Hunter 1

Kyler Hunter

Ms. Moser

Period 3

24 April 2016

Tom Robinsons Innocence

Through the eyes of an unpleasant man, the whole town of Maycomb looked upon Tom

Robinson and saw only one thing; that he was a negro. So, because of this man, and because of

prejudice, and raging racism, the whole of Maycomb county accused Tom Robinson guilty of a

crime he did not commit. This crime was in fact carried out by non other than that same man

who accused Tom Robinson guilty of raping his daughter, Mayella Ewell. His name was Robert

Ewell, and by the end of this story, you must understand how his selfishness led him to accuse an

innocent man, using the color of his skin to prove him guilty. There are three things that are

undeniable when looking at the Robinson case: The first, being that Tom Robinson was

physically incapable to inflict damage upon another person using his left arm The second,

being that at the time of the incident, and after, no one else within the Ewell family ran to aid for

Mayella The third, being that the court was biased, because of their white upbringing,

prejudice, and racism. This is an evaluation to why Tom Robinson was falsely accused of a crime

and how in the end he was undoubtedly innocent.

When we first approach this case of rape, we must evaluate the condition of the accused, that

being Tom Robinson. The evidence shows that his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than

his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled hand it was no use to him

(Lee 186). This arm was in fact his left arm, which becomes clearly important to his innocence

because Mayella was beaten on the right side of her face. If Robinson was facing Mayella, then it
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would be most plausible to assume his left arm would hit her on the right side of her face, yet his

left arm is completely incapable of doing such a thing. This is also relatively important to know

who the real culprit is, which would be Robert Ewell, Mayellas father. Earlier in the passage it is

seen that Ewell is left handed, with no disabilities, which would mean that he would be perfectly

capable of inflicting damage on the right side of his own daughters face. With both of these

assessments, this is only the beginning specifics to why Tom Robinson is ultimately, not guilty.

Ask yourself a simple question If a member of your family was in immediate danger, and

you could hear their yells, would you come to their aid? Of course you would, but not the Ewell

family. It seems, provided that the witnesses were correct, that no one came to help Mayella

when she was being raped even though she explained in the stand that she screamed very loud.

On page 187, Atticus questions Mayella, You were screaming all this time? and she responded

with, I certainly was. Atticus then goes on to ask, Then why didnt the other children hear

you? Where were they? At the dump? Where were they? This stumps Mayella, as it should,

because her story is bogus. If she was to be screaming, then her siblings, or someone would have

come to help her; but thats just it, she wasnt. In fact, it was her father who beat her, and she did

not scream because she was inherently used to abuse during nights when her father was drunk. If

this has not convinced you, then there is one key factor I have yet to explain that maybe will

sway your view.

This third factor that must absolutely come into play is that the court was made up of biased,

white people, living in a time in which blacks were considered second class citizens. You see,

even before Atticus went into the court to defend Tom Robinson, it was understood that he would

be charged guilty, and only because it was seen to be that way. The judge was subconsciously

imposed to speak out the defendant as guilty, and the jury was affected by this also. In a dialogue
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between Mr. Raymond and Dill on page 201, Raymond explains that Dill crys about the hell

white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that theyre people too. It can be

said that even when facts that cannot be disputed are presented to a biased, white jury during this

time period, the black man will still be accused of crime. It does not matter whether the jury

understood the case or not, there was only ever going to be one solution That Tom Robinson

would be accused guilty on false pretences.

If you are someone blind to the reality of this case, you may say that during the court hearing,

Tom Robinson explains that even with his disability he could have strangled Mayella. Why

would a guilty man, trying to be let free, so easily give up such valuable facts that go against his

purpose? It is clear Tom Robinson did not believe, and was not guilty. This fact though, does

not subtract the importance of her face being beaten on the right side. His left arm was indeed

crippled, which is why he could have never inflicted damage to the right side of her face.

In the study of this case, that Tom Robinson, in the end, was accused guilty, it must be

understood why. To understand why, then allows a person to apply a verdict for themselves,

which should, if you have been listening, come to the reality that he was an innocent victim. A

victim of a crime from not only Robert Ewell, but the exact person that he abused, Mayella

Ewell. Robinson fell to the word of a man without honor, or goodwill, and to a girl who wanted

to cover her shame to be in love with a black man. In the end, Tom Robinson was physically

incapable to rape, no one came to the aid of Mayella, and the people of the court case were

battered with prejudice and racism because of their white upbringing. To understand this case is

to understand why something of this sort must never happen again in human history.