To Kill A Mockingbird – Who Is The Most Guilty Essay, Research Paper

Who is the most guilty? Review the involvement?s

of the characters in the novel and evaluate weather or not they were guilty,

and if so how guilty?

In the classic novel ?To Kill A Mockingbird?

by Harper Lee there is an abundance of characters that could be proclaimed

to be the guilty party, but who is truly the guiltiest one of all? The

definition of guilt is as follows; the state of having done something wrong

or committed an offense; a feeling of self-reproach from believing that

one has done something wrong. My job is to examine the characters closely

and determine who is the most guilty in the involvement?s of Tom Robinson?s

prosecution, conviction and ultimately his death.

As I stated, there is an abundance of characters

that could be guilty, from Mayella and Bob Ewell, Heck Tate, to the jurors

and Atticus Finch. All of these characters play a roll in the story, and

a roll in the events that happened to Tom Robinson.

The story is an interesting one, but guilty

parties are found throughout. The story is set against the background of

nineteen thirties Southern life. The Finches are a family that once ran

a large, successful plantation. Their ancestors had been aristocratic ladies

and gentlemen of the south. Now they are reduced to gentle poverty. Atticus

and his family live in a town named Maycomb, he is a career layer. He has

a son named Jeremy and a daughter named Jean-Louse. They also have a cook

named Calpernia, she is a Negro but they respect her greatly. Racism in

Maycomb is evident almost where ever you look, and Negro peoples don?t

have a chance to succeed.

A family that played a huge roll in the

novel are named the Ewells. They live on the out skirts of town by the

dump, near the Negro dwellings. The family consists of Bob, whom has a

daughter named Mayella and several other siblings. In the context of the

book, they are seen as no better than the Negro?s. There is a sheriff named

Heck Tate, he is the one and only police officer in the small town, and

a judge named Taylor, who in the end hands down Tom?s punishment.

To Kill A Mockingbird deals with many primal

and basic lessons in human nature. The book expresses many issues that

affect people throughout there lives. The novel deals with what you feel

inside, and I think that some of the characters, or at least, they should

be feeling guilt inside.

Atticus seems to be a great guy, and a

pretty good layer also but he too played a roll in the events that happened

to Tom Robinson. Although he did try his best, he was beat before he started…and

he knew this. Atticus fought vigorously for him, but failed. Tom was convicted

on the charges of rape and Atticus said to him that he would try an appeal,

and told him to sit tight. When Tom had been sent to a jail, he was scared

for his life and tried to make a run for it, he attempted to scale a large

fence. He would have made it if only for the fact that his arm lay dead

at his side. He was shot seventeen times in the process. Atticus felt guilty,

he was not able to convince Tom that things would work out for him. He

failed at letting Tom know that he could be free.

The jurors are the single most important

people in the court room, and having a clear mind of all prejudices needs

to be preset. In this case it was not. The jurors virtually held Tom?s

life in their hot little hands, and in their prejudicial ways crushed it

without thinking twice. The members of the jurors are undoubtedly guilty

because of the simple fact that there was no hard evidence that Tom did

it, rape Mayella. The jurors should have reviewed the evidence with utter

most care, it almost clearly pointed to Bob Ewell as the abuser simply

for the fact that a right handed person would have beaten her up. Thus

impossible for Tom because his arm lay useless at his side. The evidence

was clear, no doctor was brought to the scene to examine Mayella, clearly

indicating that something was up, clearly indicating that she was in fact

not raped by Tom. The jurors are guilty for the simple fact that they convicted

an innocent man, their racist views go to them and couldn?t see the truth.

In every town there is a sheriff, in Maycomb

his name was Heck Tate. He is the only police officer in town, and he is

also white. He was the first official on the scene when the supposed rape

occurred, and saw Mayella squirming on the floor with her father standing

over her in an esthetic rage. If the sheriff did his investigating in a

better manner he would have discovered that Mayella had been beaten up

by her father. Heck Tate did his job in a lazy manor, and with held evidence

to the extent of his words and his investigating. He took Bob and Mayella?s

word for it without separating them and getting proper statements from

them. He didn?t call in a doctor, which could have determined whether or

not she was raped. In my opinion, Heck Tate did a lousy job in investigating

the whole manner, and for that is guilty for Tom?s conviction and death.

Bob Ewell lived on the out skirts of town

and despised Negro?s. He lived with his daughter Mayella and several other

siblings. He was a mean spirited human being, and spent all the family?s

relief checks on himself buying into his addiction, alcohol. He did see

the events in question, but they did not happen they way he said they did,

not at all. He heard a commotion in the distance and ran to see what the

matter was. He saw Mayella trying to get onto of Tom Robinson, he was mortified.

This was a sin, to be with a Negro man if you were white. Bob started screaming,

and Tom was scared off. He then was so mad he proceeded to beat Mayella

on the right side of her head, later brought into evidence. He knew what

he was doing, he knew he was going to blame Tom for the beating and rape

of Mayella even though he knew that if did not happen(the rape). Bob Ewell

is guilty to the full extent, for costing a man his freedom…and his life.

Mayella Ewell is at the center of the whole

case, she is the key to Tom?s guilt of innocent. If she would have had

the guts to come forward and confess the lie that brought down an innocent

man, the case would have been dismissed. She wanted him so badly because

she had no one. She thought she loved him, but love was inferior to her

urges, she wanted him to love her. She is guilty of planning the whole

event that in the end would take a man?s life. She wanted to get with him,

but her plans didn?t work. When he pushed her away rejecting her she snapped

and opened her mind hating him. The reason she lied was for the simple

fact that he rejected her, and she could not take this. Her guilt is evident

to me, she started a really horrible lie, she was protecting her father.

It was wrong and she is absolutely guilty.

In the end an innocent man was convicted

and died in the hands of the criminal justice system because of a few individuals

I have mentioned. Guilt is evident throughout all of the character, and

maybe even some more can be guilty. At the end I will say this, an innocent

man was convicted and died because of the actions of a few individuals,

and one lie.