Tom Robinson Trial Analysis

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In the story, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is defending Tom Robinson in court because he was accused of raping a white female. The main point, Atticus was trying to convey was that the jury needed to make their decision based on factual evidence and disregard the fact that Tom is black which was a way he was trying to convince his audience that race and skin tone should not come in the way of the reality of the situation. Lee makes some valid points in Atticus’s argument to prove that Tom Robinson is not guilty and that this event should not have even gone as far as the court due to the lack of mandatory evidence but the jury still makes him guilty because they believe that black people commit crimes. Lee’s purpose was …show more content…
By stating that “The State has not produced one iota of medical evidence that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place, (Lee, 207)” Atticus is using factual evidence that if Mayella had not even gone to see the doctor after she was supposedly “raped,” then there is really no proof that Mayella was sexually assaulted in any way or by Tom Robinson himself. Also, when he states, “Now there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led, almost exclusively, with his left. And Tom Robinson now sits before you having taken “The Oath” with the only good hand he possesses- his right,” Atticus is conveying that there's no possible way that Tom assaulted Mayella with his left hand, the hand Mayella claims beat her, if his left his is crippled and his only good hand is his right. By using such obvious and strong evidence that proves that Tom Robinson did not commit the crime he was accused of, Atticus is not only attempting to convince the jury that Tom Robinson didn’t commit the crime he is being accused of, but he is also trying to win so he can prove that not all black people commit the crimes they get accused of with such little and weak evidence. Atticus uses ethos to prove Tom is not guilty by acknowledging the credibility of the court. “That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court ofthe United States or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honorable
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