In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, we can see a clear example of injustice in the court. Equality is needed in all places no matter the person. People need to find a way to stop racism. Throughout time people have been put into slavery and have been neglected. There is injustice in this book because he is accused of someone else’s doing, is not given a fair hearing, and is attacked even though there was no evidence. First of all, there is injustice because he is accused of a crime he didn’t do. Throughout the court case, Atticus gives very clear evidence that it wasn’t Tom, but they listened to the Ewells. In the book, they say that Mayella has never seen Tom before but he claims he has HELPED her many times before and you would think that he would’ve done it before. Tom says in his testimony “that he has helped many times before” (Lee 224) and has proof for it but they don’t believe him. This goes to show that he was indeed innocent but because of who he was he was accused. Here we see that the bruises on the wrong side of his face are Tom. “ I asked her who did this and she said Tom Robinson” (Lee 190) this shows they trusted the first person they asked. Bruises were on the right side of her face, but Tom was right-handed and only hits the left side of her face. This goes to show that …show more content…
The Ewells have 3 different people to back up their case while Tom only has Atticus. The sheriff, Bob Ewell, mayella, and a family member are in the crowd. This shows that if they all give a similar story the favor will be with them indeed. He has been arrested before and if he makes one bad move he is toast. “Atticus” (Lee 190) calls out that Tom has been arrested before but has changed jerasticly since then. This means that he is under 24/7 watch on this case and he can’t do anything aggressive or sudden or he WILL be
By his logic, if the court knew what Mayella thought throughout the case, and knew why she framed Tom, they would be able to understand that Tom is innocent. Atticus provides logical reasoning to this by explaining that, “She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man.”(Lee). Atticus describes what Mayella did, but explains why she felt it was so wrong. It wasn’t because she had committed a crime, and it wasn’t because Tom committed a crime; it was because she had broken the racist codes of Maycomb county, and because this racism was embedded so deep in the roots of her life, Mayella needed to frame Tom so she wouldn’t be thought of as someone negative.
Tom had to live a life in jail, up until his crucial death, because the town is biased. Atticus spoke out about their assumption during the court case, he stated: “... confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption- the evil assumption- that all … lie, that all … are immoral beings, that all … men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption once associates with minds of their caliber” (Lee 232). Atticus shows through that statement how the town thinks all of them are bad and cannot be trusted. This goes to show how they would not take into account Tom’s side of the case because he is an “immoral being”. This is an awful assumption made by the town, why would they want an innocent man put away for a crime he did not commit?
Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.”(Lee 272). Therefore, Atticus proves to the court with the evidence that Tom was not Guilty and Mayella Ewell tried to kiss Tom, and when Bob Ewell saw this he beat her and blamed it on Tom Robinson. “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal” (Lee 273-274). Instead the court does not want people to hate them so they say that Tom was guilty.
He explains how it is not fair to Tom that just because he is black, he is unjustly accused of something. Atticus understands and tries to point out the fact that if it was a white man in Tom’s position, the jury would have a different opinion on the situation. Atticus displays a prime example of how someone should try to achieve social justice, even when the situation is unfair. Also, while saying his statements, Atticus exclaims how Tom felt sorry for a white woman, Mayella, and that he had been forced to put his own word against two white people. Here, Atticus reinforces the thought of how this jury is unfair to Tom.
Atticus knew that Tom was not responsible for the crime, “... to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guild of the defendant” (2). This shows that Atticus doesn’t think Tom was guilty because there was no facts and his character has good judgement. Atticus felt sorry for Mayella, “ I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man’s life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt”(4). This reveals that Atticus feels sorry for Mayella because she was beaten and the way she has been treated at home but not for lying. Mayella wasn’t real raped, “ Tom Robinson was her daily reminder of what she did.
Mayella Ewell the girl who Tom is accused of raping had bruises, and a beat up face from the seen, but this was from someone who led with their left hand, and Mr. Robinson “swore out a warrant, no doubt signing it with his left hand, and Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses- his right hand.” (Lee 204) Tom’s hand shows he is innocent, he couldn’t have possibly beaten Mayella so savagely with his non dominant hand. Tom is represented by the mockingbird when he is proven innocent by Atticus. The jury destroyed his innocence when they convicted him of a crime he did not commit, even when the evidence is on his side.
To Kill A Mockingbird Essay Throughout the course of history, there has always been racial conflict within the United States. Even after slavery had ended, racial tension remained. This conflict was mainly due to the fact that there were so many unequal institutions present. One of these would be the unjust legal system. African Americans in the 1900’s were never awarded a fair court trial.
So·cial jus·tice, noun, 1. justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. 2."individuality gives way to the struggle for social justice.” (Google Search). Social Justice is a term used to justify the equality in the world; equality of race, equality of gender, equality of religion, of age, of background; equality of all people not dependent on any outside factor, but of the people themselves.
Justice is something that all people want while inside a courtroom. But did you know it wasn’t always that easy to have? During the 1930s, the judicial system wasn’t fair at all. This mostly applied to people of color. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee delivers important messages to the reader through characters in her story.
All around America justice is said to be brought to everyone, and everyone has the right to a fair trial, but this is not the case for a falsely accused man named Tom Robinson. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story takes place during the Great Depression, meaning that racism is still a common thing in many places, including Maycomb. The father of Jem and Scout, Atticus is a lawyer who is forced to take a case defending a black man of being accused of rape. Since Atticus has no choice whether is able to take the case or not, he knows that the outcome will be the same no matter what due to Tom Robinson’s race. This problem is the climax of the story due to the injustice that Tom has to deal with during his case.
Atticus is a just man the whole community agrees with this. he must do this to show what his kids should do in a situation like this. lastly Atticus is a good lawyer so if tom is to have a chance in this case it's with Atticus
To Kill A Mockingbird contains three forms of injustice. First, discriminating against a person because of the color of their skin, second, violating every persons right to a fair and unbiased trial, and thirdly, harming the simple and defenseless. Body
“Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left…he swore a warrant, no doubt signing with his left hand, and Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses, his right hand.” This dialogue shows beyond a doubt that Tom is innocent by using factual evidence. Atticus takes advantage of the absence of factual evidence to support
Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.
In today's world the only way we will achieve equal justice for everyone is when people stop placing themselves on pedestals and thinking that they are better than the next person. When that happens equal justice will be shown, no matter who you are, where you live, how much money you have, or the color of your skin. In the book "To Kill A Mockingbird" Atticus tells Jem and scout that "it is a sin to kill a mockingbird" and Miss Maudie also tells them that "mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy" (Lee 119). I think this applies to Tom Robinson because all he wanted to do was help Miss Mayella but instead got accused for something that never took place. This applies to justice because mockingbirds are treated the right way because they "make music", but when Tom does something nice for Mayella he isn't shown proper