Theme Of Justice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Today’s society is damaged with the results of people doing terrible things to each other. Peoples actions can make or break lives.The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, is about a little girl, her Brother, their Dad, and the negro they all fight to defend. The main character scout and her older brother Jem, get into all sorts of dilemmas in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. As they learn new valuable lessons about life, they also pick up that the small town they grow up in is not as clean and safe as it seems. The father, Atticus Finch is a kind hearted soul who was given the case of Tom Robinson, a negro accused of Raping a white woman. As soon as Atticus was given the case he aimed to defend Tom but a faulty jury made sure it did not happen.To

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, injustice is a main theme that is reflected towards many characters. To Kill a Mockingbird, is a novel written by Harper Lee and published in the nineteen-sixties. Many characters in the story are treated unfairly in society due to racial or prejudicial attitudes. Overall these characters are innocent victims of injustice. Atticus, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson are considered to be mockingbirds in the novel. A mockingbird was defined as a bird that did nothing wrong, but sang beautiful music for us to hear. These characters did nothing wrong and were treated unfairly in their town. In this different society, there are many factors that have had an influence on people’s perceptions towards others.

What is justice? Is it a fitting punishment for a crime? Or a court or officer of the law? Is it the law itself? It has many definitions and interpretations, depending on various people. Some interpret it very simply, saying that it is fairness in every situation. Others give the word more complication, saying that it is doing what is morally right and fair. Oxford Dictionary defines it as many things, including, “Just behaviour or treatment...The quality of being fair and reasonable.” Black’s Law Dictionary defines justice as, “The constant and perpetual disposition to render every man his due.” All are various meanings and interpretations of one, single, word, that has been explored in many books and novels, including one by Harper Lee. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the characters of Atticus and Mr. Raymond to show the meaning of true justice and how it transcends prejudicial divisions.

Justice. “the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness. [dictionary.com]” Justice is implyed when something in the right thing to do, whether or not the decision is in favoe of the reciever. Fairness. “the state, condition, or quality of being fair, or free from bias or injustice; evenhandedness. [dictionary.com]” Fairness is implyed when In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the concepts of justice and fairness are two conflicting topics. They don’t seem like they are two concepts that would have conflicts, though in this story, they are clearly displayed as conflicting topics. One thing is the fair thing to do, but it is not just. Many characters are prime examples of this idea, like Tom Robinson’s

James J. Corbett once wisely stated, “Individuals can resist injustice, but only a community can do justice”. This quote paints a clear picture of how sometimes individuals, such as Atticus, can stand up for what’s right, yet the entire community must invest in justice in order to advance in this area. Striving for truth and justice in their own lives, all citizens must make an investment in seeing that justice also oversees everything happening in the community. Sadly, in To Kill a Mockingbird, the people of Maycomb allow the town to fall into traps of racial and personal injustice, treating others without common respect and courtesy. This in turn results in a community characterized by unfair thinking and

In the town of Maycomb, a man who stands up against racism forever changes people’s views on racism. Scout, Jem and Atticus Finch all stand together against racism and prejudice in the tiny town of Maycomb. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in the town of Maycomb, prejudice is a disease, but Jem, Scout, and Dill are immune to this illness because of the people who raise them. For example, when Cecil and Francis told Scout that Atticus is a disgrace to defend Tom Robinson, even though Francis is Scout’s cousin. When Scout and Jem hear the verdict of Tom’s case they both cry and are angry about the sentence while the rest of the town is ecstatic. And finally when Scout doesn’t want Walter Cunningham to come over for dinner because

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird shows us how one small, peaceful, southern town during the Great Depression can be engulfed in hatred, racism, and prejudice unseen by the outside world. In this seemingly quiet town in the middle of Alabama, people are forced to live by racist ideals that their families have carried on for generations. Although the citizens of Maycomb believe they are right and just, their prejudices overtake their human conscious when the time comes for them ‘to do the right thing.’ They truly believe that they are a kind community of Christians who live by the words of the Bible. While Maycomb includes all folks who think the same way as they do, they ban those who think differently or are from an ‘inferior’ race. Therefore, Boo Radley, Dolphus Raymond, and Mayella Ewell stand outside the structure of respectable Maycomb society, in some cases as the result of their own doing and in some, as the result of being forced out by others.

