To Kill A Mockingbird Loss Of Innocence Essay

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Hypocritical Standards and Loss of Innocence “Every veil secretly desires to be lifted, except the veil of hypocrisy.” Richard Garnett In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a man named Atticus Finch defends a black man in a racially charged trial while his daughter grows up and tries to pave her way through a crowd of confounding morals. The ruinous nature of small-town racial hypocrisy and the impairing consequences of losing or stealing innocence in a society full of impartial morals are revealed within the book. Bob Ewell attacking Atticus’s children is a pivotal moment, displaying the normal occurrence of people weaponizing their opinions as a power tactic, stealing the innocence from the younger, easily influenced generation. The …show more content…

Atticus says, “What did your father see in the window—the crime of rape—and what was the best defense to it? Why don’t you tell the truth, child? Didn’t Bob Ewell beat you up?” (Lee 251). to Mayella Ewell about her contradicting, dilute, and/or silent responses. Her testimony was full of accusations and excuses on her part, showing signs of a guilty conscience. Even the hand needed to beat Mayella was proven to be her father's, Bob Ewell's, and not Tom's, according to a handwritten test from Atticus. The supposedly devoted Christian townspeople sided with an exclusionary and racially motivated jury based on the color of Mr. Robinson’s skin, completely ignoring overwhelming evidence of his innocence. Secondly, Atticus, a man who is part of the system, says, "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 295). ), highlighting the hypocritical justice system that claims to treat everyone equally and be impartial yet displays racism and an imbalance of morals towards the black people of

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