Tom Robinson Flashcards
“Mr. Finch?”
A soft husky voice came from the darkness above: “They gone?”
Atticus stepped back and looked up. “They’ve gone,” he said. “Get some sleep, Tom. They won’t bother you any more.”
This is all we see of Tom before the trial, although his name’s mentioned long before then- tom is basically absent from these debates and it’s assumed that he is guilty or that he should be punished for going anywhere The fact that he’s practically absent shows, not only his lack of power, but also the fact that we only have the small amount of information that the people of Maycomb have.
How he is portrayed by them, and the reality of his character almost directly contrast each other.
[Mr. Ewell says] “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!”
This again shows a direct contrast between the Tom that is presented by the Maycomb community and the real Tom, whom we finally see in the trial.
Bob and Mayella Ewell present Tom as a monster throughout the trial, in order for the verdict to be against him. People choose to believe this because of the prejudice that they’ve believed their whole lives- they can’t- or don’t want to- fathom the fact that Mayella willingly kissed Tom.
“Mr Ewell didn’t seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun’”
The true Tom, whom we see in the trial is shown to be kind and compassionate, he helps Mayella as he recognises her as a person in need despite the fact that it is at great personal expense.
‘His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shrivelled hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him.’
This is the icing on the cake in proving that Tom is innocent. He cannot have raped or even assaulted Mayella because of his disability.
However, in Maycomb, it is not his hand which holds him back, it is his race and because of that, he would never have got a fair trail.
‘Tom Robinson was a dead man the moment Mayella opened her mouth and screamed’
To Maycomb, Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw. Funny thing, Atticus Finch might’ve got him off scot free, but wait-? Hell no. You know how they are. Easy come, easy go. Just shows you, that Robinson boy was legally married, they say he kept himself clean, went to church and all that, but when it comes down to the line the veneer’s mighty thin. Nigger always comes out in ‘em.
This quote truly shows the extent that Maycomb viewed Tom. They did not see him with compassion but instead as a black man and nothing more.
His decision to run reinforced the racial stereotypes that Maycomb held.
But then why did he run? Was it because he snapped, or was tired of feeling powerless? Or did he even run at all? Was it just an excuse for him to be shot, because he was just another black man?
