Character Analysis: To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird In 2009, the Sentencing Project discovered that two-thirds of the people in the U.S who have life sentences are non-white, showing that race has an affect on how a person is treated. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout Finch are just starting to figure things out in Maycomb County. They are finding out that not everyone is the same, and that some people have different beliefs than others. Also Scout and Jem are seeing things like race have an affect on how people are treated. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird race has huge effects on the law and justice system. First off, in the courtroom when Miss Mayella is testifying, all of her answers to Atticus’s questions are shaky. She was in this spot because she accused Tom Robinson of abusing her. Atticus was asking questions along the line of if Mayella remembered if Tom Robinson hit her in the face. Mayella said “ I don't recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me”(185). Her answer is unsure, so basically, she knows that Tom did not abuse her, she is just saying that because she is trying to cover up for the actual abuser, and of course because of Tom’s race. This shows that there is a …show more content…
Atticus explains that the state did not prove a single piece of evidence that Tom was the person who abused Mayella, and that the two people who testified against Tom, had evidence that was not provable, and maybe even impossible to believe in(203). Atticus says Tom is not guilty, but another person in the courtroom is, Atticus is referring to Mayella’s dad, Bob Ewell. Bob and Mayella both know that Tom did not do anything to hurt Mayella, but they do know that if a person is convicted, and there race is not white, that person will almost allways be found guilty. To wrap this up, Tom did nothing to Mayella, but his race will force him to be found guilty even when he is