Use Of The Death Penalty In To Kill A Mockingbird

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ immediately became a classic. It focused on many issues of the issues of the time and some that still exist today. In Harper Lee’s book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Scout Finch, the narrator, starts to grow up and see the world around her better. Scout and the audience see the inequality and brokenness of her world, through the eyes of a child. Apart of her journey is the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape, in the 1930’s, by Mayella Ewell. Scout’s father, Atticus, defends Robinson against the town’s racism. The prosecution, with the help of Mr. Gilmer, the Ewell’s attorney, wins the case. Even though most of the facts went towards the defense. Through writing Scout’s life Lee is able

To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel published in 1960, included is many issues the characters have to face. One of the problems Tom Robinson has to face is death penalty after being accused of rape.The fairness of capital punishment and what affects it has on the Eighth Amendment is still a problem faced today.

“To Kill A Mockingbird” has many big ideas throughout the story that have to do with justice, being prejudice, and courage. The word prejudice is one of the key ideas throughout the story because in many examples characters in the story have a preconceived opinion towards many different ideas. Another big idea in the story is justice. Justice has to do with being fair, however in many cases throughout the book people are treated anything but fairly. And lastly, courage played a major part in the lives of many characters throughout the story. In the story,”To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, it states that it states that people from the 1930’s had many problems to deal with regarding being prejudice and having justice, however Scout and many

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

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.

Since the beginning of Atticus’s case, he knew there was no way in winning but still fought as hard as he could to prove something. That the phrase, all men are created equal, does not include black people under any circumstances. The message about justice is prevalent throughout the book and justice is shown to be biased as well as inequitable. The justice system in Maycomb is shown to be biased due to it being located in the south during the 1930’s. During the trial, there has been plenty of evidence proving Tom Robinson’s innocence and yet the jury found him guilty and sentenced him to the death penalty.

In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, there are details within the text that sublimely expound upon the theme of killing innocence, or a mockingbird. For example, when Scout describes the dialogue before the trial, “ … she [Miss Gates] was talking … heard her say that it’s about time someone them a lesson, they were gettin’ [sic] above themselves …” (Lee 283). This expresses how many people were biased and hateful towards Tom Robinson, despite his innocence. The fact that one would be willing for an honest man to suffer, which exists in their actions because of their racial bias and hatred, represents the unfairness of his situation, and how an innocent is destined to be ‘shot’ by the ‘hunter’. In addition, when the Ewells’ treatment of Helen

When European colonists came to the America, they brought the tradition of capital punishment. Capital punishment came on the North American shore with the British colonies. The first recorded case of capital punishment was established in the new colonies. Captain George Kendall was first executed in 1608 in the Jamestown colony of Virginal Unite State. First execution was by hanging to the

European colonists came to the America, they brought the tradition of capital punishment. Capital punishment came on North American shore with the British colonies. The first recorded capital punishment was established in the new colonies that execution was the Captain George Kendall in Jamestown colony in Virginal Unite State in 1608. First hanging execution to Kendall for being a spy for Spain. British law

The death penalty was first developed in the Eighteenth Century B.C. by King Hammurabi who mentioned death as a punishment over 20 times. In Britain around the Tenth Century A.D., the method of hanging was extremely common. Other methods developed over time such as boiling, beheading, burning at the stake and quartering. In order to be ‘executed’ the criminals would commit capital offenses such as not being honest to a law officer or treason. As time passed, the amount of criminals executed grew larger every year and the government in England knew something had to change. Therefore, the death penalty was reduced by about 45%. The first usage of the death penalty recorded in America was the death of Captain George Kendall in 1608. He was caught as a spy for Spain which lead to his violent death. In 1612, the Governor of Virginia, Sir Thomas Dale began the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws, which allowed the death penalty for multiple small crimes. The death penalty became inactive in the early

Britain influenced Americans to use capital punishment because new settlers brought it here.“The first recorded execution in the American colonies occurred in Jamestown,Virginia in 1608 when George Kendall was shot

“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.

The Death Penalty laws were first mentioned in the Code of Hammurabi, dating back to 1700 BC. Numerous different empires and countries used the death penalty for consequences of crime. Although many countries began to abolish the death penalty, the United States did not. During the colonial era is when the United States first began using Capital Punishment. In the early 16th century in the Jamestown, Virginia Captain George Kendall was hanged for the capital offense of treason. There were also many other crimes that would lead to the death penalty such a murder, rape and witchcraft. In the late 1600’s William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania limited the death penalty only to murder and treason. The beginning of the 1700’s is when the idea

Britain influenced America to start using capital punishments more than any other country. When Britain brought Settlers to America they also brought the practice of execution. The first recorded execution in 1608, in America was Captain George Kendall. He was executed in Jamestown, Virginia for being a spy

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