To Kill A Mockingbird Quote Analysis

Power, it is something that everyone wants, it classifies us. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is about a powerless black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Because of Mayella’s class and gender she is powerless, but her race makes her have a little more power.

The classic book “To Kill a Mockingbird” and the movie “Remember the Titans” deals with the concept of social injustice in terms of racial prejudice through the setting and characters. Both stories took place in a time where in Southern areas, people were treated very poorly based on their race. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, one of the main characters, Atticus Finch, was a white lawyer who was fighting to acquit a black man, Tom Robinson. Tom was being accused of sexually assaulting a white woman named Mayella Ewell, even though a lot of evidence in the case indicated that he was innocent. The jury declared Tom was guilty because of the racial prejudice against him.

“Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase the Yankees and the distaff side of the Executive branch are quite fond of hurling at us.” A quote from Atticus Finch, a firm believer of equal rights for all races. A lawyer, Atticus has taken up the case of Tom Robinson, who has been charged with the rape of Mayella Ewell. A jury, made up by white men of the southern county of Maycomb, listens to Atticus’ argument that Tom Robinson, a black man, is not guilty of Mayella Ewell’s wrongful accusation of rape. Atticus Finch attempts to persuade the jury to find his client innocent of a heinous crime through employing devices such as repetition, similes, sincere tone, and a strong appeal to pathos all of which contribute strongly to Tom’s case. .

Imagine being a white lawyer in the 1930s and being asked to defend a black man who has been accused of raping a white woman. This is exactly what occurs in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, when Atticus Finch, a white lawyer, chooses to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell, in 1935. Many people may believe Atticus Finch was wrong to have defended Tom Robinson because it put him and his family in harm’s way. However, Atticus was right to have defended Tom Robinson because Atticus knows very well that all people must be treated equally. and Atticus has to set a good example for his children.

This quote reveals that even though there are a bunch of African Americans, they choose one. Although this quote is meant to talk about only African Americans. Racism with colored people is a crucial time and no one wants to trust them. Bias and inequality are shown through the trials and people's words. This proves that the justice system was unfair to the colored and even the lawyers.

“We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe...some people have more opportunity because they’re born with it”(Lee 274). This phrase shows Atticus’ opinion about society and the luck some people are born with. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee contains some similarities with the Scottsboro boys case in which a few black men are accused of something that they didn’t do in the early 1900’s and are taken to trial in which it results into unexpected consequences. Justice has been routinely denied to African Americans throughout the past century due to having an all-white jury who believe in the false accusations made by white women which has made a replacement of lynching in the court system.

The next quote takes place during the trial and is from Tom Robinson. He is being questioned by the opposing attorney about Mayella: “Yes suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of em-“. The meaning of this quote is a simple thing. A man in Tom’s position, a black man in Montgomery and all that entails and on trial for his life for a crime he didn’t commit felt compassion for a white woman. Tom is a good and decent man in a world that is not very good or decent. I think this quote supports the topic sentence because Ton acted on compassion he put himself in Mayella’s shoes and tried to help. It is important to the book because it shows another instance of acting on principle. This quote is important in life because if you do not have principles grounded in compassion you are empty on the inside. In association with the last quote. This quote is spoken by Atticus in a summary of Robinson trial: “This case is as simple as black and white”. This quote means the color of your skin decides your fate. This quote relates to the topic sentence because it is the topic sentence in a simple form or put yourself in the black defendant’s place. The quote is important to the book because it is an example of the ridiculousness of racism. It is ridiculous because nothing Atticus could say would change the jury’s pre-decided verdict. In real life “The case is as simple as black and white” is in

For him, like many other real-life Negroes in American history, the principles underpinning political, social and criminal justice failed. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus’ belief that, “in our courts all men are created equal,” ( p. 209) makes a complete mockery of the judicial system.

