To Kill A Mockingbird is a 1960 novel written by Harper Lee. The novel presents difficult issues in the world through the young eyes of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. The novel revolves around a criminal case between a black man and a white woman. The woman, Mayella Ewell, claimed that Tom Robinson raped her. When Tom is found guilty, he is given the death penalty. In our world today, rape isn’t usually a capital crime, but in the time of the novel, it was. “Jem was shaking his head. “I know it’s not right, but I can’t figure out what’s wrong--- maybe rape shouldn’t be a capital offense” (Lee, 294). The history of the death penalty plays a large part in why Tom was sentenced to death. The very first cases of capital crimes in the United States started with the original colonists. Of course there was severe punishment for bigger crimes such as murder and treason. In fact, treason was the reason the first man was ever executed in the United States. There was capital punishment for silly crimes, though, like stealing grapes, killing chickens and trading with Indians. Capital Punishment wasn’t perfect, far from it actually, but it was on it’s way to a long history of what was punishable and what was not in the eyes of the government. …show more content…
The remaining nineteen states who don’t use the death penalty, do not find the form of punishment constitutional. In the U.S. Constitution, it states that every person has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Even though, the criminal will rot in jail for the twenty-five to life, those states still believe everyone has the right to life. Crimes punishable by death in the thirty-one states that use capital punishment include murder, treason and espionage, which is the use of spies to gather information about the
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
The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is an American classic and has been a staple in high schools for many years. The main storyline that this novel follows is of Scout, a young girl, living in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. It follows the case of Tom Robinson, an African American man, and how he was accused and convicted of rape. In prison, Tom was shot and killed because he was said to have tried to escape. While Mayella is the one who is saying that Tom raped her, the real person who should be to blame is her abusive father. As is quite apparent, Bob Ewell is the person who is most responsible for the death of Tom Robinson.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a book about the struggles and many issues that happened in the south when racism was very big, and is seen through the eyes of a young girl. One of the issues Scout doesn't understand is the idea of racism. The Ku Klux Klan was very popular during the time period that the book takes place. Many events that took place in the book could have easily been influenced by the Ku Klux Klan. It also explains the message they depicted against blacks.
When Harper Lee was writing about the trial of Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” she had a very real case to look to for inspiration. The trial of the Scottsboro Boys was a world renowned case in the 1930’s in which nine black youths were accused of raping to white girls in Alabama. Lee’s novel took this case and created the fictional case of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a lower class white girl in a small town in Alabama during the Depression-era. The Scottsboro trials were the main source of inspiration for Lee’s novel, and although the circumstances of the novel differed from the real-life scandal, the similarities between the two cases are quite abundant.
If you were a parent would you want the best for your kids? Would you want to teach them to search out for the true meaning of dignity and respect? This was the goal of one father, Atticus Finch. Being a nearly fifty-year-old man with extremely young children he wanted to share his wisdom and firsthand experiences with his children to shape them into a respectable young man and woman. Throughout his life, Atticus is taught many experiences himself about not judging someone, and to stand up for the helpless and defenseless. Some important morals that he carried through to teach his children in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is to never judge someone by their social class or race, and to fight for the justice of all the people of Maycomb.
Throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird Lee discusses the effects of ignorance and the toll it takes on people such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Scout herself, and many more. Through her examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the populist of poverty stricken Southerners, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of ignorance are the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story. A good example of this injustice is the trial of Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white girl and is found guilty. The book is from the point of view Scout, a child, who has an advantage over most kids due to her having a lawyer as a dad, to see the other side of the story. Her father tells her in the story, “you never really know a man until
Black and white, right and wrong; do decisions that simple and clear even exist? Does a decision ever mean gaining everything without giving anything up? Many characters in To Kill A Mockingbird are forced to make difficult, heart wrenching decisions that have no clear right answer. Harper Lee presents many of these important decisions in To Kill A Mockingbird as ethical dilemmas, or situations that require a choice between two difficult alternatives. Both of these alternatives have unpleasant aspects and question morals and ethics. A person is put in an awkward position, with their mind saying contradicting things. These dilemmas are presented in many different ways. The
We live in a world where people are constantly discriminated against because of their gender, race, or ethnicity, in a world where people no longer worship God-but people in power, in a world where people are not just homeless, but stateless, and in a world where no one feels safe. The book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee tells the story through the eyes of Scout Finch, who talks about her father, Atticus Finch, an attorney who hopelessly strives to prove the innocence of a black man unjustly accused of rape; and about Boo Radley, a mysterious neighbor who saves Scout and her brother Jem from being killed. The book emphasizes on the theme of ‘morality and ethics’ by portraying juxtaposing characters, prejudiced characters and conflicting
When To Kill A Mockingbird took place, the 1930s, Civil Rights crimes occurred often. Blacks were charged for completely libelous occurrences due to their skin color. In Harper Lee’s novel, this was a major part of her story. When Bob and Mayella Ewell charge Mr. Tom Robinson with a charge of rape, everyone knew he was innocent, but the jury wished to keep blacks inferior. Tom Robinson was a loyal black man who wouldn’t hurt a fly.
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
After being president for only eight days, Donald Trump has banned seven countries from coming into the United States for 90 days. These seven countries mainly have a muslim population. The seven countries are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. It would of been wise of Donald Trump to have taken more time to consider all the outcomes of his decision before making it final. Donald Trump should have used perspective in order to know how others might feel.
The problem with law is, it doesn’t always intersect with morality, and what one should do can fall into a moral/legal grey area. This is displayed well in the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. After the attempted homicide of on the main characters, Scout and Jem, it becomes obvious that Boo Radley had killed Bob Ewell, protecting the children. The sheriff of maycomb, Sheriff Tate, is left with a terrifying decision. Boo Radley, the mentally unbalanced introvert, had killed someone to defend the closest thing he had to a friend.
Through To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee exposes racial injustice in Maycomb during the 1930s. This theme revolves around Atticus Finch's case; a case where a black man, Tom Robinson, is accused of raping a white young lady, Mayella Ewell. One of the most significant impacts this novel has is Atticus's model of integrity for the legal profession. His honesty is best shown during Tom Robinson's trial, most specifically in his closing argument addressed to the jury. In his powerful speech, Atticus denounces the clear reason behind Tom's trial; racism. Jem and Scout, progressively leaving childhood, understand that Tom's conviction was everything but fair. This essay will be divided into three parts, an analysis of Atticus's speech will be made
Harper Lee’s award-winning novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has remained a classic publication since 1960. Recalling her experiences as a six-year-old from an adult perspective, Jean Louise Finch, nicknamed “Scout,” describes the circumstances involving her widowed father, Atticus, and his legal defence of Tom Robinson, a local black man mistakenly accused of raping a white woman. Throughout the three-year trial, Scout and her older brother, Jem, witness the unjust consequences of prejudice while at the same time witnessing the values of courage and integrity through their father's example. To Kill a Mockingbird was published during the Civil Rights movement.
Before I make my argument, I would like to provide some background information regarding the death penalty to the readers. The idea of capital punishment was brought over from Britain, when the founding fathers declared independence. Our ancestors loved the idea of the death penalty, since it was a common part of life. Europeans gave the death penalty for various crimes. The first recorded execution in America occurred in Jamestown, 1608. A man named George Kendall was executed for treason. In the earlier colonial days, laws regarding capital punishment varied area to area.