To Kill a Mockingbird Essay
When controversy and conflicts sprout, many individuals go to courts to seek justice and to have a fair and just trial. Since this is the United States, a country known internationally for its equality and democracy, many individuals would think that the court system in the U.S. is the fairest and has the most sophisticated court system. However, for many individuals, this simply is not the case. Many face discrimination and are not given the right to a fair trial. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus states, "our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal." Atticus’s statement about how courts are our great levelers and that in courts, men are created is deemed as inaccurate and
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One thing that often occurs in court cases is bias. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the jury was all white and from a different area. However, Tom Robinson was a colored man accused of rape. On page 273, Atticus states, “The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the …show more content…
The oath is a swear in which the one speaking or participating in the trial must tell nothing but the truth. If one breaks this deep oath, they can be charged with the crime of perjury, which is a serious crime that can result in five years of imprisonment. In To Kill a Mockingbird, on page 231, Bob Ewell states, “-I seen that nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” On this page, Mr. Ewell is explaining what happened on the day of the crime. When explaining his story, which Atticus proves if full of lies, he exclaims that he saw Tom Robinson raping his daughter. It is also stated that Mayella had bruises on the right side of her face which indicates that a left-handed person must have hit her. Tom Robinson only has a working right arm, because he injured his left arm which he injured when using a cotton gin. To prove that Bob Ewell was the one who beat Mayella up, Atticus tricked him into writing his own name. Ewell wrote his name using his left hand which indicates that he is left-handed. This proves that Bob Ewell wasn’t telling the truth because Tom doesn’t have a working left arm while Bob does. Also, about one out of ten people are left-handed and back in the day, being left-handed was very unpopular and adults would try to train children to be right-handed. Examples of Bob’s lies in court are
In addition, Atticus had also proven that Bob Ewell was left-handed. But, the jury concluded that Tom was guilty.
To Kill a Mockingbird shows that while justice will always exist, it often isn’t distributed fairly. Harper Lee shows this in the book through Mr. Ewell and Mayella’s reason to accuse Tom Robinson, Atticus’s closing argument about how
Isaiah 59:8 illustrates, "The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths. " Clearly, Scripture recognizes the existence of flaws of the behavior in man. Injustice comes in many forms. Racism, prejudice, false judgment, and stereotyping are all skewed perceptions. These distortions spill over into behaviors and human interactions, often resulting in the suffering of the innocent.
Even though the jury found Tom Robinson guilty of raping Mayella Ewell, in that matter Atticus Finch, lawyer defending Tom Robinson, said that Tom Robinson was not guilty because he only has one arm and there is no way that Tom Robinson was able to hurt her while Bob Ewell is perfectly fine and
Like Atticus( Scouts father) had once said “the court is as equal as its jury”. Bias can cause many uproars in the court, but a lack of evidence can cause the case to become confusing. Generally evidence is what sets the difference between a wide open case and a closed off one. For example, in the story the defendant Tom was held in prison for one year, while being blocked off
Rajan Dosanjh Mrs. Haber ENG 1D0A January 18, 2017 To Kill A Mockingbird Theme Essay Discrimination is a societal issue which has been prevalent for a long time and still brings people down in today’s society. Discrimination can be defined by the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex (www.dictionary.com) Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird is based in a small town in Alabama called Maycomb where a man named Atticus Finch is appointed to defend a man named Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a teenage girl.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, undoubtedly there is more than one type of discrimination displayed. Before we get into that, what exactly is discrimination? Well, to discriminate means to treat someone differently based on what they believe, their age, gender, who they love, even their appearance. The forms that I will be talking about are Sexism, (Prejudice actions based on gender) Racism, (Prejudice actions based on race) classism, (Prejudice actions on those of a different social class) and discrimination on those with a disability.
In the book Atticus and the members of the court system express the reach of prejudice, justice, and fairness in the justice system. The justice system was filled with prejudice. In the book it states, “ Now don 't you be so confident, Mr. Jem I ain 't ever seen a jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…”(279). Reverend Sykes is witnessing the trial of Tom Robinson.
First, Tom Robinson should have been found not guilty because he was right handed. Mayella the victim, was punched in the face on the night of the crime. On page 235, Mr. Heck Tate stated that Mayella had a black eye on her right eye
Because it was a black male against a white female, the black male was accused of lying. Atticus also say, “A court is no better than each
Ewell's behavior is revealed to be hostile and rash. His English is informal and his behavior is rude. When Robert is proven to be lying about the story he begins to act like how his son Burris did to his teacher. It is also revealed that he was the one to give Mayella all the injuries Sheriff Taft witnessed after it was discovered that Mr. Robinson has no mobile use of his left arm. And if Mayella had a bruised right eye the person must be left handed and it is revealed that Mr. Ewell is left handed after Atticus tested him by asking him to write out his name on a piece of paper.
How do you fell about being fair? In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper lee, Dill has the most feelings about being fair because when Dill saw how the men were treating Tom at the courtroom for being black Dill started to cry because he knew it was wrong and not fair for them do treat hos differently. The book To Kill a Mockingbird teaches us that fairness is important because when people do not show equality no one will ever be happy and when people tell the truth others can trust each other more. First of all when people do not show equality no one will ever be happy.
As can be seen, Lee’s usage of Tom Robinson’s trial and the racial discrimination and prejudice seen throughout it helps reinforce the theme of social injustice throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. Another encounter that the
This behaviour is deemed as natural, and few people question the roles put in place, this is truly terrifying so we are lead to wonder if what we accept as normal is perhaps corrupt instead. Race is the dominant cause of inequality in To Kill A Mockingbird, thus Maycomb’s views on race heavily influence every aspect of life. Although racial inequality is clearly illustrated in the in the injustice, prejudice, discrimination and antagonism surrounding the Tom Robinson trial, it is also shown more subtly throughout the novel. In Chapter 25 Atticus Finch is quoted disclosing that the corrupt justice system is a direct cause of a racist society. “In our courts, when it 's a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee, 295).
The main theme of the book is that fairness and justice are two virtues that are extremely hard to find. The central question, “How can a virtuous person continue to believe in these morals and not get discouraged?” is portrayed by the central characters Atticus and Scout. The deeply ingrained prejudice, that people of color cannot hope to live up to those who are “high class and white ” is explored and exposed. Sexism and class warfare are other conflicts within the story line. People in Maycomb are discriminated against because of the color of their skin, their social class and their gender.