Robinson's Trial example essay topic
491 words
To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird, is a story about a trial in a small Alabama town, where a black man is accused of raping a white woman. In this essay I will share with you the setting, some of the characters, some incidents from the plot, the theme, and the point of view. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Maycomb County, Alabama, in the early 1930's. The setting plays an enormous role in this story. Many of the events that take place in this book may not have taken place if the setting were different. For instance, if this book were set in New York City in 1999 the outcome of the trial may have been totally different. Jean Louise Finch, whose nickname is Scout, is almost six years old when the story begins. Her mother died when she was only two years old and her father, Atticus Finch, is an older man in his fifties. Although Scout is very young she is very intelligent and articulate who taught herself to read at an early age. She is also somewhat of a tomboy and is very temperamental.
It was this type of personality that would often get into fights with schoolmates. Atticus Finch, is the single father of Scout and Jem. He becomes the defense attorney for Tom Robinson the black man accused of raping the white girl. Finch did not volunteer to defend Robinson, a highly controversial matter in the thirties, he was assigned to it by the judge because he felt Finch would do his best to seek justice.
Despite his children's beliefs that their father was weak and feeble he proves to bethe best marksman in Maycomb County when he shot a mad dog. Tom Robinson's trial, which was held in the small, county courthouse was quickly filled with curious spectators. The outcome of the trial was almost evident from the start, seeing that it was a black man's word against that of a white woman. This was later confirmed despite the overwhelming evidence presented in the defendant's favor to the all-white, male jury. Soon after being found guilty Tom Robinson attempts to escape from jail and is shot to death. I believe the theme of this book is racial prejudice against innocence, of which the former prevailed.
This book is full of racial prejudice. A man was found guilty not because the jurors necessarily believed he was guilty, but because to take the word of a black person over that of a white's was unheard of. They feared that believing the opposite would weaken the justice system. This story was told from the first person's point of view. It was narrated by Scout. She recounts the story after she has grown up through the eyes of a child.
