The story is set in the 1930s a period when racism and prejudice are commonly encountered in everyday life. The novel follows the conviction of an apparently innocent Black man sentenced almost entirely due to his race. It is through this mans trail we see how harsh Maycomb society is on minorities. During the trial scenes we learn a lot about peoples views and beliefs on other people and the strict codes by which people have to live. We learn the most about Maycomb Society through the trial.
Town trials were big social events in the 1930s. The trial is described as a Gala occasion and many people acted as if they were attending a Carnival, rather than to see a man on trial for his life. The towns reaction to what is happening tells us a lot about peoples ideology and the general time frame. We learn more about the mutual hatred between African Americans and whites in a legal sense. Groups like the Idlers club and the Mennonites enjoyed seeing a Black mans freedom taken away from him. Tom Robinson was found guilty of raping Mayella Ewell, in the face of very strong evidence that his accusers were lying.
One reason why he was convicted was because it was a white mans word against a black mans one. Tom, who is black, would be denied justice because of this. Atticus reinforces this idea when he tells Jem in our courts, when its a white mans word against a black mans, the white man always wins. Generally this was the mentality of most Americans at the time.
In Maycomb a white mans word was always taken without any regard as to how trustworthy he was. Another reason why he was convicted was because Tom Robinson went against the accepted position of a Negro by daring to feel sorry for a White person. All these prejudices are a result of people holding onto performed ideas of a certain set of people. It is not just racial prejudice, which is present in Maycomb but the narrow, rigid, intolerant codes of behaviour, which the townspeople wish to impose on others. These prejudice all show the inability of the people to, as Atticus puts it consider things from his point of view and the lack of understanding between them.
The courthouse reflects the social division seen in Maycomb. The courthouse itself is very old fashioned in the way that it is built and its laws. The segregation between Blacks and Whites is emphasised by the way the Blacks file in last and are seated in the balcony. Their kindly politeness to Jem, Dill and Scout is again shown when the children come to sit in the coloured balcony. Four Blacks give up their seats for them.
This also implies that White children have precedence over Black adults. We also can see that the childrens admission to the balcony underlies their lack of prejudice. A prime example of prejudice within the book is shown when the Idlers club find out that Atticus will defend Tom properly. They are disgraced at this.
Atticus is an example of someone who is an anchor of reason within Maycomb. He is chosen to defend Tom at trial because Judge Taylor knows that Atticus would give a fair defence. Atticus would fight his hardest to win the case even though he is bound to lose, because this is what Atticus views as the meaning of true courage Simply because we are licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us to try to win. By saying this Atticus believes that even if this is the hardest case he will use his courage to try his best, since it is morally wrong not to take the case just because there is no chance of winning. Atticus chooses to defend Tom Robinson when no other lawyer would.
He was one of the few respectable people not blinded by the racial injustice Tom Robinson faced. Not only did Atticus defend Tom in the courthouse, but he defended him at jail on one occasion too. Atticus beliefs are spoken in his speech on the code of the society. In this speech he spoke of the strict laws, old traditions and ways of thinking that are still prevalent in Maycomb.
Whites were not to communicate or get involved with Blacks. This was a code Mayella Ewell broke by tempting a black man She was white and she tempted a Negro she did something that in our society is unspeakable. The Jury hearing the case is all white this is because of their superiority in society. Atticus hopes that by this justice will not be mocked as it has in the past. Mayella is viewed as an outsider.
Although she is the prosecution in the case, Mayella never set out to intentionally hurt Tom. She was lonely and only wanted affection from Tom, this being thought of as a crime at the time. Mayella did not commit a crime, but in fact broke a moral code of society. Mayella considering tempting a Black man showed that her view on the Negroes was not entirely the same as the rest of Maycomb. However Mayella had been convinced one way or the other that by convicting Tom was the only way to restore the familys lost pride after she broke the moral codes of society.
Dolphus Raymond is also viewed, as an outsider who is rejected by Maycomb society; because he is a White man yet prefers to live with Negroes. He has a reputation of being a drunkard, but this is just a pretence. Mr. Raymond is actually a very sensitive man who loathes society and hates the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to thing that theyre people to. Dolphus, unlike Atticus does not have the courage to admit his preference of Negroes.
So, he presents himself as a drinker so people might think he is drunk and excuse him from his action. In Atticus basic summing up he talks about how for once people should look at Tom Robinson as a human rather than as a Negro or a coloured man. They would say that a man was immoral only because the colour of his skin happened to be a little darker than their own. Atticus openly defies traditional thinking even while under scrutiny of the entire town, particularly in his final courtroom speech. Maycomb citizens believe that Tom Robinson is not, and should not be part of their lives or of their community Atticus, on the other hand finds faults with the towns traditional views. Thinking reasonably and intelligently, he knows he does not want his children to grow up with similar views.
He attacks old southern tradition by using the law. He lives by a traditional code in which justice is highly valued. Atticus strongly believes that in our courts all men are created equal. Atticus knows that if there is one place in which the time-honoured codes of southern society can be broken, it is in a court of law.
He discovers, however, that tradition is not easily broken and laws are not easily changed. Nearly everyone in the town has a basic trust for Atticus that he will do what is right, despite the fact they despise his independent thinking. Although the verdict is inevitable it has taken the jury time to reach. By the trial the jurys ways of doing things have been changed. Miss. Maudie Atkinson points out that usually with this kind of case the verdict would be reached in a minute.
But this time it took a long time. As well as this he points out that Judge Taylor appointed Tom the best possible lawyer instead of using an un-experienced Maxwell Green. Miss. Maudie uses these two things to defend the town and its people in showing a sign of change. She feels that they have made a baby step in the right direction. Maycomb has changed a little bit, but there is still a long way to go before black and white can be equal.
Although disappointed and frustrated by the verdict, Jem and Scout both learn valuable lessons. Atticus succeeds in conveying his simple message that when a white man cheats a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash. After the trial, Jem and Scout dont care what people say about their nigger-loving father. It does not matter because he has bestowed upon them a new tradition of thinking. Jem and Scout do not think in terms of class and race. Scout does not have to think hard to know that she would let Tom Robinson go so quick the Missionary Society wouldnt have time to catch its breath if it was up to her and if Jem had been on the jury Tom would be a free man.
Atticus is pleased by his childrens views. Atticus has one wish entering into the trial and that is that Jem and Scout get through it ‘without catching Maycombs usual disease. One of the major themes that this novel presents is the loss of innocence that children were beginning to encounter at a younger age. During Tom Robinsons trial, Reverend Sykes says this aint fit for Miss. Jean Louise or you boys either, thinking that the description of sexual ha …
