Failure of the Legal System in Atonement, Wonder Boys and The Round House

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The code of Hammurabi, dating back to 1772 BC, is one of the oldest recorded legal codes and reflects the early Babylonians’ views of justice. The code is best known for “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” By enumerating punishments for certain crimes the code removes ambiguity and combined with its relatively harsh penalties, especially on lower class citizens, served as an effective deterrent. More profoundly however, Hammurabi’s code formally shifted justice-seeking responsibilities from the individual to the state. Today, most modern legal systems are structured similarly to Hammurabi’s code with their own codified laws and listed punishments. Capital punishment and the idea that “the punishment should fit he crime” are derivatives from the ancient text that are widespread in the world today. Hammurabi’s code however was not without fault. Pervasive throughout the archetype of modern law are inequitable punishments determined by one’s social standing. For example, the 8th law of Hammurabi’s code states, “If any one steel cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefore; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death” (King). Both the social standing of the violator and the victim of the crime played a large role in determining what the penalty would be. Today, our view of justice has ostensibly metamorphosed, to the extent that most people today would recognize that the 8th law from Hammurabi’s code was prejudiced and wrong. Although some may wish to remove themselves from such an unjust system, the reality is that we are not far from it. The mode... ... middle of paper ... ...sity, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. . Lee, Jaeah, and Brett Bownell. "Charts: Why You're in Deep Trouble If You Can't Afford a Lawyer." Mother Jones. Mother Jones, 1 July 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. . McEwan, Ian. Atonement: A Novel. New York: N.A. Talese/Doubleday, 2002. Print. Stevenson, Bryan. "We Need to Talk about an Injustice." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. TED Talks, Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. Wright, Paul. "Prison Legal News - Legal Articles, Cases and Court Decisions." Prison Legal News. Prison Legal News, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. .

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