To Kill A Mockingbird Equality

691 Words2 Pages

Which is better, a just world or an equal one? Both are important to our world in different ways. Justice, or fairness, fights for a world in which everyone can survive. Equality, or sameness, wants the same things for all people. Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird teaches us that justice is recognizing fairness is not sameness. Justice is when everyone receives what they need. As a general rule, people come from different social backgrounds. Therefore, nothing is fair from the beginning of one's existence. To Kill A Mockingbird has a lot to say about justice and the lack thereof. Tom Robinson is an honest, noble man who has the misfortune of being born black in Alabama. He is nothing but kind to Mayella Ewell, but she turns on him to hide her own guilt. Despite being clearly innocent, Tom is condemned because he has "the unmitigated temerity to feel sorry for a white woman." Nothing about Tom's story is just. The same thing happens in our everyday lives. A police officer can choke a man to death and walk away scot free. Our time and the time of To Kill A Mockingbird are not as …show more content…

This is because they are similar but completely separate things. The fact that a cow has four legs but a human has two is unequal, but not unjust. Humans have no use for two extra legs, and cows need four legs to keep their balance. This inequality is not immoral in any way. Equality is not always a good thing, but justice is. Only the good side of equality is shown in To Kill A Mockingbird, however. The difference between justice and equality is not very clear. However, a quote from Henri-Frédéric Amiel, a Swiss philosopher, shows equality in a less positive light. "Liberty, equality, bad principles! The only true principle for humanity is justice, and justice towards the feeble becomes necessarily protection or kindness." According to this man, the only thing needed is justice and all other moral obligations will

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