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Tom Robinson by Mind Map: Tom Robinson

1. Looks Like

1.1. Black "coloured"

1.2. Missing? left arm "rubber-like left hand"

1.3. Twenty five years old

1.4. Has a wife and three children

1.5. Arrested and held for thirty days for disorderly conduct

1.6. Picks Cotton for "Mr Link Deas"

2. Motivated by...

2.1. Tom is very motivated by doing the right thing for his family and his community. This is shown through when he has been found guilty for raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, they have then taken him to prison. During prison we see Tom trying to escape because he was motivated by getting back to his wife and his three children. Another example of this is shown during the court case when he doesn't give up, even though it looks like at the start their is no case to be won for him. He does this because he knows that he can't just leave his family without putting up a fight to win the case.

2.1.1. "He was running. It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over. Right in front of them-" (chp.24, pg 256)

3. Acts Like

3.1. When Tom Robinson is first introduced, he is a good citizen that helps out the community when asked to do so. Towards the end of the court case, when Tom robinson is on trial, he admits to feeling sorry for Mayella Ewell. When Tom Robinson gets found guilty and is put in jail, he gets overcome with emotion and tries to climb the fence and run away. Tom Robinson had to hide his emotions for so long that when he finally let them out, he became over-whelmed and went a little bit psychotic. This was the cause of his death.

4. Textual Issues or Concerns

4.1. Justice

4.1.1. "There's a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for it's dead." pg 301

4.2. Racism

4.2.1. "The court appointed Atticus to defend him. Atticus aimed to defend him. That's what I didn't like about it" pg178

4.3. Equality

4.3.1. "When it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins." pg 240

4.4. Stereotypes

4.4.1. "The evil assumption - that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their calibre." pg 223

5. Beliefs and Values

5.1. Very polite

5.1.1. "It occurred to me in their own way, Tom Robinson's manners were as good as Atticus'" Chp. 19 Pg. 199

5.2. Protective of children's innocence

5.2.1. "What did he say?" ... "Tom Robinson swallowed again, and his eyes widened. 'Somethin' not fittin' to say - not fittin' for these folks's chillun to hear-'" Chp. 19 Pg. 198

5.3. A gentleman

5.3.1. "I tried to 'thout bein' ugly to her. I didn't want to be ugly, I didn't wanta push her or nothin'." Chp. 19 Pg. 199

5.4. Aware of his position in society

5.4.1. "Mr Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you'd be scared too." Chp. 19 Pg. 199

6. How do people see him?

6.1. People of Maycomb see him as a typical black man that does everything wrong. They believe that he has harmed Mayella Ewell even though their was no evidence that shows he has done anything to her. An example of this is when Tom dies. When he dies the town doesn't seem to make a big deal about it for two days. However they way they talk about his death is not with sympathy or grief, but actually saying that its so typical for a black man to go and get himself killed.

6.1.1. "To Maycomb, Tom's death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger's mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw." (chp.25, pg. 261)

6.2. the people in the Black community however see him as a loveable man who would do nothing to harm any citizen in Maycomb. An example of this is also when Tom dies as it shows how the black community and the Finch family united together to help Tom's wife Helen get through this difficult time. They didn't believe that Tom's death was insignificant or that it was just another black man that has died.