Caldwell, Malcolm. “The Courthouse Ring: Atticus Finch and the Limits of Southern Liberalism.” Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird: New Essays. Meyer, Michael J. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2010. 57-65. Print.
Many view America as a land of opportunity, one that preaches freedom and has specific laws to ensure the equality of this pursuit of freedom. Despite the intention of promoting freedom and equality, many American laws transcend these values and mirror the true sentiments of our nation’s constituents. These laws cannot serve to uphold equality if that intention does not come to fruition in their practice and application to societal issues. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, a black man in a mostly white community, faces accusations and a subsequent trial for the rape of Mayella Ewell, a white girl of the town. As the Southern setting of the novel implies, the racial aspect of this trial consumes the town of Maycomb, Alabama leading to escalating tensions and violence among those with opposing views. The racial components of this case evident outside and inside of the courtroom such as a communal bias, stereotypical arrest, layers language and predisposition of the jury force the reader to ponder the integrity of the Maycomb justice system and the ethnic stigmas that accompany it. However, these biases and racist hindrances of true justice are not unique to the 1930’s South. Tom Robinson’s treatment by the Maycomb justice system reflects a double standard and racial inequality prevalent in the entire American Justice system.
Life Lessons
Throughout their lives, individuals learn many valuable lessons that help them to grow and mature as human beings. This is evident numerous times throughout Harper Lee’s fictional novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Individuals in this novel learn these amazing lessons through Atticus Finch’s extraordinary teachings of morals. Atticus goes on to further teach valuable lessons of courage.
To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of young Scout and her brother Jem. They live in the small, southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the time of the Great Depression. Their fairly uneventful lives are changed greatly one day when they learn their father, Atticus Finch, an attorney, will be defending Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is a black man who has been unjustly accused of raping a white women. Although it is clear to almost everyone that he is not guilty, Tom is convicted by the all white jury. At that time a Negro 's word had no chance against a white man’s, no matter how repulsive and unrespected that white man was. Despite the many changes that have been made to both society and the Justice System since the 1930s, racial bias is not a thing of the
Atticus Finch, a moral perfection, accepts the case of Tom Robinson despite strong opposition from his neighbors; thus, Jem and Scout are put in danger. Tom Robinson’s case deals with controversial material to begin with, which is only made more contentious because of Tom’s skin color. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930’s, during the Great Depression. Although slavery was abolished more than 50 years before the era in which this novel takes place, in the southern county that the Finch family lives, Jim Crow oppression is still exercised on the black citizens of the area. Bob Ewell, the town’s trashy free loader, has accused Robinson of assault and rape of his daughter, Mayella. Atticus reasons with Scout, regarding why he chose to accept Tom’s case; “‘…every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess,”’ (Lee 101). Atticus views this situation as a matter of pride. Somebody in the town must stand up to do the right thing, which is to represent Mr. Robinson, a “clean-living” man. He clarifies that he could not face his community any longer, nor c...
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior, to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, and the struggle between blacks and whites. Atticus Finch, a lawyer and single parent in a small southern town in the 1930's, is appointed by the local judge to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. Friends and neighbors object when Atticus puts up a strong and spirited defense on behalf of the accused black man. Atticus renounces violence but stands up for what he believes in. He decides to defend Tom Robinson because if he did not, he would not only lose the respect of his children and the townspeople, but himself as well.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (90). Although the title of the novel has little literal connection to the actual storyline, it holds a huge amount of symbolic weight in this tale of innocents wounded by the evil surrounding them. The ‘mockingbird’ represents various characters in the novel that are harmed one way or another, particularly by the judgmental, prejudiced ways of the Maycomb townsfolk. Throughout the course of the book, the innocence they once had is destroyed, figuratively ‘killing’ the mockingbirds.
To Kill a Mockingbird, is a story about a trial in a small Alabama
town, where a black man is accused of raping a white woman. In this
essay I will share with you the setting, some of the characters, some
incidents from the plot, the theme, and the point of view.
To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Maycomb County, Alabama, in the
early 1930's. The setting plays an enormous role in this story. Many of
the events that take place in this book may not have taken place if the
setting were different.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, portrays an influential period of the protagonist, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch’s life. Narrated from the perspective of Scout as an adult, she writes about her experiences between the ages of six and nine and how she reaches maturity through various, momentous situations and experiences. Several of Scout’s learning experiences occurred due to the small town life she lived in Maycomb, Alabama. The atmosphere of racial relations exposes genuine injustice and prejudice, of which she does not understand; however, because of the ambiance of Maycomb County, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch grows in her understanding of her world and develops her own perspective through her gain of knowledge. She greatly respects, trusts and appreciates her father, Atticus Finch, because of his solicitous, empathetic methods and advice. Atticus Finch, as well as Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch, teach Scout a myriad of memorable lessons. Throughout the novel, Atticus’ occupation as an attorney, which shapes his beliefs and actions, and his involvement with the Robinson v. Ewell case are sources of awareness and an experience of expanding maturity for Scout. In addition, Scout is shaped by Arthur “Boo” Radley, Calpurnia, and Miss Maudie Atkinson. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee traces Jean Louise “Scout” Finch and her passage from innocence to knowledge.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.” Those were the words spoken by Miss Maudie Atkinson. She tries to tell Jem about why mockingbirds should not be killed. Although there are many characters in the novel, the mockingbirds that were the most obvious in the story were Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Mrs. Dubose. Even though there are many other characters to choose from, the most obvious mockingbirds are Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Mrs. Dubose.