Question

What are 3 quotes from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird that prove Tom Robinson is innocent?

Accepted Answer

Three quotes from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird that prove that Tom Robinson is innocent are "[Tom's left arm] ended in a small shriveled hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him," "there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left," and "You’re left-handed, Mr. Ewell."

Answer

Tom Robinson's innocence is proven by the skillful Atticus Finch well beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt. However, sadly, the racial prejudice of the town of Maycomb is so strong and omnipresent that even a man who is completely and quite obviously innocent can be convicted when every single member of the jury is convinced of the impossibility of his innocence. The most powerful point of Atticus's defense rests on the abilities of the hypothetical attacker. Atticus points out that Mayella's injuries suggest that whoever attacked her must have favored his left hand. However, as the result of an accident involving a cotton gin, Tom's left arm is so useless that it may as well not be there, as displayed when he attempts to swear on a bible:

Thomas Robinson reached around, ran his fingers under his left arm and lifted it. He guided his arm to the Bible and his rubber-like left hand sought contact with the black binding. As he raised his right hand, the useless one slipped off the Bible and hit the clerk’s table.

Atticus indicates that because Mayella's right eye had been blackened severely, the man who committed the crime must have used his left hand when attacking. This is, by his own admission, circumstantial evidence, as it is certainly possible, however improbably, that someone may have hit Mayellas right eye with their right fist, despite how awkward that attack might be.

We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.

Atticus brings his defense full circle by indicating that it was indeed Mayella's father, Bob Ewell, who beat his daughter savagely after catching her kissing Tom Robinson. He then forced her to accuse him of rape in a twisted and perverted effort to approximate a restoration of her honor. The dim-witted Ewell, however, cannot see where Atticus is going with his defense until it is too late, when Atticus has requested that he write his name for the Jury to see:

Mr. Ewell wrote on the back of the envelope and looked up complacently to see Judge Taylor staring at him as if he were some fragrant gardenia in full bloom on the witness stand, to see Mr. Gilmer half-sitting, half-standing at his table. The jury was watching him, one man was leaning forward with his hands over the railing.
“What’s so interestin‘?” he asked.
“You’re left-handed, Mr. Ewell,” said Judge Taylor.

The humorous scene that follows involves Mr. Ewell misunderstanding the meaning of the word "ambidextrous," but Atticus's blow has landed soundly. Everyone in the courtroom who possesses any modicum of logical thinking can be certain that Tom is completely innocent. However, the racial disparity in the town goes too deep for the truth to save him.

Answer

Following the testimonies of Sheriff Tate and Bob Ewell, which indicated that the perpetrator led almost exclusively with his left hand and choked Mayella's neck, Scout watches Tom Robinson when Mayella identifies him as her attacker. Scout says,

"His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him" (Lee, 188).

Tom Robinson's left arm and hand were of no use to him, which means that he was physically incapable of assaulting Mayella in the manner described.

"Miss Mayella, you’ve testified that the defendant choked and beat you—you didn’t say that he sneaked up behind you and knocked you cold, but you turned around and there he was—...—do you wish to reconsider any of your testimony? (Lee, 189).

During Mayella's testimony, she begins to contradict her story, proving that Mayella is fabricating the entire incident. Atticus proceeds to ask her several questions in quick succession, which she refuses to answer.

"Her father saw it, and the defendant has testified as to his remarks. What did her father do? We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left" (Lee, 208).

In Atticus's closing remarks, he mentions that Mayella was beaten by someone who led almost exclusively with his left hand. There is ample evidence to suggest that Bob Ewell assaulted his daughter after he caught her kissing Tom Robinson.

Answer

Atticus Finch, Robinson's lawyer, does a beautiful job discrediting Bob and Mayella Ewell's testimonies on the witness stand. Bob is the first witness who says that he caught Tom raping his daughter, but there are two things a father would have done at that point in time. First, he would have noticed exactly what sores, bruises, or cuts were on Mayella, and then he would have called a doctor to check her out. Bob did neither of these two things, which calls into question the validity of the accusations. Atticus wears Bob down and commits him to certain "facts" of the case that could not have been inflicted on Mayella by a one-armed man. Bob says that the perpetrator's hand marks were all the way around his daughter's neck and that her right eye was bruised. To begin with, Tom could not have placed two hands around the girl's neck; and secondly, a right-armed man would have punched her right eye, not her left one. To prove that Mr. Ewell could have punched his daughter, Atticus had him sign his name in front of the whole courtroom. Without prompting him, Bob signs his name with his left hand. Scout understands what her father did by concluding the following:

"Atticus was trying to show, it seemed to me, that Mr. Ewell could have beaten up Mayella. That much I could follow. If her right eye was blacked and she was beaten mostly on the right side of the face, it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it" (178).

Then second thing that the prosecuting attorney did not have was any medical evidence that rape had actually occurred. Atticus argues as follows:

"The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses who evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is" (203).

The final thing that proves that Tom Robinson is not guilty is the fact that Mayella Ewell is the guilty one. She is guilty of crossing the line socially and to avoid being held responsible for her actions, she blames an innocent man. Atticus explains it with the following:

"She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards" (204).

A lot of the evidence to prove Tom guilty does not exist. The charges are there to protect Mayella from what really happened. Therefore, the lack of medical and forensic evidence proves Tom is innocent.

To Kill a Mockingbird

What are 3 quotes from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird that prove Tom Robinson is innocent?

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