Rory Conway

Free Response

                                                            Is Tom Robinson Guilty?

     As the book moves past Scout as a young child, and her obsession with Boo Radley, the book focuses more on the Tom Robinson trial. In 18 and 19 the trial really gets heated and the most important details are spilled. It turns out Tom Robinson has a crippled left hand, and that he was previously in jail for 30 days for getting into a fight with another man. The most important detail I thought was that Tom claimed that in fact he did not rape Mayella, but Mayella tried to rape him. "She reached up an' kissed me 'side of th' face. She says she never kissed a grown man before an' she might as well kiss a nigger." (Pg 221, Harper Lee) What Tom is saying is the exact opposite of what he is being accused of. I believe that Tom is a very honest man. Also people such as Link Deas say that he is a very nice man who has never done anything wrong. Due to the fact he has no left hand, it would be very hard for him to rape a teenage girl. Although I believe he is innocent, the jury is all white and I think they will side with Mayella. 

Will Tom Robinson be convicted? Will Link Deas statement have any affect on the Jury?