Injustices There have been many famous pieces of literature, but one that stands out is the 1960's classic To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. Lee, who only wrote one book in her life time, wrote of prejudice, injustice, and racism in the 1930's. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the Deep South in the 1930's. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story in which a black mad is accused of doing something he didn't do. During the whole story some of the two of the main characters, Jem Finch and Jean Lousie Finch, grow up in there mind but, are still of young age. Different things happen along the way but the story is based on what happens to Tom Robinson the black man. It seems like so muck is going on at once but it isn't that hard to figure out that it is injustice. Injustice is a huge concept in this book; it is basically the prejudices and racism going on. In To Kill a Mockingbird there is lots of injustice and prejudice going on. Atticus Finch, Jean Lousie Finch, and Tom Robinson experience injustice in To Kill a Mockingbird. Particularly, Scout; witnesses injustices in To Kill a Mockingbird because she is so young. The first incident in which Scout (or Jean Lousie Finch) receives injustice is when Miss Caroline tells her that she is not to be taught to read any more. "Miss Caroline told [Scout] to tell [Atticus] not to teach her to read any more ..." (Lee 17) with that scout proceed to tell her that Atticus hasn't taught her to read ever. At the beginning of the story Scout and her brother Jem only know that their father Atticus is an old lawyer and that all he does is work and read. As the story progress they realize that their father is really a good man and he does a lot of good thing for people. Scout thinks that Atticus is too old to do any thing and that Miss Caroline is just too new the area. This is an example of injustice because Scout is being told to do something that she does not want to do. Scout wants to be able to read and write with out being told that she can not. As Jem explains that Miss Caroline has a new way of teaching and it is by not using books.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, injustice is seen in many aspects of the book. Scout is a victim of its wrath throughout some of the novel. When Jem, Atticus and Scout all go to Finch’s Landing for Christmas, Scout hits Francis after he calls Atticus a Negro-lover. Uncle Jack punishes Scout after hearing only Francis’s side. “I took a deep breath. ‘Well, in the first place you never stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it - you just lit right into me.’” (Lee 113). Uncle Jack’s ignorance to the conflict he created makes Scout mad because he did not ask her side of the story. Just because at first look, Scout seemed like the antagonist, Uncle Jack jumped the gun and punished her without full knowledge, causing an unfair situation. Another time that, again, Scout was introduced to injustice is when she is first starting school. Miss Caroline, her teacher, discovers that Scout can read and informs her to have her dad stop teaching her. The ...
To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic novel written by Harper Lee. The novel is set in the depths of the Great Depression. A lawyer named Atticus Finch is called to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. The story is told from one of Atticus’s children, the mature Scout’s point of view. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the Finch Family faces many struggles and difficulties.
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.
Throughout the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout Finch learns a variety of concepts about the way the world really is. However the main concept that Scout discovers is the evil that surrounds her and her hometown of Maycomb. Scout discovers the evil in the world through her experiences in Maycomb and these are the events that help her grow and mature into who she is. Mainly, the trial of Tom Robinson opened Scout’s eyes to the evil and wrongdoings in the county, as well as in the courtroom. The trial gives way to the prejudice remarks about the Finch family’s involvement in the case. The trial of Tom Robinson, the county’s comments on Atticus’s involvement in the trial, and getting attacked at the end of the story
Scout is exposed to an unfair situation when the kids at her school start talking about and making fun of Atticus about defending a black person in the Tom Robinson case. “He announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended Negros. I denied it.” Scout said on chapter nine, page ninety nine. This shows how Scout was in an unfair situation and was confused as to why Atticus was being accused of defending negros.
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the story is told by a young girl called Jean-Louise Finch but also known as Scout aged five at the start of the book almost turning six who in the book is quite unique as she could read at the age of six and understand her fathers profession as a lawyer. The story is about Scout growing up in the southern state of Alabama in a small town called Maycomb with her brother Jem and her father called Atticus who is the lawyer. The main theme of the book is about Atticus defending a black man called Tom Robinson and he is accused of raping a white girl called Mayella Ewell and how it affects her, in the book she learns about racism and prejudice and the struggle of black men in life and she also learns about the ways of life and family traditions. The book is set in the late 1930’s so racial discrimination is at its peak in the southern states of America.
The novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is a simplistic view of life in the Deep South of America in the 1930s. An innocent but humorous stance in the story is through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch. Scout is a young adolescent who is growing up with the controversy that surrounds her fathers lawsuit. Her father, Atticus Finch is a lawyer who is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, with the charge of raping a white girl. The lives of the characters are changed by racism and this is the force that develops during the course of the narrative.
Literature is a very powerful thing and has been used to enhance the world. But is it powerful enough to be a vehicle for promoting change in society? The answer to that question is yes. One example is the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. This book is about a white family living in a small Alabama town in the 1930’s. Throughout this book the family witness’s mistreatment of blacks and injustice. This book was an effective vehicle for promoting change.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee adopts the persona of an adult white woman named Jean-Louise “Scout” Finch, and is writing the story from the viewpoint of her younger self, recalling when she was just starting to explore and recognize the society around her, which was Maycomb County. Scout, a fiery, un-ladylike little girl, is judged for her preference of overalls and playing outside, but is loved deeply by those who know her and her family. She has the opportunity to understand current societal issues through her brother Jem and her father Atticus Finch, who is constantly teaching his children that all men are created equal and therefore all men should be treated equally. Finch, during the novel, is judged severely by his neighbors and friends for defending a (clearly innocent, in the eyes of the Finches and others of the town who understand the truth) black man against a rape charge of a white nineteen-year-old woman, and this affects Jem and Scout by allowing them to see what type of society they live in.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee seems like a complete replica of the lives of people living in a small Southern U.S. town. The themes expressed in this novel are as relevant today as when this novel was written, and also the most significant literary devices used by Lee. The novel brings forward many important themes, such as the importance of education, recognition of inner courage, and the misfortunes of prejudice. This novel was written in the 1930s. This was the period of the “Great Depression” when it was very common to see people without jobs, homes and food. In those days, the rivalry between the whites and the blacks deepened even more due to the competition for the few available jobs. A very famous court case at that time was the Scottsboro trials. These trials were based on the accusation against nine black men for raping two white women. These trials began on March 25, 1931. The Scottsboro trials were very similar to Tom Robinson’s trial. The similarities include the time factor and also the fact that in both cases, white women accused black men.
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.
“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.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee describes the theme of prejudice throughout the novel by a series of events. The story follows the young protagonist and narrator Jean Louise "Scout" Finch and her elder brother Jeremy Atticus "Jem" Finch. Prejudice is evident in the book at many different times. From Jem and Scouts first encounter with Boo Radley to the court trial of Tom Robinson. During both of these cases the characters represented are prejudiced to a point, whether it be socially or racially. The two described here come face to face with prejudice when they try to break free from the rules of Maycomb counties society, resulting in negative consequences. Stereotypes and misjudgment also play a key role in the prejudice that the characters have to face. It shows how people are bent and shaped to fit and adhere to societies standards and expectations.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's only novel, is a fictional story of racial oppression, set in Maycomb, A.L. in 1925 to 1935, loosely based on the events of the Scottsboro trials. Unlike the story however, the racial discrimination and oppression in the novel very accurately portrays what it was like in the 1920's and 1930's in the south. Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a poor low class white girl of 19, never stood a chance of getting a fair trial. This can be supported by giving examples of racially discriminatory and oppressive events that actually took place in the south during the time period in which the novel is based. In addition to actual historical events, events and examples from the book that clearly illustrate the overpoweringly high levels of prejudice that were intertwined in the everyday thinking of the majority of the characters in the book supports the fact that Tom Robinson never stood a chance of getting a fair trial.
These are the words uttered by Martin Luther King Jr. as he fought for racial equality in his cell at the Birmingham County Jail. This famous quote is a perfect example of the common belief that justice is always fairness. Even though the two terms are synonymous, fairness is subjective, especially in law. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Boo Radley’s life is exemplified by the statement that “extreme justice is often extreme injustice”.