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
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960, is a novel which explores the theme of challenging racial prejudice. Within this novel, Lee has portrayed unintentional racial prejudice through the characters Atticus Finch, Link Deas and Scout Finch. With these characters, and their roles in exploring the theme of racial prejudice, Harper Lee has set unintentional boundaries for readers, as result, racial prejudicial thinking from contemporary perspective, in comparison to historical views, is challenged to a small extent.
Atticus was a man of strong morals and conscience and in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, had to overcome the backlash and hate from defending Tom Robinson. With what seemed to be the majority of Maycomb County against him and his own safety at stake, Atticus knew that he couldn’t win the trial. Yet accompanied by his rationality, good ethics and determination he overcomes the trial. It is not the desired ending, but for his efforts in the trial, Atticus gains the respect of the black community and the respect of others in Maycomb by following through and overcoming the challenges that followed the
Harper Lee sheds light upon the controversy of racism and justice in his classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The notion of equality in accordance to the law and the pursuit of justice are hindered by racial discrimination. The essential essence of human nature is pondered. Are we inclined to be good or in the wrath of evil? The novel reflects on the contrasting nature of appearance versus reality.
Loss of Innocence in Killing a Mockingbird Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather, the streets turned red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. " (Lee 9). This environment, as Scout Finch accurately describes, is not conducive to young children, loud noises, and games. But, the Finch children and Dill must occupy themselves in order to avoid boredom.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a timeless American classic that has been appreciated and loved by readers for decades. Harper Lee explores the story of a lawyer and his family in the deep parts of the South who is given the task of defending a black man accused with the rape of an adolescent white girl. Atticus Finch, the father of the protagonist and narrator Scout Finch, represents an elite group of minds that see beyond the invisible lines of race and wish to treat everyone with respect and equality. Atticus faces a series of external and internal struggles that brings meaning to the novel and reveals the overarching themes of the novel. Through several conflicts varying from a child’s misunderstanding to society’s blatant racism, Harper Lee’s Atticus Finch is passionate about upholding his morals and values and instilling in his children the knowledge and wisdom that he utilizes to guide himself throughout life.
In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells the story of coming-of-age and the loss of innocence through the character Jem. Through recurring events, Jem is faced with the realization of society’s injustice, and is left questioning the world he lives in. During a time of rampant racial discrimination and prejudice in the south, Jem transforms from naivety to maturity.
Growing up in a prejudiced environment can cause individuals to develop biased views in regard to both gender and class. This is true in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, where such prejudices are prevalent in the way of life of 1930s Maycomb, Alabama. The novel is centered around the trial of a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. The narrator, a young girl named Scout, is able to get a close up view of the trial because her father is defending Tom Robinson, the defendant. The aura of the town divided by the trial reveals certain people’s prejudices to Scout, giving her a better perspective of her world.
Not only is To Kill a Mockingbird a fun novel to read, it is purposeful. Harper Lee wrote the novel to demonstrate the way in which the world and its people should live together in harmony through a basic moral attitude of treating others with respect and kindness. The novel received the Pulitzer Prize in 1960, which places it among the best adult novels ever written; although it achieved this high recognition, today’s primary readers are adolescents. However, at the turning of the twenty-first century, one might wrongfully assume Harper Lee intended To Kill a Mockingbird a novel for adolescents and ignore its lessons for adults. According to “’Fine Fancy Gentlemen’ and ‘Yappy Folks’: Contending Voices in To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Theodore Hovet and Grace-Ann Hovet, Lee’s work is important because she does not supply the normal assumptions most in America harbor regarding the origins of racism. To the contrary, they argue that “Rather than ascribing racial prejudice primarily to ‘poor white trash’ (qtd. in Newitz and Wray), Lee demonstrates how issues of gender and class intensify prejudice, silence the voices that might challenge the existing order, and greatly complicate many Americans’ conception of the causes of racism and segregation” (67). Reading To Kill a Mockingbird provides its audience with a basic moral code by which to live and encounter individuals who appear different or make choices unlike those made by the mainstream populace. Therefore, this novel becomes part of our moral culture; regardless of age, people learn from the moral codes taught by defense attorney Atticus Finch, his children, and his community.
Defending a black man caused havoc around town as no one supported Atticus. After the trial was over, Bob Ewell the father of Mayella Ewell who Tom Robinson was accused of raping confronted Atticus outside the courtroom where he spat and cursed on him and also threatened to kill him. “Too proud to fight, you nigger-lovin’ bastard? “(pg 217) said Bob, Atticus wanted no part of this and he took everything in. When Scout hears about what Bob did she is frightened, she knows Bob is an ignorant and poor man who is known as a drunk. “We’re scared for you, and we think you oughta do something about him,” (pg 218) said Jem, Scout and Jem let Atticus know that they are scared for him and he should do something about Bob before he does something. No harm occurs to the Finch family until...
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird depicts the story of an egalitarian man living in a racially prejudiced society. In the town of Maycomb, Alabama, most people are racist towards African Americans, leaving only a few people believing that racism is unethical. Atticus Finch, a respected man, fights for the equality of a colored man in a trial. In addition, he also looks upon his children as if they were his peers. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee portrays Atticus Finch as egalitarian to establish that when one is faced with unjust circumstances, then one should overcome hindrances and do what is honorable in order to reveal oneself as respectable in society.
The first “mockingbird” that is featured in the novel is a man named Atticus Finch. Not only is Atticus Finch the sole representative of Maycomb in the legislature, but also he is a brilliant lawyer. In addition, he has a good reputation in both Maycomb’s black and white communities because of his exceptional character. However, his reputation is soon shattered when he is faced with a case in court that affects him personally: he must defend an African American man in court in Maycomb’s segregated society. If Atticus chooses to try defending the man, he will lose his good status in town, since his racist American neighbors will soon disrespect him for treating the African Americans as equal to the Americans, which is highly unacceptable in the United States during the 1930s. However, Atticus still accepted the case believing that if he does not, he w...
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.
In the struggle of good against evil, the quality of innocence is often lost to stronger forces. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee demonstrates that innocence is a much weaker quality than in other towns. People in Maycomb will gather for a prosecution of a black man like it is a circus fair. Yet children, such as Jem, can still live in have fantasies that everything is fair. Yet the children’s innocence disappears when something such as racism in court makes itself apparent. The entire Jury voted Tom Robinson guilty when the Jury knew Tom was innocent. The only person who has not lost that innocence is Boo Radley. Boo is a man who has lived his adult years in his house, Having rumors spread about him due to Boo getting in trouble with a gang when he was younger. He hadn’t come out of his house since.
In 1960, a novel was written to outline injustices and racism against those who were innocent, though unfairly judged because of social expectations and prejudiced beliefs. This novel not only presented these issues, but is also considered a revolutionary piece of literature, still being read by many people today, more than 50 years later. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, has caused some controversy about the intents of the book and the way certain people or groups are presented. Whether To Kill a Mockingbird as a narrative outshines the issue it presents is a debatable argument. However, I believe that the narrative of the novel supports the concerns exhibited for numerous reasons. In what follows, some of these are presented: the historical
Page 1 of 6 ZOOM Ja’Quala PatrickMr. ArmstrongENG 112328 September 2017Choices: Right or WrongDesperately having to pee, Alicia made a stop at Love’s in Lake, MS on her way home. As she sat down to urinate, she noticed the person in the stall next to her was standing up. Alicia did not pay too much attention to her until she noticed the person started peeing and was still standing up.