The courthouse scenes in TKAM are very different from the courthouse scenes in Monster by Walter Dean Myers. The difference in era is an obvious difference, as the jurors and citizens have much more liberal views in Monster than in To Kill A Mockingbird. Steve Harmon and Tom Robinson are both black, although Tom has a physical advantage is his case, as "his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side." (Lee 248) Scout is talking about Tom's being crippled, and this shows the jury that he has a very slim chance of being able to rape Mayella Ewell. This majorly contrasts with Steve Harmon's case in Monster, as Steve has nothing that seriously shows the guilty that he is innocent, with the exception of Mr. Sawicki showing that Steve is a good student and good person. While Tom Robinson does have the crippled arm going for him, the jurors are likely to succumb to pressure, as Maycomb County is an extremely racist area in southern Alabama. The similarities and difference in the two court cases are evident, but the cases are more different than similar. Some of the prevalent differences are the differences in crimes, as one was a case for felony murder and one was a case for rape. In Steve Harmon's, the case was 50/50, but in Tom Robinson's even with all the evidence against Mayella, the case will still go her way, just because of the extreme racism in Maycomb.
The trial in "Monster" is definitely more liberal and fair due to the fact that it occurred much after the trial in "To Kill A Mockingbird". I think that the only reason Atticus lost the trial was because of the juror's inability to abandon their conservative views and truly listen to the lesson Atticus was teaching. Their racist outlook prevented them from actually seeing the trueness in Tom Robinson's testimony, and seeing the dishonesty in Mayella's. Jem, being a child and having less conservative opinions than the older people of Maycomb, believes that Atticus will win the case because he sees the truth in what Tom Robinson is saying. "and we're gonna win, Scout. I don't see how we can't" (Lee 271). I think that if you switch the dates of the two trials in these two books, having the trial involving Tom Robinson in the time of the "Monster" trial, that the outcome would have been very different. I believe that the judge and jury would be more like Jem and be less traditional and more liberal. They would declare Tom Robinson innocent because they would face the facts without any bias or judgement. The case would've been more fair, and more equal.
ReplyDeleteI'm not completely sure i agree with this. Even though Monster is set in a later time period, Mrs. O'Brien says, " You're young, you're black, and you're on trial. What else do the jurors need to know?" (Myers 54). Even if it is later in time, people would still be racist, perhaps by not as much. I wouldn't say this case is exactly 50/50, but it is not as bad as the Tom Robinson case.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main difference between the two cases is the lawyers. Atticus is a man a bit like Lorelle Henry in the way that he almost always sides with a black person, whether it is Calpurnia or Tom Robinson. Both men were "guilty by association" as Steve was from "the hood" a bad community, and Tom Robinson was from the poor black community. They both share the fact that they are young, black and have a bad stereotype from others. Steve is pushed as guilty because he is from Harlem and has some bad friend, where as Tom Robinson is guilty only because he is black. Through out this Jem and Scout believe that they will win, but in the end there is no chance against the white prejudice community. "we're gonna win, Scout." (Lee 271).
ReplyDeleteI think that the differences between the case in Monster and the case in TKAM is the way of which the case is presented. The prosecution in TKAM is an unstable argument and the witnesses that claim that Tom is guilty are figures that spark some controversey in whether they're telling the truth. The prosecution in Monster was argued in a very professional way. In Monster Ms. Petrocelli seemed to know exactly what she was doing and had a very strong argument. The two cases are just presented in a totaly different manner. Monster was a more serious, proffesional case while case has a lot of grey spots that still need to be uncovered. Another thing that is different is that the racial prejudice is on a much larger scale in TKAM. The story is set in an earlier time period in the heart of the south where rascism is at its height. "This case is as simple as black and white" (Lee 270) This case is essentially a case about racial discrimination. Tom Robinson is a mockingbird but the rest of the community sees him as a mad dog just because he's black.
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