Tom Robinson

Tom Robinson
Info
Full Name	Thomas Robinson
Birthday	1910
Status	Deceased
Relationships
Family	Helen Robinson (wife) David Robinson (son) Two unnamed children
Friends	Atticus Finch (lawyer)
Love Interests	Mayella Ewell (one-sided)
Appearances
Debut	Chapter 9 (mentioned) Chapter 16
Portrayal	Brock Peters

Tom Robinson is a secondary character from To Kill a Mockingbird. He is symbolically one of the "mockingbirds" in the novel, and the one who is being tried for raping Mayella Ewell.

Personality

He is a kind, innocent, and harmless man who doesn't think twice about helping others.

Biography

Bob Ewell accuses him of raping his 19-year-old daughter Mayella Ewell, but one of his arms is smaller than the other due to an accident involving a cotton gin, making it very unlikely that he's guilty of the rape. However, in the film, he is not disabled, in Go Set a Watchman, it is mentioned that his arm had been amputated due to a sawmill accident. Furthermore, Tom is left-handed, and Mayella's bruise is on her right cheek. Despite Atticus Finch's selfless attempts at proving his innocence, Tom is found guilty and sentenced to jail, where he later dies as a result of being shot not once, but 17 times by a prison guard. This moment serves as an interesting climax of the story since it represents the name of the book and movie, To Kill a Mockingbird. The reason behind the killing has been speculated, but many believe it was yet another example of racial violence. Tom Robinson represents the mockingbird, Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. There are about 17 species in two genera, although three species of mockingbird from the Galapagos Islands were formerly separated into a third genus, Nesomimus. The mockingbirds do not appear to form a monophyletic lineage, as Mimus and Melanotis are not each other's closest relatives; instead, Melanotis appears to be more closely related to the catbirds, while the closest living relatives of Mimus appear to be thrashers, such as the sage thrasher.

Relationships

Family

Tom Robinson lived with his wife, Helen Robinson and his 3 children.

Gallery