1) Examine the different perspectives on Tom Robinson’s guilt or innocence. How are these perspective a result of the culture of Maycomb/the American south? What perspectives are there?
From the trial we could derive that there was no factual evidence that convicted Tom Robinson of the rape and assault of Mayella Ewell. The only thing the prosecutors had to go off of was what Heck Tate, Mr. Bob Ewell, Miss Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson told.
Heck Tate, the sheriff of Maycomb, claimed that when he got to the house Mayella was on the ‘floor in the middle of the front room… She was pretty well beat up…” (To Kill A Mocking Bird, Page 223) Mr. Tate never saw Tom Robinson on the property or anywhere near the scene of the crime but he arrested him after Mayella Ewell identified him.
Even though the Ewell’s are known to be riffraff, they are Caucasian. Many of the townspeople in Maycomb would always take a white person’s word over a black person’s word any day. Tom Robinson’s story is compelling, but a southern lady is known to be delicate not forceful as Tom Robinson made Mayella Ewell out to be. In the South, a white Southern Belle would never force herself on a black man, especially in the 1930s.
Tom Robinson’s family and friends see him as an innocent man. They could never see him lay hands on a woman. Scout mentions that he is just as polite as her father. I believe that is why the jury did not believe Tom Robinson even though his plea could have been true. The jury had an extreme bias towards Tom Robinson before the trial or crime was committed, simply because of the colour of his skin.
This photo is of one object, but it is seen in two different ways. This picture reminds me of Tom Robinson. He is only one person, but two groups of people have two very different views of him.
