set:1930

written: 1950

TOM ROBINSON
In "To Kill a Mockingbird",Tom Robinson is a pivotal character
who represents the injustices and racial prejudices prevalent in
the society of Maycomb, Alabama. Through his character,
Harper Lee effectively conveys her message about the
importance of empathy, fairness, and standing up against
prejudice.

WEAKNESS:
• “He looked oddly off balance, but it was not from the
way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve
inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side.”
– Harper Lee uses to descriptive writing to emphasize his body disability. This shows the
readers that raping Mayella would be nearly impossible. As a result, Lee conveys his vivid
innocence. Perhaps, gaining sympathy from the viewers.
• Additionally, a sign of weakness prompts readers to reflect on how individuals with
disabilities are often marginalized and stigmatized, paralleling the broader themes of
racial and social injustice explored in the novel.

INNOCENCE:
• Throughout the novel he is compared to the ‘mockingbird’. As we know, mockingbirds
are symbols of innocence. Tom Robinson symbolizes an innocent fragile
songbird because he does no harm to society, his voice is ignored by almost everyone,
and he gets shot and killed just like an innocent fragile songbird.
• Though the novel is fiction , tom’s trial is similar to the ‘Scottsboro boys’ that was set in
1931.In the ‘Scottsboro Boys’ case, 9 African American teenagers were accused of raping
2 white women on a train in Alabama in 1931. Similarly, Tom Robinson in "To Kill a
Mockingbird" is falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell.
• The Scottsboro Boys were initially assigned incompetent and inexperienced lawyers
who failed to adequately defend them. Similarly, while Atticus Finch provides a skilled
defense for Tom Robinson, his efforts are undermined by the deeply ingrained racism of
the jury and the community

17 BULLETS:
• Seventeen bullets ultimately seal Tom’s fate as he tries to escape the prison yard after
his conviction.
• Tom’s complete loss of hope in fairness under the law drives him to try to take matters in
his own hands.
• He runs toward the fence, much like he had run from the Ewell’s house, in search of a
freedom that the white men of Maycomb ensure he will never achieve.
• The image of Tom running emphasizes the overall sense of persecution that
characterized his case from the beginning.
set:1930
written: 1950
• Atticus announces that Tom had “ Seventeen bullet holes in him.”
• In Roman numerals, 17 is XVII. One anagram for XVII is VIXI. In Latin, vixi means “I have
lived,” the implication being that now I am dead. Pythagoras considered the number 17
to be imperfect, unlike the arithmetically more appealing numbers 16 and 18. Therefore,
Lee may have used ‘17’ to imply ‘completion’ and ‘victory’ similar to the biblical
reference.