Tom Robinson
Introduction
Metaphor of mockingbird – tolerance and understanding
Develops Tom into symbol of mockingbird
Condemning him is morally wrong – helping the innocent
Also, he’s present in the themes of prejudice and loneliness in his perception of Mayella’s life
Before the Trial
Portrayed in a positive light before we meet him. His family are ‘clean-living folks’ and Tom’s a
‘good worker’ – creates impression of a benevolent, decent man.
He stays mostly invisible like Boo, reinforcing the message of ‘seeing’ people for who they are,
regardless of background and race. Regardless of Tom’s innocence or lack of, the main issue is
Atticus’ decision to give him a good defence because the town has already decided that Tom should
be punished for getting anywhere near a white woman, a prominent crime under the Jim Crow
Laws which strived to maintain white and black segregation, despite slavery having been abolished
in 1865.
Atticus knows that he is ‘licked’ before start, because he understands how inconsequential Tom’s
good character, the doubtful nature of the rape taking place and the repugnant nature of the
Ewells, are in the minds of the people of Maycomb who still labour under the prevailing racial
prejudice of 1930s Southern US. Atticus and his children are abused and shunned by friends and
family alike because he has agreed to represent a black man. Their ideas of what was socially
acceptable and their prejudice against Negroes were common to most middle class white people at
the time, particularly in the South. To them Atticus’ actions and maxim of tolerance and
understanding is more unfathomable than their own unjustified hatred.
‘You know what we want...Get aside from the door Mr Finch.’ When the lynch mob turns up at
the jail, the men’s polite and courteous tone while discussing murder presents the inherent racism
and commonness of lynching. It was a scarily real issue for black people in the 1930s Southern
states; groups like the KKK violently attacked people and burnt their homes. They were viewed as a
form of entertainment, and white authorities did nothing as their own fears and racism surpassed
any moral compass they possessed.
‘A soft husky voice came from the darkness above: "They gone?”’ The adjectives ‘soft’ and ‘husky’
present him as a vulnerable, unthreatening and gentle character. He does not seem a character
capable of the atrocities of which he has been accused. The true conflict presented by Lee is
between white people and their desire to harm those who are unseen and powerless to fight back.
Harper Lee chooses to keep Tom hidden for the majority of the novel to reinforce the way in which
the real Tom is invisible to the prejudiced members of Maycomb’s community, cloaked by the
condemning colour of his skin.
The writer also chooses to stop the reader from making a connection to Tom as a real person to
avoid us forming sympathy towards him. The purpose of leaving us to form our own opinions of
him puts us as readers in a similar position to the people of Maycomb in terms of how much
knowledge we have about him. This emphasises the unreasonable nature of the people’s
judgement of Tom.
During the Trial
Throughout Tom’s trial, which draws vast comparisons to the Scottsboro trial of 1931, Lee shows
the prejudice against black people by the community of Maycomb and, in Atticus’ summing up she
criticises this.
The Ewells tell the stereotypical story that everyone in the court room expects to hear; that Tom is
a savage and brutal character driven by animalistic lust. This image represents the ideas behind the
segregation of these times; that black people were uncivilised and little more than animals who
Introduction
Metaphor of mockingbird – tolerance and understanding
Develops Tom into symbol of mockingbird
Condemning him is morally wrong – helping the innocent
Also, he’s present in the themes of prejudice and loneliness in his perception of Mayella’s life
Before the Trial
Portrayed in a positive light before we meet him. His family are ‘clean-living folks’ and Tom’s a
‘good worker’ – creates impression of a benevolent, decent man.
He stays mostly invisible like Boo, reinforcing the message of ‘seeing’ people for who they are,
regardless of background and race. Regardless of Tom’s innocence or lack of, the main issue is
Atticus’ decision to give him a good defence because the town has already decided that Tom should
be punished for getting anywhere near a white woman, a prominent crime under the Jim Crow
Laws which strived to maintain white and black segregation, despite slavery having been abolished
in 1865.
Atticus knows that he is ‘licked’ before start, because he understands how inconsequential Tom’s
good character, the doubtful nature of the rape taking place and the repugnant nature of the
Ewells, are in the minds of the people of Maycomb who still labour under the prevailing racial
prejudice of 1930s Southern US. Atticus and his children are abused and shunned by friends and
family alike because he has agreed to represent a black man. Their ideas of what was socially
acceptable and their prejudice against Negroes were common to most middle class white people at
the time, particularly in the South. To them Atticus’ actions and maxim of tolerance and
understanding is more unfathomable than their own unjustified hatred.
‘You know what we want...Get aside from the door Mr Finch.’ When the lynch mob turns up at
the jail, the men’s polite and courteous tone while discussing murder presents the inherent racism
and commonness of lynching. It was a scarily real issue for black people in the 1930s Southern
states; groups like the KKK violently attacked people and burnt their homes. They were viewed as a
form of entertainment, and white authorities did nothing as their own fears and racism surpassed
any moral compass they possessed.
‘A soft husky voice came from the darkness above: "They gone?”’ The adjectives ‘soft’ and ‘husky’
present him as a vulnerable, unthreatening and gentle character. He does not seem a character
capable of the atrocities of which he has been accused. The true conflict presented by Lee is
between white people and their desire to harm those who are unseen and powerless to fight back.
Harper Lee chooses to keep Tom hidden for the majority of the novel to reinforce the way in which
the real Tom is invisible to the prejudiced members of Maycomb’s community, cloaked by the
condemning colour of his skin.
The writer also chooses to stop the reader from making a connection to Tom as a real person to
avoid us forming sympathy towards him. The purpose of leaving us to form our own opinions of
him puts us as readers in a similar position to the people of Maycomb in terms of how much
knowledge we have about him. This emphasises the unreasonable nature of the people’s
judgement of Tom.
During the Trial
Throughout Tom’s trial, which draws vast comparisons to the Scottsboro trial of 1931, Lee shows
the prejudice against black people by the community of Maycomb and, in Atticus’ summing up she
criticises this.
The Ewells tell the stereotypical story that everyone in the court room expects to hear; that Tom is
a savage and brutal character driven by animalistic lust. This image represents the ideas behind the
segregation of these times; that black people were uncivilised and little more than animals who
