Innocent In To Kill A Mockingbird

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD FINAL PAPER Innocence is both a definitive and relative word. In one sense, a newborn infant is the only truly innocent, as it has just come into the world without any chance to do anything negative. On the other hand, we also tend to see those starving after natural disasters as innocent despite the fact that they may have past misdoings we are dubious to. In the sense of the town of Maycomb, in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, children such as Scout and Jem, who are too young to realize what is happening around them in the depression-era south, are regarded by most as innocent. Then why are innocent people hurt? To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s most notable work, is above all else about the harm of innocent …show more content…
Apperently not in Maycomb. Mayella Ewell, the daughter of aforementioned Bob Ewell, was a self-proclamed rape victim. Her attacker was none other than Tom Robinson. It may not make any sense, the trial should be laughed off and never should have occurred. However, this was the south, the pinnacle of institutionalized racism. After Mayella Ewell gave her testimony, insisting that Tom Robinson was her attacker and that he attacked her with his left hand, Atticus asks Tom to stand up. 3)Scout’s recollection is as follows: “He looked oddly off-balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully 12 inches shorter than his right, and it hung at his side” (Lee, 235). This proves, to any competent person, that Tom is innocent. However, this was the south, and seeing as a white girl claimed she was raped by a black man, he was convicted, regardless of his physical inability to have commited the crime. Following the trial, Tom is locked up and the town continues on its old ways. Skip ahead a few weeks and we find ourselves at a ladies’ party at the Finch household. In the middle of the event, Atticus quetly pulls his family aside and tells them the grim news. 4)Scout’s perception of the event is given: “Tom is dead… 17 bullets in him. They didn’t need to shot him that much, Cal” (Lee, 235). This demonstrates that in the end, an innocent Tom was shown no mercy despite his obvious innocence, and makes him a strong if not the most convincing case of the personification of the mockingbird by
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