In this essay I will prove why, "Tom (Robinson) was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth," and what reasons there were for his unfair trial in the racist and prejudice Maycomb County. Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell and although of unconvincing evidence he was still put on death row by the racist jury, as they would have done of any other man with dark coloured skin. The time period of the book revolves around the 1930's, a time of great racism in America and is set in the states of the Deep South where prejudicial rights for the whites received great support.

In Maycomb itself racism was rife, and the case of Tom Robinson proves this. All the characters in, 'To Kill A Mockingbird' are racist at some point except for Atticus. It seems that, although the people believe strongly that they are better than the blacks, they do not show this at any point to people of their own race other than their closest family unless they are supposed to, and example of the time to show this is during Tom's trial, 'I said come here, nigger...' when Mayella Ewell is test

This shows that the white men carry out a sinful act in the black people's place of worship and they have to accept it. Other evidence of the racism evident in Maycomb is at the end of the Tom Robinson's trial when the verdict is given,

Racism is noted throughout the book, and the white community disrespect the blacks in many ways and believe in strong prejudice. An example of this is on page 125 when it comments on the 'First Purchase African M.E. Church.' The reason for the disrespect from the white people is because,

This has some racist sense in it because Jem knows that he won't accept a mixed child in his home but does have a fair mind to things like the trial, so he would not give a guilty verdict just by judging on the colour of skin.

'Negroes worshipped in it on Sundays and white men gamble in it on weekdays.'

'Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty...'

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 911
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)