To What Extent Does The Trial And Death If Tom Robinson Change Maycomb And Its Community?
The strong prejudices and social strata of Maycomb County had a negative effect on the events in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. This fact was evident in the trial of Tom Robinson, an innocent black man unjustly convicted of rape. Atticus is correct. Many atrocities will be committed in the name of justice until we learn to be compassionate and understanding of the problems and conditions of life faced by other people.
In examining the case, one can see how the four classes in Maycomb were involved to varying degrees. The first two classes were represented at the trial by the presiding judge and attorneys and many jurors. It was the responsibility of all these people to see that Tom received a fair trial despite the cord of prejudice that had a stranglehold on the townspeople of Maycomb. However, this had to be a difficult task because they would have to challenge the attitudes of the townspeople and Atticus alone seemed to be willing to do that. The older citizens, the present generation of people who had lived side by side for years and years, were utterly predictable to one another: they took for granted attitudes, character shadings, even gestures, as having been repeated in each generation and refined by time. Instead of these people taking an interest in seeing that justice was done, they treated the trial as a gala occasion. There was no room at the public hitching trail for another animal, mules and wagons were parked under every available tree. The courthouse square was covered with picnic parties sitting on newspapers, washing down biscuit and syrup with warm milk from fruit jars. It was a crime that the upper classes of Maycomb condoned and even participated in this kind of behavior.
The litigants, the Ewells, and the defendant, Tom Robinson, a kind, black man, represented the two lower classes. The jury's decision proved one sad, undeniable fact: when a black man's word went against a white man's word, the white man,...
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