How Does Harper Lee Describe Life Back In The 1930s

In court, Tom Robinson was declared guilty and sentenced to death. Atticus discusses the outcomes with Jem, stating that whites will always win over blacks. However, Jem argues by saying it “‘doesn’t make it right’”

To show, Atticus explains to his son Jem that the justice system is broken and favor white people no matter how strong of a case he could make, “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.” (Lee, Chapter 23). Atticus has experience with these cases before because of his job and he knows how it all works, no matter what he does, nothing he could do would help him win if he was defending a black person.

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.

Tom is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of Bob Ewell. Before the trial, people were certain that the Ewell’s would win the case but as Atticus brings up many valid points such as Tom does not have a left hand and the slap print is on the left side of the face. The jury question if Tom is guilty or not. When Tom was defending himself he told Atticus, “‘Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you’d be scared, too.’” This quote shows that society looked down on African American people because Tom could have said if you were me you would be scared but he didn’t.

When Atticus was defending Tom, he knew they had lost the court case, but he still made a final argument and tried to show the jury how unfair the court case was and that it was only because of prejudice: "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. " At that time, all people in court are supposed to have a fair trial, no matter their race or where they come from. But people do not do that; they carry their hatred and bitterness into the court, and the court is not ruled fairly. Tom was only convicted because of his color and other people’s hatred and bitterness, not because of the truth. Also, a little before the final argument, Jem was convinced they had won because it was shown that it was physically impossible for Tom to rape Mayella because his left arm was crippled and useless.

Atticus defends Tom Robinson in court, who was being accused of raping a white woman. Tom Robinson was innocent of the crime, but the verdict was guilty. Atticus doesn’t care about if Tom is black or white, he was just trying defend the man on trial who was wrongly accused. Atticus believes that innocence is “a truth” that “applies to the human race and to no particular race of men” ( 273.) This describes his eagerness to protect Tom, because of his unfair accusation.

Children can't see social labels and assumptions because they are still so innocent and young. When Jem presents his opinion to Reverend Sykes the racial bias that will occur in the case is finally put to light. He responds to Jem, "I ain't ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man....” What's so impactful about this statement is that what the Reverend said truly is the unfortunate reality of this whole trial. The jury then comes out and Scout quickly realizes that their father and his defendant could not have won the case because no member of the jury would even glance at the face of Tom Robinson.

For example, when Jem and Scout got the, “two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives” (373). Harper Lee used symbolism in this passage by the two soap dolls to represent Jem and Scout and the broken watch and chain to represent the trial. I think this because Boo Radley watches over Jem and Scout and the trial is represented by the broken watch and chain because Tom Robinson was clearly innocent and all evidence was against Bob Ewell raping Mayella . Harper Lee used symbolism the theme to think for yourself. Diction, Imagery, and Symbolism are all ways Harper Lee developed the theme to think for yourself in To Kill A Mockingbird.

During the trial of Tom Robinson, for being accused of raping a white women. Some people in the town turned their backs on Atticus for taken the case. Atticus took the case and has proven that Tom is innocent but as Atticus knows since Tom is a “Black Male” that he would never be treated fairly. When the closing argument comes about, Atticus tells the people on the jury that they need to look past Tom being “Black Man” and see him and treat him just as a regular man. Atticus is trying to have them do the right thing instead of listening to the town and doing the wrong thing.

To Kill a Mocking Bird When living in a community as small and close-knit as Maycomb, it is inevitable that social class will play a large role in everyday life. Some key attributes that determine where the citizens of Maycomb stand on the social ladder are wealth, race, and character. Jem explains, “There’s four kinds of folks in this world. There 's the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there 's the kind like the Cunningham’s out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes" (Lee 258). At the top of the ladder stands the Finch family.

To Kill a Mockingbird Argumentative Essay Racial equality and discrimination is a founding issue that has been spread throughout every part of the world, To Kill A Mockingbird was written and published by Harper Lee in 1960, this time was dominated by civil rights protests and some of the first hippie movements following the crushing reality of the Vietnam War, the 60s also saw the struggle against segregation and racial equality. It is no surprise that the extreme political conflict affecting her life and world would greatly impact her writing and influence how she perceived the world during the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird. the influence of the fight for racial inequality is shown greatly in her book as she depicts the everyday life

This essay aims to investigate the literary context of Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird (1960) from four different perspectives. The scope of this essay does not only include the context from historical, cultural and social points of views, but also the significance of Lee 's early life is considered. The essay explores deeply the novel 's events, characters and main themes, which can all be related to the literary context. This is why the research question of this essay is “A Study of Literary Context in Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird”. To Kill A Mockingbird never fails to amaze a reader because of its audacity, as it brings out many controversial issues from 1930s America.

Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... 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" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.

What if the world was still the same as it was back during the great depression. What if this was the truth. In To Kill a Mockingbird readers can see how prejudice affected people of color back then, and how it’s not so different from today. In the novel readers will find unfairness in court, hate crimes, and segregation. Today readers can still find these same issues, but in different forms.

Marxist Within the Mockingbird Today the world is open to people of all races, economic classes and much more, but in the 1930’s the world was not as accepting. To Kill A Mockingbird, is a book by Harper Lee which takes place in the 1930’s. Throughout the story there are issues with feminism, racism, and injustice. It starts with a young girl and her family, and as the book progresses the reader gets to find out some of the things that go on in their life and around them. Such as a stressful case which includes, a black innocent man who is accused for something he did not do.