Comparison between the trial in To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee and the trial in Native Son by Richard Wright

To Kill A Mocking Bird is set in a small town in South America called Maycomb. Most of the town's people of this happy town are not at all what they seem for there is a great hate for all coloured humans. At first glance many readers would wonder how the title evolved, but once you explore the text you begin to understand what the bases of Harper Lee's message. Harper Lee has portrayed two characters as Mocking Birds. The first of these is Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is a Negro living in Maycomb who becomes notorious when he is wrongly accused of the rape of a white woman. Atticus knows that the battle will not be an easy case to win, but decides to represent Tom Robinson, as he says that he couldn't hold his head up in town or tell the children what to do.

Tom Robinson was a harmless member of society who never hurt another human being and because he tried to help Maybella, who he thought was in need, was blamed for the rape of the young woman. At the end of the novel there is another symbol of the mocking bird, when Tom dies it shows the pointless killing of a mocking bird. Atticus is determined to prove the innocence of Tom Robinson. He slowly begins to build a very strong case that eventually comes to trial. Atticus proves that Tom could not have raped and beaten Maybella Ewell. Atticus provides sufficient evidence to demonstrate that two hands were needed to attack the lady. Curiously, Tom's left arm was injured during a factory accident years earlier, and he was unable to move it.

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