To Kill A Mockingbird- Tom Robinson's Case

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 10th grade November 2001

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The Tom Robinson Case Atticus Finch was recently appointed to be a defense counselor for Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. The townspeople here in Maycomb are quite mad that Atticus Finch is attempting to defend Tom Robinson. Atticus is doing this case to seek justice, and that is all.

The day of Tom Robinson's trial was hot, damp, and uncomfortable. The seats were hard and painful to sit on. But it still seemed as if everyone in Maycomb was packed into the courthouse. There was a separation of the court, the blacks sat on one side and the whites on the other. Sheriff Heck Tate was the first witness. He testified that he had found Mayella at her home. He described her awful conditions; her head was full of blood, she had bruises on her arms and neck, and her right eye was black and blue.

She claimed to have been beaten and raped by Tom Robinson. Sheriff Tate also added that he realized that a left-handed person had attacked Mayella because her wounds were on her right side.

The next witness was Bob Ewell, Mayella's father. He described that when he came home he had found Tom Robinson attacking his daughter. Then he said that Tom just ran off. Then Mr. Ewell claimed that he had immediately fetched the sheriff. Right before Bob Ewell was just about to leave the stand, Atticus had asked him to write his name down on a piece of paper, and so he did. Atticus demonstrated to the jury that Bob Ewell was left-handed which meant a whole lot to the trial even though it didn't seem like it.

Then Mayella Ewell was next to testify. Through careful questioning, Atticus was able to...