Death Penalty In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the trial in the novel is one of the most important incidents that takes place in the text. It is very important to our understanding of the text as a whole as it shows the racial discrimination in that time period of the 1920 – 1930’s and how society in the 20th century has improved and has become more accepting of different races throughout the world as a whole. The topics that will be discussed in this essay are the trial and how it represented a prejudiced society, what happened after the trial and the effects that the trial had on the children.

Justice can be defined as "the maintenance or administration of what is just" with 'just' meaning, "being in conformity with what is morally upright or good" (merriam-webster.com). With a clear definition, it is easy to sort out what is and is not just. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story of a young girl on a road seeking justice unfolds. Her name is Jean Louise Finch, nicknamed Scout, which is the perfect name for someone on a search. Throughout the novel, Scout battles two different instances of unjust treatment, both very different from each other.

In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee gives a variety of adult topics that should be taken seriously are spread through the majority of the story. Some of the topics include racism and segregation, economical crisis, mental illness, and others. One in particular that was involved near the end of the story is capital punishment and the death penalty.

Most of the second part of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Tom Robinson’s trial. Atticus, being the defendant, has a lot to say about justice and where it is deserved. Throughout the story, justice, or therefore lack of, is a recurrent theme, and it is most commonly seen surrounding Tom’s trial. The evidence of the trial and testimonies from witnesses clearly showed that Tom Robinson was innocent, but the jury convicted him guilty purely because of his race: black. Scout realizes the meaning of this true injustice and thinks, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (Lee 323). Harper Lee is using this situation and the literary device of conflict to show that justice is rarely

Introduction: In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main character Atticus embarks on a journey with the sole intention of finding justice in their society. So far, things were utterly dull: nobody had thundered, there were no arguments between opposing counsel, there was no drama; a grave disappointment to all present, it seemed. I. Atticus desires a fair and civil trial for his client.

Many people are judged because of the way they are raised, which leads to a misunderstanding of the individual, but when understood, judgment can differ. In the novels To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe, Arthur Radley, and R.C Rydell can relate to being misunderstood similar and different ways.

Directly after realizing this she went back to Nick and apologized and begged for Nick to hear her out saying that was right all along. Addressing how she thought someone was targeting predators on purpose. Soon after they continued their search for the truth. Meanwhile, in trying to figure out who was behind it, they followed a previous criminal that Judy apprehended. Although it took a few different loops to jump through they were lead to Doug a sheep who would shoot the victims with the plant that would cause them to go rogue. When they finally obtained the proof they needed to show it was specifically predators. In the process, they ran into some trouble, although they overcame the obstacles and turned the people in behind it all which was mayor Bellwether. After apprehending mayor Bellwether, she claims she did it because the prey are always underappreciated, but this does not stop Judy from doing her job. After undoing her wrong, she brings peace back to the public. Soon after the animals that had gone rogue were treated (Spencer & Howard, Moore, 2016).

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird follows the story of a trial in the Southern town of Maycomb. Specifically, the novel highlights Atticus, the defendant’s lawyer, and his family, as they face criticism from the rest of town. The defendant, a negro named Tom Robinson, was put on trial for raping Mayella Ewell, a white member of the community. While To Kill a Mockingbird shows the ugliness that can come from judging others, its ultimate message is that great good can result when one defers judgement until considering things from another person’s point of view.

“The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is, Do we deserve to kill?” In 1607 the British left the United Kingdom to the new world now known as the United States. When the British went to the United States they brought over the death penalty with them. When the British came to the United States there had been some spies that followed them from the European countries. They ended up finding a guy named Kendall who was a spy from spain. The first execution occurred in Virginia where they executed Kendall. After the first execution, it became a regular thing in the new world. People were executed for stealing grapes, trading with the Indians and killing chickens.

In the segregated American south of the 1930s, America did not value equality as it does today. This is the case in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, which depicts such injustice in Scout Finch’s fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Though Scout narrates the story as an adult, the difficult events she shares are from her childhood. As Scout lives through the events of the unfair trial of an African American man falsely accused of raping a white woman, Scout comes more aware of the evils of her society such as racism, sexism, and classism.

Justice, according to Merriam-Webster, is “the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and punish crimes and criminals.” Although every person is entitled to a just trial, the reality is not as unconditional. Despite that the United States has laws in place, such as the Sixth Amendment and the presumption of innocence, that guarantee the impartiality of the justice system, an innocent person can still have valid reasons to fear the justice system. Because of racism and additional flaws, one could be found guilty of a crime even when they are innocent.

Anti death of the author substantiates a reader's understanding of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It is clear after reading “Big Bird” by Thomas Mallon that Nelle Harper Lee based many characters from her book off of people she knew in her lifetime. Some of these characters include Dill, whose inspiration came from Lee’s good friend Truman Capote, and Atticus, who was loosely based off of Lee’s actual father. Perhaps the most obvious example of knitting real people into the story is Harper Lee making herself Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. Lee was like Scout in many ways, including how she “shunned the standard cardigan-and-pearls of the all-female institution for a bomber jacket she’d been given by her brother,” just like how Scout

Lynching, is what the song called Strange Fruit by Abel Meeropol is about. Another meaning of the song Strange Fruit is “a haunting protest against the inhumanity of racism”(Blair).Therefore, African American bodies hanged from trees when they are sentenced to death by a jury in the 1930’s. Lastly, many African American families suffered between the racism that the white people expressed when they saw an African American. At last, the white people would accuse any african american they wanted of something and that innocent person would be lynched in public.

   The trial of Tom Robinson is central to our understanding of racial and social prejudice in Maycomb. Harper Lee uses Tom Robinson's 'crime' to bring tensions in the town to a head and the author uses the trial as a way of making the ideas behind such tensions explicit for the reader.

In America, capital punishment was first implemented with the arrival of early European settlers as a form of