Tom Robinson and Emmett Till Similarities
- Tom Robinson and Emmett Till were both involved with a cotton gin. For example, Tom Robinson was involved in an accident when he was a boy, he unfortunately “ caught [himself] in Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s cotton gin when he was a boy… like to bled to death... tore all the muscles loose from his bones-” (Lee 211). For example, when Emmett Till’s body was found, they first did not recognize him expect, “they were only able to tell who he is through the ring on his finger” (ET). Tom Robinson and Emmett Till were tied together in being involved with a cotton gin fan. Robinson as a kid was stuck in a cotton gin fan and Till being brutally murdered then stuck attached to it. They both must have been caused a lot of pain, but they will both strive for a better future in African American Rights.
- Tom Robinson and Emmett Till were both brutally murdered. As an example, when Atticus heard the news about Tom being killed by “seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much” (268). Secondly, Emmett Till is described by his mother as “his tongue choked out, lying on chin, right eye was out, left eye was gone, his teeth were the prettiest thing she saw and she only saw two, his ears curled, there was a hole above his ear, and he took an axe to the forehead” (ET). Tom Robinson and Emmett Till were beaten down by a force we call today, unequal rights. Emmett Till’s and Tom’s murderers must of held up a lot of hatred in Negroes to torture them like that.
- Tom Robinson and Emmett Till both dishonored white women. For example, Mayella “said come here and bust up this chiffarobe for me, I gotta nickel for you. [Tom] coulda done it easy enough, he could. So he come in the yard [and Mayella] went in the house to get him the nickel and [she] turned around an ‘fore I knew it he was on me. Just run up behind [her], he did” (Lee 205). Secondly, on the way out Emmett “whistles at the clerk who is a white woman in public” (ET). The clerk and Mayella both disapproved when the actions were shown. Emmett Till’s case and Tom Robinson’s case were both dead for dishonoring a woman’s rights. Even when, Emmett Till did not know he did something wrong and Tom Robinson did not even approve of the mischief told by Mayella, they were both punished.
- Tom Robinson’s and Emmett Till’s case were both involved with ambushes and mobs. For example, Tom Robinson was sleeping and Atticus was reading the paper when “In ones and twos, men got out of the cars...in obedience to my father, there followed what I later realized was a sickeningly comic aspect of an unfunny situation: the men talked in near-whispers. ‘[Atticus knows] what we want,’ another man said. ‘Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch’” (Lee 172). For example, Emmett Till was sleeping with his relative when “two men came into the room. One said, ‘We are just going to beat him a bit” (ET). Emmett Till and Tom Robinson were both threatened to be killed. Atticus and Emmett’s relative were the protectors of them. Walter Cunningham and Milam and Briant were the people who treatened to kill them.
- Tom Robinson and Emmett Till both black. Firstly, Francis is aggravated Scout and he decides to call out Atticus to make it even worse, and “At a safe distance Francis called, ‘[Atticus] [is] nothin’ but a black-lover’” (110). Tom Robinson is black because Francis is teasing Scout about how her dad is supporting him. This adds a lot of racism to the case because them being black influenced the verdict of the case since people were so racist during this time period in the south.
Similarities 1-4 were written by Phil Chang
Similarity #5 was written by Krys Ciardi
Similarity #5 was written by Krys Ciardi