Character Analysis Of Tom Robinson In Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

When people read To Kill a Mockingbird they can’t help but become connected with the story of Tom Robinson. They are angry at the Ewell family for falsely accusing him of raping and beating Mayella, and they are dismayed when they read about his death, myself included. I remember being extremely upset and sad that he didn’t have chance at all to get out of prison and back to his family. Once the shroud of sadness left, I sat down and thought about Tom Robinson and why I thought Harper Lee decided to kill him off instead of allowing him to have the appeal Atticus had talked about. I came to the conclusion that there really was no reason to kill Tom Robinson other than to cut that story off and give it an acceptable end so Harper Lee could …show more content…
There’s no way he didn’t know that it was a lost cause to try. There were armed guards everywhere and they didn’t care if Tom was dead or alive. He was a dead man walking as soon as he made the decision to jump the fence. He had seemed to be such a level-headed and considerate man in court, even changing the way he said stuff as to not offend anyone. He really wanted to be declared innocent so why would he throw that all away for the slimmest chance ever to get out of prison? It just didn’t make sense to …show more content…
This appeal could have been Tom and his family’s saving grace. Obviously, it never happened because of Tom’s death, but if Tom had held on for a month or so more he would’ve gotten the appeal and could’ve been a free man. Bob Ewell would have still been a crazy man in the meantime and tried to kill Scout and Jem, Tom’s death didn’t bring that out in Bob. If Tom hadn’t died and Bob had tried to kill Scout and Jem, then Tom may have had an even greater chance because people would’ve thought that Bob was