You would think that the court would be the one place where Justice never fails, but not always. Injustice takes place in the trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird. In the quiet town of Maycomb a black man is accused of raping a white women. The verdict proved guilty, despite questionable evidence. Atticus Finch is designated to defend, While throughout the trail his kids Jem and Scout grow in there understanding of Justice and what it means to them. Lee developed Justice through the trail in To Kill A Mockingbird by saying Justice isn’t always fair/right. The trail is supposed to be the place where justice is always shown in it’s best form. In this case the Justice is not right and certainly not fair. At the end of the trial Atticus states his closing arguement. “...the cynical confidence that there testimony would not be doubted….the evil assumption- that all negroes lie, that all negroes are basically immoral beings, that all negro men are not to be …show more content…
trusted…” (Lee 273). Atticus sights many generalizations about what people make. After, Atticus is explaining the trial verdict while Jem is crying angry tears. “‘ I don’t know, but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it seems only children weep.’” (Lee 285). Atticus explains that it’s going to be a long time before that changes because the same things have happened before and the same things will happen again. Here Jem is talking to Atticus about the trial and Atticus agrees with his opinion “‘ It ain’t right, Atticus’ said Jem ‘No son, It’s not right’” (Lee 284). Jem understands what Justice means and how it’s shown, his reaction shows that he knows the trail injustice was wrong. In the end, The trail is an example of injustice and Jem learns what he believes to be Justice. In the case that Justice isn’t always achieved or rightly used, Karma kicks in.
Heck Tate is explaining to Atticus that life has run it’s course and both problems are gone. “‘there’s a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for it’s dead. Let the dead bury the dead this time, Mr.Finch. Let the dead bury the dead.’” (Lee 369). In this incident Tom robinson is convicted wrongly, gets sent to jail and is killed while trying to escape. Bob Ewell threatens Tom’s wife and tries to kill Jem and Scout. He ends up dieing, a prime example of karma. Next, Atticus has come home from work and interrupted mrs. Maudie, Calpurnia, Scout and aunt Alexandra to tell them that Tom Robinson is dead. “‘Toms dead...they shot him’, said Atticus… I guess Tom was tired of the white men’s chances and prefered to take his own’” (Lee 315). Tom was tired of taking chances and knew if he would ever be free Bob Ewell would kill him himself. “tired of white men’s chances so he took his own”. Injustice doesn’t
prevail. Jem starts to understand that not everyone is nice and has the right morals. He realizes that his “perfect town” wasn’t as he always thought. He matures when he realizes, that when it comes to Justice bad sides of people reveal themselves. “‘It’s like bein’ a caterpillar in a cocoon, that’s what it is, Like somethin’ asleep wrapped up in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like’” (Lee 288). Maycomb was always a nice little town with nice people and nothing ever bad happened in Jems lifetime, Little children like Jem and Scout see the good in people until the bad comes out through the Injust happenings of the trial. Trails make people different and the worst comes out. Lee developed Justice through the trail in To Kill A Mockingbird by saying Justice isn’t always fair/right. While Bob Ewell sits in his house free from injustice Tom Robinson sits in a jail cell for something he didn’t do. Jem and Scout observe Atticus’s struggle and learn what Justice really means. Justice is a big part of our world and was a big part of history as well. Injustice isn’t that uncommon, as everything in life that isn’t just, it balances out. Bob Ewell accused a black man of rape, abused the black man’s wife once he was dead and attempted to murder two children. He ended up killing himself and having a less than okay life. Justice isn’t always right or fair, but in the end it evens out.
In the novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee some characters suffer in the hands of justice and fairness more than others. Many characters in the novel are discriminated against such as Calpurnia, Dolphus Raymond, Helen Robinson, Burris Ewell and more. However I will be focusing on the discrimination against Tom Robinson for his race, Walter Cunningham for his low socioeconomic status and Boo Radley for the rumors and supposed mental instability he holds. I chose those three because they are the most prominent and I will discuss how the discrimination against the characters therefore leads to their injustice or unfairness.
In this story Atticus defends Tom Robinson with compassion. Atticus is a very respected upper class white. He comes from an old family and works for the state legislature. He was asked to just be the lawyer not to actually defend. When Atticus states, "I'm simply defending a Negro his name's Tom Robinson. (Lee 75) I think that the quote secures the position that Atticus clearly wants to defend him. He wants everyone in the courtroom to know the truth. "That boy may go to the chair, but not till the truth's been told….."(Lee 46) When Atticus says this I begin to see that his courage is amazing. In this time racism is high and Atticus stands up for what is right no matter if his life is endangered. Even though there was evidence proving that Tom Robinson was innocent the lop-sided jury found Tom guilty. Atticus insured Tom that he would make an appeal.
In To Kill a Mockingbird there is lots of injustice and prejudice going on. Atticus Finch, Jean Lousie Finch, and Tom Robinson experience injustice in To Kill a Mockingbird. Particularly, Scout; witnesses injustices in To Kill a Mockingbird because she is so young. The first incident in which Scout (or Jean Lousie Finch) receives injustice is when Miss Caroline tells her that she is not to be taught to read any more. " Miss Caroline told [Scout] to tell [Atticus] not to teach her to read any more ..."
