Ty Yarbrough

Mrs. Field

LNG 322

March 28, 2011

Why Can’t We Be Friends?

In the case of Tom Robinson, he does not receive a fair trial. The most influential

factors in this case are that all the jurymen are white; the case was Black vs. White, and

Mayella was trying to hide her guilt.

All or most white men are racist against blacks. They believe that blacks cannot

live at the same social level or even have the same buildings or houses. Whites think

that blacks are low down, dirty, and even sub- human. In the 1930’s the slaves were

free, but everyone still did not like them, and would not allow them to do anything.

The trial was a black vs. white case, where anything the white person said

overruled what the black person said. No one paid attention to the evidence Tom gave.

They were all biased against Tom just because he had dark skin. During that time, Tom

and Atticus knew from the beginning that he would be guilty. Mayella was white and

Tom was black, that is all there was to it.

Mayella was trying to forget about her guilt. When she breaks the code of the

white people, she is trying to have a relationship and have feelings for a black man. She

does not want to be seen as a Negro lover. Mayella is already lower than the blacks but

if she were to be heard being with a black guy she wouldn’t exist among everyone.