Tom Robinson’s case, in which we see in that time period how a white man’s word goes against a black’s, is perceived as unfair by Scout, Jem, Atticus, and many of their neighbors. As Atticus says to Jem, “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it–whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.”(295) This quote explains that there is great injustice and extortion for personal gain. This is disturbing in its own right; The fact that Atticus needs to even make a comment like that is disturbing in its own right, let alone that any person would do that to another, also tells Jem this: “So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process. Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, Tom’s jury, but you saw something come between them and reason. You saw the same thing that night in front of the jail. When that crew went away, they didn’t go as reasonable men, they went because we were there. There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads–they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.”(295) Even a man like Atticus, a sort of rebel in that time period, accepts that the system is

The absence of courage on equality in the novel To Kill a mockingbird led to the death of Tom Robinson. In Maycomb African Americans were looked upon as second-class citizens, because of this none of them could vote or attain the same equal status. Moreover, in the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird an African American was put on trial for a crime he didn’t commit. Likewise, this was obvious to everyone present in the courtroom, however, the lack of courage to stand up for equality in this town caused Tom to be sentenced to life in prison and eventually die. According, To Kill a Mockingbird “I don’t know how they could convict Tom Robinson, but they did it. They’ve done it before and they do it tonight” (225). This quote shows how all citizens knew

One of the inequalities in Lee’s story is racism. Tom Robinson was a black man who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white, nineteen year old girl. During his trial, his lawyer, Atticus Finch did his best showing the jury that he was an innocent man. The jury delibabrated for hours before they reached a verdict: “Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty” (Lee 282). Tom was an innocent man but because of the color of his skin, he walked into that courtroom already found guilty. Today, people of color are targeted in many different ways, especially in the legal system:“One out of every 13 African Americans have lost their right to vote due to felony disenfranchisement versus one in every 56 non-black voters” (Quigley). Another example is, federal prosecutors are almost twice as likely to file charges carrying mandatory minimum sentences for African Americans than whites accused of the same crimes, according to a study published by the University of Michigan Law School. Our Declaration of Independence

The passage is an excerpt from chapter twenty of Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. This quote is part of Atticus's concluding speech on the trial of Tom Robinson, an African American facing litigations for concocted rape charges. Previously, Atticus is given this case, whether intentionally or not, since his vast conscience would not allow him to refuse defending an innocent man from death row. Against the odds, Atticus must attempt to defy a prejudice, injected into the people of Maycomb and the southern United States, towards those with colored skin. Although the fabricated charges carry little to no evidence, and the possibility of the crippled Tom Robinson committing this crime is miniscule, the jury is reluctant to relinquish

Who would destroy something that contained a heart filled only with good? The answer to that can be found in the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee in an unjust time of unequal opportunity. The story follows the retelling of an 8-year-old girl named Jean Louis and those around her moral growth. She lives in Maycomb Alabama during the Great Depression. She has many chapters of growth including changing from afraid of a person to wanting to meet them, seeing people put on masks in order to avoid judgment, and watching an innocent man go to jail. Scout learns that to Kill a mockingbird is a sin for they have done no wrong, that people make that most meaningful mockingbirds, and the true significance of them because of the moral growth they bring about in people.

Our courts serve to ensure full representation, attention, and assistance but the most valuable of these promises is justice. In all circumstances, it is a court’s duty to uphold the virtue of justice by eradicating any and all forms of inequality and ensuring that all participants are essentially no greater than the other. In Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, we see Atticus, an almost ethereal yet highly influential presence in the novel praising the courts saying, “-our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.” Atticus’s statement concerning the courts simultaneously holds truths yet also contradicts itself. Albeit, the verdict on Tom’s case was unjustified and a clear sign of discrimination,

The quote meant whatever a black man went against a white man in court the white man always wins. To Kill a Mockingbird is a book writing by Harper Lee, it about how black people was treated in the 40s. The moral of the story was about teaching the reader how to be a perfect person. I have chosen three topic to talk about racism, respect and courage. These lessons makes Jem and Scout understand how to be different in Maycomb, example like not being racist to people.