The Trials of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scottsboro Boys.
The Tom Robinson case and the Scottsboro case are centered at the peak of racism. Here we have a case of innocent Black men caught in the middle of a fight against white men. In this situation Blacks are the minority. Mayella Ewell, Ruby Bates, and Victoria Price are the ones who should suffer jail time and be punished but because they are white and because they are female they are put on a pedestal that they cannot do any wrong. The backgrounds and attitudes of the main characters are revealed when they are brought to trial to face the overwhelming evidence.
It was a very tense time racially in Alabama. The South was still segregated, forcing Blacks to use separate …show more content…
They all possessed confidence in the face of confrontation. Victoria maintained her composure whenever asked questions about what happened on the train, she stuck with her story and never changed a detail. She constantly pushed Ruby Bates to the sidelines, afraid she would mess up the story they had prepared for court. “Victoria Price, who told the story of the trip to Chattanooga and back from Huntsville. She did it with such gusto, snap, and wise cracks, that the courtroom was often in a roar of laughter” (Ransdall). “Ruby Bates was found by the prosecution to be a “weak witness”” (Ransdall). Mayella made her answers quick and sharp. The question of what happened to her that evening with Tom was asked. A more confident Mayella told her story to the jury. When asked if Tom had taken advantage of her, she narrowed her eyes and answered firmly. They all possessed defensiveness when examined. When Atticus questions Mayella he is polite and kind. Mayella has never been spoken to in this manner. She is only familiar to her father’s harsh words. So when Atticus addresses her as “Ma’am”, Mayella thinks he is making fun of her. She does not know what manners are because she never heard or spoke them. Mayella snapped and said, “Won’t answer a word you say long as you keep mockin’ me” (Lee
The Tom Robinson case and the Scottsboro case are centered at the peak of racism. Here we have a case of innocent Black men caught in the middle of a fight against white men. In this situation Blacks are the minority. Mayella Ewell, Ruby Bates, and Victoria Price are the ones who should suffer jail time and be punished but because they are white and because they are female they are put on a pedestal that they cannot do any wrong. The backgrounds and attitudes of the main characters are revealed when they are brought to trial to face the overwhelming evidence.
It was a very tense time racially in Alabama. The South was still segregated, forcing Blacks to use separate …show more content…
They all possessed confidence in the face of confrontation. Victoria maintained her composure whenever asked questions about what happened on the train, she stuck with her story and never changed a detail. She constantly pushed Ruby Bates to the sidelines, afraid she would mess up the story they had prepared for court. “Victoria Price, who told the story of the trip to Chattanooga and back from Huntsville. She did it with such gusto, snap, and wise cracks, that the courtroom was often in a roar of laughter” (Ransdall). “Ruby Bates was found by the prosecution to be a “weak witness”” (Ransdall). Mayella made her answers quick and sharp. The question of what happened to her that evening with Tom was asked. A more confident Mayella told her story to the jury. When asked if Tom had taken advantage of her, she narrowed her eyes and answered firmly. They all possessed defensiveness when examined. When Atticus questions Mayella he is polite and kind. Mayella has never been spoken to in this manner. She is only familiar to her father’s harsh words. So when Atticus addresses her as “Ma’am”, Mayella thinks he is making fun of her. She does not know what manners are because she never heard or spoke them. Mayella snapped and said, “Won’t answer a word you say long as you keep mockin’ me” (Lee