How would you like it if someone walked up to you and berated you based on the color of your skin? A characteristic like that isn’t even something you can control, so an insult of that nature can leave one furious and oppressed. Discrimination is inevitable in any culture, throughout history, in modern times, and even in ancient times. For example, the oppression and murder of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust, the African Slave Trade which occurred for multiple centuries, and more recently, the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar, brought on by the government of the Asian nation, all of which are tragedies doomed to happen when history repeats itself and people do not learn
The first incident of death occurs unfortunately with Tom. When he was convicted guilty and moved to a prison. When he was trying to escape, he was shot 17 times and was killed. Aunt Alexandra was very upset and told Atticus it is the last straw but he explains this injustice in the easiest way, “Depends how you look at it,” he said. “What was one negro, more or less, among two hundred of ‘em? He wasn’t Tom to them, he was an escaping prisoner” (Lee 253). The man who made his daughter accuse Tom, was found dead under a tree after he attacked the Finch children. Atticus thinks of what to do, but Mr. Tate tries to ease his mind by saying that Jem did not stay Bob Ewell. He said that he fell on a knife because he didn’t want it to get out but Atticus disagreed because he didn’t want people thinking he used his career to get Jem out of trouble. Mr. Tate shut him up by saying, “God Damn it, I’m not thinking of Jem!” (Lee, 274) Because Boo was the one that actually stabbed Bob, which you have to infer, Mr. Tate basically says that Bob got what he deserved and that it was a form of justice. He said, “There’s a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for it’s dead. Let the dead bury the dead this time, Mr. Finch. Let the dead bury the dead” (Lee 276). Both Atticus and Tate had to try and explain it to Scout in the best way they could, she understood
Throughout History, men have looked down on blacks and women. But this does not justify the view that blacks and women are below white men. When people look down on blacks and women, they preform injustice. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is full of injustice. During this time period, everyone looked down on blacks and women, which makes Maycomb one in the same with the discriminators. In particular, the people in Maycomb looked down on Tom Robinson, and many others looked down on Scout. Around the Finch household, Aunt Alexandria always tries to do away with Calpurnia, the black housekeeper and cook as Alexandria says, “We don’t need her (Calpurnia) now.” (182). Injustices in Maycomb include the case of Tom Robinson, the way Aunt Alexandra treats Calpurnia, and the way people treat Scout.
Atticus fought for Tom a fair trail to prove his is a innocent man, but Tom’s life was cut short because he was shot from
The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box”(Lee 220). This is how Atticus described the trial to his son Jem because he could not comprehend how unjust the trial was unfolding on a daily basis. The proceedings were not equitable towards Tom Robinson because everyone should have realized at the trial that he had not done anything wrong. In the end, Atticus lost the trial. Not because the jury and judge thought Tom Robinson had committed the crime, but simply because he was black and they were racist.
Racism and justice are important pieces of To Kill a Mockingbird, and it is illustrated throughout the book, through the use of the character of Atticus, that justice should be strived for regardless of the results. To understand this, you will need to know the following. The story takes place in the 1930s with Atticus as a lawyer that is the only one that will work with African American people in the Alabama town of Maycomb. The racial tension within Maycomb is great due to the racism of the time. Atticus has two children, Scout and Jem, who he tries to teach his morals. Atticus had taken up a case where Tom Robinson (an African American) has been falsely accused of raping a white girl. In the quotes, Atticus discusses the inequality in the
It is prominent that black people face extreme prejudice and racism, and due to this are convicted much faster. Atticus’ moral courage to defend Tom Robinson made the decision last so long, that Judge Taylor fell “sound asleep” (280). The jury took roughly 6 hours to inescapably convict Tom guilty. The tremendous amount of time it took to convict Tom Robinson made Atticus think “ this may be the shadow of a beginning. That jury took a few hours.
A possible reason as to why the book was called “To Kill a Mockingbird” is because a mockingbird is a harmless and innocent animal. Therefore, when it is killed, peace is disturbed. In the story, Tom Robinson, a black man, was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Due to this, innocence and peace have been disturbed.
In a desperate attempt to save his client, Tom Robinson, from death, Atticus Finch boldly declares, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). The gross amounts of lurid racial inequality in the early 20th century South is unfathomable to the everyday modern person. African-Americans received absolutely no equality anywhere, especially not in American court rooms. After reading accounts of the trials of nine young men accused of raping two white women, novelist Harper Lee took up her pen and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a blistering exposition of tragic inequalities suffered by African Americans told from the point of view of a young girl. Though there are a few trivial differences between the events of the Scottsboro trials and the trial of Tom Robinson portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the accusers’ attitudes towards attention, the two cases share a superabundance of similarities. Among these are the preservation of idealist views regarding southern womanhood and excessive brutality utilized by police.
Atticus took the case to set a good example for Jem and Scout and he did it for himself, this case was a personal case to him. The case was a good example to show Maycomb’s usual disease and how other people felt about skin color.Also, Atticus to this case because nobody else was going to take it,therefore he is selfless. Even though Atticus put his family at risk he taught Jem and Scout a valuable lesson. The lesson is not to judge someone based on their skin color. I think Atticus did a good thing when he took the case of Tom Robinson, he took a stand against racism and set good example for Jem and
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest” Ellie Wiesel. Readers may find the amount of injustice in Harper lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird a little shocking. This could be why it’s such a popular book. People like the suspense of knowing someone’s right, but still being found guilty for something they did not do. There are many times throughout the book when people are powerless to prevent injustice but they still protest it. This shows that even when people unjustly punish there should always be someone to protest it. The theme of injustice is a common one in harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, whether it be through racism, misinformation, or Arrogance.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the theme of how prejudice and superstition can lead to injustice is seen through the characters Boo Radley, who is seen by many as a creep through rumors, Tom Robinson, who is found guilty even though all the evidence supports him just because and his skin color, and Dolphus Raymond, who feels comfort in the black community and is shamed upon by the white community, believing he has mental disorders. In the beginning of the story we are introduced to Boo Radley. Boo is Scout’s neighbor who is rumored to be locked in his house by his father because of his evil ways. Scout and Jem hear scary rumors of Boo stabbing his father and throwing poisoned pecans into the school yard. Scout and Jem perceive