Maycomb, Alabama is a small, simple county ln Maycomb, there is not one person that does not know the whole town. There, any one man‘s business is considered everyone‘s business, Nothing exciting or different has ever happened there That is, until yesterday Since last year, every person in Maycornb knew about the trail that would be taking place on August 26‘ The trial would be about Tom Robinson, a black man, “raping“ Mayella Ewell, a white woman The town also knew that Atticus Finch, a well-respected lawyer, would be defending Tom Robinson during the trial. Yesterday, Tom was put on trial against two white witnesses, and though however convincing Atticus may have been, when the trial came to a close, the inevitable yet expected conclusion was drawn, and Tom Robinson was pronounced “guilty“.
At the trial, there were rows upon rows filled with people waiting for the trial to start Atticus Finch, Horace Gilmer, the lawyer defending Mayella Ewell, Mr. Ewell, and Mayella walked in From the door beside the jury stand, Tom Robinson, bound in chains, was lead to his chair, then was unlocked from his handcuffs. Eventually the trial started and the first witness was called to the stand Heck Tate, walked to the witness stand and was asked to give a brief overview about what had happened the night where the assault was committed. Mr. Tate claimed that Mr, Ewell called him to his house one night, saying that his daughter was raped by a black man.
He said he “Found her lying on the floor in the middle of the front room” and he said that she looked as if she took a hard beating and that when he asked Mayella who hurt her, she responded by telling him that it was Tom Robinson that had hurt her and took advantage of hen When Mr. Tate finished explaining what had happened on November twenty-first, Mri Gilmore sat back down. At this time, it was Atticus’s turn to question the witness. The first question Atticus asked was if Mr. Tate had called a doctor upon seeing the conditions of Mayella which Mr. Tate answered that he did not. The next question Atticus asked was for Mr. Tate to describe the details as to Mayella’s injuries. Mr. Tate claimed that “she was beaten around the head” and that she has bruises beginning to form around her arms. When Mr. Tate said that she had a black eye.
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Atticus immediately asked which eye did she get a bruise on, Mr. Tate, after taking a second to remember, said that it was Mayella‘s right eye. Atticus then asked Mr. Tate to repeat what he had just said; twicei After describing other bruises, Mn Tate finally stepped down from the witness stand, Then, the next witness, Mr. Ewell, was called to the stand. When Mr. Gilmore began to question him, he asked if Mr. Ewell could tell him what happened on November twenty—first. Mr. Ewell said that it was before sundown when he was getting to his house and heard Mayella screaming. He said that when he ran to the window, he saw Tom raping Mayella He also claimed that the room looked as if there was a fight that had taken place before he got there. Mn Ewell said that when he ran around the house to get in, Tom quickly ran outside. He hurriedly ran to Mayella and went to call Mr. Tate to try and help her.
After finishing his claim, Atticus was called [0 ask his questions. Atticus asked almost the same questions as he did with Mr. Tate but he also asked Mn Ewell if he could read and write and if so, could he write his name on a piece of paper. When handed the paper, Mr. Ewell picked up the pen and wrote his name with his left hand. When the Judge pointed that out, Mn Ewell became enraged. He began yelling and was eventually asked to leave the witness stand so they could call the next witness to the stand Mayella was called to the stand. Yet again, Mn Gilmore asked if the witness could explain what had happened the day of the assault. Mayella told him that she was on the porch when she saw Tom Robinson walking by She had called him over to ask him if he could help her out with a task which he agreed.
When she walked inside to get a nickel as a reward and turned around, she claimed that he was right behind her and he started to kiss her and when she fought back, he hurt her. Eventually, he took advantage of her and ran when her father walked in. After giving her statement, Mr, Gilmore sat back down and rose to ask Mayella questions. He asked her basic questions about her life. At one point he asked her if she loved her father. Mayella answered that he was “tolerable” and quickly stopped herself. Atticus however, continued the sentence by saying, “Except when he‘s drinking?”. Even though Mayella denied it, it implies that her father abuses her.
Atticus begins to ask her about November twenty-first. He asked Mayella if she remembered Tom beating her on her face, which she replied by saying that she did not recollect if he hit her. Then she immediately changed her answer and said that Tom had hurt her on the face. At this point, the witnesses started to seem suspicious. First, neither Mr. Tate nor Mr, Ewell called the doctor, and if their claims about Mayella’s injuries were correct, a doctor should have been present at the time. Second, many became convinced that Mayella was abused by her father because all the evidence and questions led by Atticus proved it By then, it was as obvious as daylight. After Mayella was done with her questioning, Atticus called his witness over, When Tom Robinson stood up, it finally occurred to me why Atticus asking what eye Mayella was bruised on was so important.
Tom Robinson’s left arm is about 12 inches smaller than his right; probably ruined in an injury in the past as he eventually confirms. Because of his condiLion, it renders him physically impossible to give Mayella a black eye on the right side of her face along with many other bruises. During his questioning, Tom Robinson said that it was Mayella that tried to kiss him. He said that she had never kissed any man before and that what her father does to her doesn’t count. He tried his best to not put any harm on her or her surroundings. He eventually pushed her off him and ran away. When it was Mr. Gilmore’s turn to ask Tom questions, he asked him pointless questions, grasping at any small piece of evidence as he could.
After Mr, Gilmore finished and Atticus gave his conclusion, the jury took about an hour to come to a conclusion. In the end Tom was announced guilty. Even though Atticus had clear evidence as to why Tom was innocent, he was still convicted. The Ewell’s are extremely poor and live in a horrible environment. Mayella is the oldest of nine and has no friends. Her widowed father physically and sexually abuses her. Even though she has many people around her, she still feels isolated and not loved. When she first met Tom Robinson, he was the first kind and good person she had ever met in her life, and she instantly wanted more of him. She became calling him over as many times as she could just to see him again. Eventually she fell in “love“. One day, when all the kids were gone to get ice- cream because of the nickels she had saved up for a year, she decided to go against every single socially acceptable rule and she kissed Tom, a black man.
But unfortunately, Tom did not feel the same way and when Mayella began to force herself onto him, Mr, Ewell saw them from the mirror which led to Tom Robinson fleeing. This conclusion was very clear to everyone in the courtroom but since one black witness was against two white witnesses, the black man was considered wrong and was convicted. As the trail came to an end, it became clear that the jury was going to rule based on race rather than the evidence that was presented. This specific case shows the systemic racism that is in our society today, Rather than looking at a person’s value we look at their skin color and judge them based on that.
