Fairness of Justice System in To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there was an anticipation guide statement that was very imminent throughout the story; especially during the court trial. The guide statement is “under our justice system , all citizens must be treated fairly in our courts of law”. My stance on this statement, personally, is that I totally agree. I strongly believe that every person should have their voices heard, not regarding the color of the skin, or of something that you have done before, but because you are an individual, just like everybody else. In the court case that existed in To Kill a Mockingbird, the defendant, Tom Robinson, was obviously not treated fairly by the all-white jury,
Therefore, there can be no “true” evidence that can support the fact that Tom Robinson allegedly raped Mayella Ewell. In addition, there was no medical evidence to support Bob Ewell’s claim, so therefore Bob and Mayella Ewell really did not have anything to support their side of the argument in court besides stalling with explanations that were most likely false. This is a quote that is not entirely true: “‘state will not prejudice against the counsel of the defense,’ murmured Judge Taylor primly, ‘at least not this time.’(42)” As we can tell, this statement clearly was not carried through by Judge Taylor and the jury that accompanied him; for prejudicial reasons throughout the trial, and even afterwards, were used against Tom Robinson and his attorney, Atticus Finch. Here is another quote showing how the witnesses and jury were not being impartial (or basing things off of fact) on page 251: “‘... that n----- yonder took advantage of me an’ if you fine, fancy gentlemen don’t wanta’ do nothin’ about it then your all yellow stinkin’ cowards, stinkin’ cowards, the lot of you’”. Personally, I believe that this is completely inappropriate behavior to partake in, especially during a court trial. This shows that maybe Mayella Ewell was abused by her father at home, showing this violent behavior. Who else would one of the “loneliest” people in the world have taken this influential, yet unacceptable behavior
“[T]here is one way in this country in which all men are created equal- there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller; the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court” (Lee 233). These are the words uttered by Atticus Finch, an important character in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus is a lawyer, and at this point in the novel, he is trying to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who was accused of raping a white woman. This reflects upon how society was in the 1930’s, when the color of your skin affected your chances of winning a trial. In fact, it is speculated that To Kill a Mockingbird is loosely based off of the trials of the Scottsboro Boys, a famous case from this time period. Most of the main characters associated with both trials share similar traits, experiences, and backgrounds.
"Let the dead bury the dead." This quote from the Classic American novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, sums up what we will be talking about today. My understanding of this quote is that what's done is done, one man is dead for no good reason, but the one who killed him is with him in death. No harm, no foul. But is this really right? The first thing we need to look at is the actual problem, then the question posed. So without further ado, I present my essay:
In To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee, people were judged by unfair standards that resulted in oppression. Scout and Jem are the children of a white lawyer who has to defend a black man accused of raping a white female. In the 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama, equal rights were not a factor. Which says that the problems of human inequality and the divisions within society are unfair and unjust, like Boo Radley being treated unequally by others. People were judged regarding their race, economic status, or social standing.
Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson defense lawyer just finished his closing remarks asking for a personal appeal of the jury. Saying no doctor was called so no medical record evidence was ever discovered. They gave a poor testimony and the witnesses used are untrustworthy. Saying his evidence leads towards Bob Ewell committed the crime of beating Mayella Ewell not Tom Robinson.
There has always been a strong intuition like belief, that Harper Lee used true accounts from her own childhood as an inspiration to create her credible award-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee retells the events that she encountered during this time of prejudice through the eyes of an innocent child, Scout Finch. Lee uses her childhood and the events surrounding her juvenile years to construct many aspects of To Kill a Mockingbird: primarily, the main character, Scout Finch, Tom Robinson’s unfair trial, and the racism occurring in the Southern states.
Because of this, three teenagers were wrongly convicted of capital murder. Similarly, in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Mayella Ewell and her entire family held a very racist and bigoted view of African Americans, as did many of the residents of Alabama. While there was no evidence to prove that Tom Robinson had “raped” Ewell, the jury and the judge decided to use the fact that Robinson was African American as a reason to prosecute him. In both of these stories, whether fact or fiction, innocent people were wrongly convicted of crimes they did not commit based on their
Chapter 1: This is the first chapter, the introduction chapter, the pilot. It introduces the main characters, such as Jem, the Narrator’s brother, Dill, who made Boo Radley come out, and Atticus Finch, Jem’s father. It doesn’t, however, introduce the narrator, who is named Jean Louise, but often called Scout. Atticus seems to be an educated criminal lawyer, based on his clients being found guilty of murder. John Hale Finch studied medicine. They all lived in a small place called Maycomb County. The narrator’s mother died, Scout, the narrator, has no memory of her. They found a boy named Charles Baker Harris, Dill. Boo was a troubled child whose parents spoiled him. The boys dare each other to go over to the Radley house and touch it.
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.
People are responsible for acting according to their conscience. The justice system was created in order to be our aid in making moral and ethical decisions, but when the Justice system fails, we should still be able to follow our conscience to make the right the decision. In Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” one of the characters, Atticus Finch, helps not only characters in the book, but the readers, understand that the legal system does not always serve justice, in fact, the legal system only is as moral and just as the community it serves. In the town of Maycomb, just like many towns in the American south during the 1930s, racism as a personal feeling and racism as a cultural, legal, and economic institution are practically one
How many times have you heard someone say, “That’s not fair!”? Life is a constant battle in determining what is and what is not fair. Khaled Hosseini once said, “It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime.” The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about the unfair trial of Tom Robinson. In 1930 Maycomb, a young girl named Scout learns from her father the lessons of racism, inequality, and injustice. Scout and her brother Jem are curious about the mysterious neighbor Boo Radley, who ultimately save their lives. There are many steps on how to be fair which include: listening to both sides, telling the truth and offering a compromise.
The United States judicial system runs on the simple, yet sacred, principle that, “a defendant is innocent until proven guilty.” With this comes the unwritten and undeniable force that can be labeled the court of public opinion. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, it is clearly exemplified that this court of public opinion, corrupted by the intense racism of the Depression-era South. In this the court of public opinion had overthrown all evidence and led to the conviction of a blatantly innocent man.
In “To Kill a Mockingbird” chapter one, Scout uses the first person retrospective to create suspense.
Throughout time society has been tested many a time. The tests of society are those which show the development of a society’s culture, morals and value system. The recent events of Maycomb have shown it has not developed or flourished but that with the death of my dear husband, Tom, it has failed miserably. Justice, although bittersweet, is the pie that society has been given the duty to serve. The once-solid pillars of fairness and humanity upon which our society was built are crumbling. The trials and tribulations of Tom Robinson have not only led me to lose faith in justice, fairness and humanity but removed my veil of ignorance and shown me the ignorant “whites” have the power to kill even the sweetest of mockingbirds.
“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.
Ever since human existence started there have been laws. From Adam and Eve to Moses and the Ten Commandments, there has always been a higher authority that people needed to deal with. In the movies To Kill A Mockingbird and A Time To Kill, people had to deal with a higher authority because of their actions. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Robinson had to deal with a rape charge, and in A Time To Kill, Carl Lee had a murder charge against him. Many different factors affected the outcome of both cases, and ultimately both outcomes were wrong. One was found guilty, and one was not, but both had to deal with the prejudice of being black and the stereotypes of the era.