Examples Of Justice In To Kill A Mockingbird

‘Justice’ is a term that changes throughout history by drastic degrees, and something that is different depending on where and how you were raised. In Canada, we are raised by terms of Justice that center around equality, while in many middle eastern countries’ justice centers solely around religion. Justice is the philosophy of moral rightness, and because of this, everyone has different perspectives and ideas of what ‘true’ justice is. How to Kill a Mockingbird, is a critically acclaimed book written by Harper Lee which centers around a court case, set in the great depression, about a black man getting falsely accused of sexually assaulting a white female. Throughout the book, we see different characters thoughts of what is ‘right’ and what

is said to be ‘wrong’ in the terms of the court case. How to Kill a Mockingbird uses these different perspectives of justice to represent what justice should be, which is equality, and in turn, shows what effects different views of justice have on individuals. Throughout the novel, we see what different individuals and groups view as justice, and we see the contrasts of how much justice is different for everyone.

The idea of a ‘mockingbird’ is a common and repeated metaphor throughout the novel. It was never explicitly stated what the mockingbird represents, but it was hinted at representing two things: Tom Robinson and what ‘justice’ was for him. Tom Robinson was a coloured man who was accused of raping a Caucasian woman, Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson's relationship with Mayella Ewell was short and benefited only Mayella. We are told that he helped carry things inside her house and did her daily chores, without asking (and even refusing) pay. Throughout the book, we see the court case through a 9 year olds perspective, Scout Finch. Because of this, many things are explained to her in metaphorical phrases and ideas such as the situation of Tom Robinson. Tom is described as selfless, and someone who helps Mayella Ewell even if he earns nothing in return. Just like Tom, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy,” this necessitates the idea that in the novel, the character Tom Robinson was accused of doing a felony act, but he did nothing but help- or ‘sing,’ for the person that was the reason he was convicted in the first place: Mayella Ewell. He helped Mayella do daily chores and tasks, only to for her to falsely accuse him of sexually violating her.
The mockingbird also entails what the book deems as ‘right,’ or what should happen to the Tom Robinson case. It implies that you can shoot down individuals who are wrong-doing, and punish them for it, but to never hurt the innocent. Figuratively, a mockingbird would represent someone who is innocent, someone who does something for people and asks nothing in return- which is what Tom Robinson's character portrays. “It's a sin to kill a Mockingbird,” because those kind of people are ‘innocent’ and hurting them would be a sin. At the end of the book, we see that what the mockingbird quote exactly implies happens, when Tom Robinson was shot down. Just like how Tom was shot dead for doing nothing wrong, is the reason “why it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird.” His death was described as a “senseless slaughter of songbirds,” or in other words, meaningless unjustified acquisition and punishment; and hence, not what the mockingbird symbol represents as justice which is to not harm the innocent.

Justice throughout the book is also described by Atticus Finch, Scout's father who is representing Tom at court. Through Scout, we see both what the town views as ‘justice’ and what her father views its terms as. Atticus views justice similar to what we, as a society, view justice in the current day and age. This justice centers around equality and that in “court all men are created equal.” Compared to what the rest of the town thinks, where it’s a heavy divide between ‘coloured folks’ and ‘white-folks.’ He does not have the older, more ‘racist’ views that the majority of town seems to have. He believes that everyone should be treated fairly in court, and that “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view,” and should not assume anything, like how the town assumes Tom Robinson is rightly accused of rape just because of his skin colour. This reflects on him defending Tom Robinson, and how even if he was appointed to defend Tom, he did not simply just give up and not do his job as a lawyer for Tom simply because he was black. Even through the towns mocking of him and his children, he stands his ground. This had consequences, and throughout the story we see how the town, and even some of his family, do not agree with Atticus’ decision to defend Tom Robinson in court, or more specifically how he is “aiming to defend him (Tom Robinson),” as they believe someone like Tom Robinson, a man of colour, is obviously already guilty and should not be defended.

To go into more detail, most of Maycomb’s people do not agree with Tom Robinson being wrongly accused and are on the Ewells side.

It is important to keep in mind the difference between justice and revenge- or in this case: favoritism, and how that affects how the end results of justice is achieved. “In the secret courts of men’s hearts, Atticus had no case,’ no matter what Atticus did to help Tom Robinson, no matter how logical he was, the men of court and the city viewed Tom Robinson as a “poor devil on trial for his life.” Most of Maycomb, as a whole, including the judges, viewed Tom as less as human, a ‘devil,’ and “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” What Maycomb viewed as justice was not what we, as a society, currently view as right; all of their reasoning and defending statements were for one simple reason, and that reason was the colour of his skin. “In an Alabama court of law, a white man’s word always beats a black man’s,’ and that is why, no matter what Atticus did- how much truth he put in to the case trial until all evidence was against the acquisition, Maycomb’s jury would see that Tom is punished. Justice, to Maycomb, was to “try him (Tom Robinson) in public,” for that it “wouldn’t be right if they didn’t.” They viewed Justice as ‘white-folk’ being always right and superior, and since Tom Robinson was a black man being accused by a white family he was viewed as automatically

guilty.

In the end, we could say what Maycomb wanted to happen to the court case- which was Tom’s public hanging- and what Atticus wanted to happen, Tom’s freedom, both did not happen. Conclusively, Tom was shot down for trying to escape. We learn that the day Tom went to jail, “he (had) lost hope,” and that during his escape he was warned he would get shot before being shot down. This can be perceived that Tom thought he had no chance of winning the court case, and his death was imminent no matter what he did- hence the ‘racist justice’ Maycomb viewed as right was superior in his case, so much so that Tom decides to kill himself, rather than waiting for the state to kill him. To contrast with

what Atticus and the Mockingbird symbolized as justice, which is equality and the protection of innocents, we can see what happened to Tom was neither of those things. He was innocent, yet killed and put into jail- just for the sole reason that in the Maycomb court, a white-folks word is superior over black-folks, no matter the situation. In the Maycomb perspective of justice, we could say it was closer to being successfully achieved than what Atticus viewed as right. Tom Robinson was killed, and that is what the majority of the town wanted to happen, no matter that he was completely innocent and falsely accused.

Justice changes throughout history and the world at a rapid pace, every step is said to be more right than what we did before. To Kill a Mockingbird has said to have changed what many viewed as justice and shifted many to have a more ‘equal’ aspect on their perspective of justice in her writings. By writing Tom Robinson's trial and showing the many different perspectives, and showing that with the more ‘racist’ justice, innocent people are falsely murdered and punished (like hunting a Mockingbird), to Kill a Mockingbird shows what justice truly should be. Justice, as the novel says, is to protect the innocent no matter what they look like or where they come from.