Social injustice has flooded the world and will continue to flood the world until someone stops all this evil. In Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, there is poverty and racism ruling over the South. Scout Finch has yet to realize all the evil surrounding her and her family. The evil that takes over Maycomb is the racism that lives in the hearts of its citizens. In To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, readers see a view of social injustices caused by racism through the Maycomb citizens who see the world through a veil of hypocrisy, which is shown by their actions in the way they talk down to Tom, and the truths of Maycomb’s society.

First of all, Atticus Finch chooses justice and fairness by defending Tom Robinson--- a black man of a crime that he never committed. However, racism and injustice in the town of Maycomb is shown clearly when Tom Robinson, who is wrongly convicted of the beating and rape of Mayella Ewell--- a white woman, is judged as guilty even after the consistently obvious evidence that Atticus Finch gave to prove that he is indeed innocent.

Through the study this term of the central text, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and related texts, films Rabbit Proof Fence by Phillip Noyce and In the Name of the Father by Jim Sheridan, my understanding of the concept of justice, or what constitutes justice, has altered considerably. We all think we know what justice is, or what it should be. In Australian colloquial terms, it is the principle of a “fair go” for everyone. In a perfect world, everyone is treated fairly. No-one is subjected to discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, sex or disability. But the reality is that the world we inhabit is far from perfect, human beings are by their very natures

The town of Maycomb was the standard for treatment of Negros in the 1930s. An example of discrimination Negros faced in To Kill a Mockingbird, was when Mr. Radley made the assumption a black person was sneaking around in this yard. Miss Stephanie said that, “Shot in the air. Scared him pale, though. Says if anybody sees a white nigger around, that’s the one” (Lee, P.54). This shows how Mr. Radley assumed only a Negro would sneak into his yard. Maycomb also shows prejudice towards Atticus when he defends Tom Robbinson. Even Atticus’s family displays prejudice towards Atticus, “I guess it ain’t your fault if uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the family” (Lee, P.83). This is Francis regurgitating what his family has told him. Prejudice goes beyond Maycomb’s habits and extends right into the court of law with tom’s trial. Tom was wrongly accused as a result of a prejudice jury. Even a knowledgeable man, Atticus, knows that Tom would not be proven innocent

Life is like a thrill ride; one never knows what will be in store for them. Many characters in the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee feel the same way about life, having experienced many surprising and unexpected turns of events. This story is about a sleepy southern town filled with prejudice, and a lawyer’s quest, along with his children Scout and Jem, to take steps in ridding the town of its prejudiced attitude. Despite being a white man, a lawyer named Atticus, defends an innocent black man accused of raping a white woman. However, everything does not go as was hoped, and the mindset of the society overpowered Atticus’s fair-minded argument. From this emerges a theme regarding the bigotry and bias overwhelming Maycomb: A

“Racism and injustice and violence sweep our world, bringing a tragic harvest of heartache and death,” Billy Graham once said. In Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Atticus is a father and a lawyer who lives with his children, Jem and Scout, and their cook, Calpurnia, in a town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a town populated with black and white people, but the town is dealing with racism. The white people feel as though they are better than the black people. An example was when Tom Robinson lost the trial to Bob Ewell because he was black but innocent. People were also being judged on appearance, or not being treated properly, like how people see the kind of person Boo Radley is in the beginning of the story. Harper Lee’s novel “To

“‘Your father's right,’ she said. “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.”’ (Lee 90). In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, siblings Jem and Scout Finch grow up in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama. There they witness racial inequality and injustice. By analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader can learn that racism, the moral nature of human beings, and social status relate to the theme of justice and fairness.

Harper Lee's ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ explores the prejudicial issues which plague over the town Maycomb. Harper Lee uses the trial of Tom Robinson a black man accused of rape on a young white girl, Mayella as a central theme to portray the prominence of racial discrimination in Maycomb. The racial prejudice is also widely shown through the characterisation of Atticus. Having Scout as the narrator allows Harper Lee to highlight the gender inequity through a youthful unbiased perspective. The chauvinistic attitudes and prejudiced views of most of the town’s folk leaves Maycombs social hierarchy in an unfair order, victimising many of the town’s people due to their socially non-conforming habits some ‘socially unaccepted people’ including Boo