theirs. People will most likely go with the majority. Tom was not given a fair trial and if Atticus did not defend him he would've probably been killed before the trial even started. How is it fair for Tom to be put in jail until the trial? His children and wife need him to provide but he got sucked in to what I think is a lie made by the Ewell's. So I personally do not think that Tom Robinson was given a fair trial at all.
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Samantha
10/15/2015 04:49:55 pm
1. Tom Robinson was not given a fair trial. Atticus directly pointed out that the “case should have never come to trail” because Tom Robinson was unfairly accused of an offense he did not commit (Lee 271). It seemed obvious that Tom Robinson had definitely won and that the “case [was] as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). But as an African American man in the 1960‘s, Reverend Syke knew the unfair discrimination toward black people and that the justice system had not yet overcome the racial discrimination. Reverend Syke pointed out the racism that Jem and Scout had never fully been aware of when he said, “Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in [favour] of a coloured man over a white man” (Lee 279). Jem and Scout thought that it was obvious that Tom would win because they had grown up with Atticus teaching them that everyone is equal. Due to the fact that all the other citizens of Maycomb (including the jury) were still racist, it did not matter what Tom said, to them the colour of his skin determined that he was guilty. To conclude, Reverend Syke showed Jem and Scout that the trial was unfair and that even though Tom Robinson was not guilty, he was black and the justice system was racist.
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Torrie
10/15/2015 04:53:05 pm
1. I don't think Tom Robinson was given a fair trial. I don't think the trial was fair because most of the people around the town already believe Tom Robinson was guilty because of his race, without hearing his side of the story. Since there was no real evidence that Tom did anything to Mayella it's just his word against the Ewells, which isn't good for his case because people didn't trust African-Americans: "... the evil assumption-- that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immortal beings..." (273). So even if Tom didn't do it there's a pretty big chance that he'll still be found guilty because of the discrimination against coloured people in the town.
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Hope
10/15/2015 05:00:30 pm
Tom Robinson definitely wasn't given a fair trial. They chose a false white persons story over a true black persons story. The jury consisted of all white men, and back then racism was huge. The Ewell's also gave unreliable/ questionable statements about what happened which Atticus proves but yet the jury declared Tom guilty simply because he was black. Its sort of between the lines when Atticus says "I don't know, but they did it. They've done it before and they'll do it again and when they do it-- seems that only children will weep" ( 285).
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Laura
10/15/2015 06:19:45 pm
Tom Robinson, an African American is accused of raping a white woman. There is no way Tom was given a fair trial because the people of Maycomb have decided that he is guilty without even considering Tom's side of the story. Atticus knows this, but Jem still believes in justice. Throughout the entire trial, Jem believes that Tom will be found innocent. "There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads --they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life"(Lee 220). This quote proves that even without evidence the jury will still most likely rule an African American guilty in court, in this case Tom Robinson was found guilty of rape, without any strong evidence against Tom he was still guilty because he was "coloured".
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Soha
10/15/2015 07:48:34 pm
5. I think that Atticus waited to reveal Tom's disability in his left arm because he wanted to jury to understand the importance of that information first: "If her right eye was blacked and she was beaten mostly on the right side of the face, it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it" (238). I think that Atticus wanted the jury to hear the Ewells' testimonies and have them hear that Mayella's right eye was beaten from Bob, Heck and Mayella themselves. By showing the jury that information first, when the jury found out about Tom's arm, it made the Ewells' case illogical.
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James
10/16/2015 09:17:07 am
4. Jem thinks they have won the trial because of Atticus' strong argument that made the case quite obvious that Tom was not guilty. Also Atticus' final speech directed at the jury: "I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the ividence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of god do your duty" (LEE 275) . Also Jem is only 12 at the time and he does not fully understand that the juries decision will have a bias based on race.
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Kaleb
10/16/2015 09:27:46 am
2. The discrimination that I think is being shown in this scene is racism. The racism is being shown by the segregation of the african-americans and the white people, and the opinion that Tom Robinson was guilty before the trail had even started. Atticus himself knew that the racial discrimination was going to be shown at the trial which is demonstrated when he speaks to his brother Jack.
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