Why do we need justice? Justice is the punishment of the bad and defending of the good. Without justice, there would be no end to stop the wrong actions from being done and nothing to punish individuals for the bad and protect innocent individuals. Yes, both plots include a trial, but almost for the opposite reason. Throughout the trials of both, Harper Lee's novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" and John Grisham's "A Time To Kill" there were similarities and differences between their notions justice and fairness. Tom Robinson, a black man, was accused of raping and beating a white nineteen-year-old woman named Mayella Ewell. While Carl Lee Hailey's daughter was raped by two white men. He decided to take the law into his own hands and shot the two …show more content…
Mr. Gilmer, the district attorney for Mayella Ewell, belittles Tom Robinson while he is cross-examining him. The district attorney constantly called Tom "...boy." (pg. 198) when he is a twenty-five-year-old man. Mr. Gilmer is making Tom feel unimportant because he is African-American and considered lower than the Ewells. Similarly, Rufus Buckley, the prosecutor in Carl Lees trial, was persecuting him and called him a name during the trial. While Dr. Wilbert Rodeheaver, the psychiatrist for the prosecution, was in the middle of his cross-examination by Jake Brigance, the defense attorney, Mr. Buckley glanced at Carl Lee and called him a "nutball." (Grisham) Also, Mr. Buckley tried to provoke Carl Lee by asking him several questions consecutively that may have resulted in him winning the case. Rufus Buckley was doing anything he could to help the trial come as his win. As you can see, both prosecutors in these plots were showing impoliteness and being unfair towards the men because of the colour of their …show more content…
It defines as acting accordingly to the ideal of fair actions in a society and treating people and their actions according to this ideal and the state laws. This helps ensure that wrongs will be ended and rights will be upheld which would lead to a safer community. Without this concept, people are labeled as equal or unequal and will be treated differently from each other creating unfairness. One of the most common issues of this problem being discrimination which both Tom Robinson and Carl Lee Hailey faced during the trials of both plots. Despite there being clear differences between the trials of Harper Lees novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" and John Grisham's "A Time To Kill" the similarities are also pronounced. Both stories included the same theme of inequality of the black people and presented it different ways. Tom and Carl Lee experienced racial prejudice for being African-American during the trial. Tom was pleaded guilty by the all-white jury over a white woman's word when no evidence was present at the trial. In contrast, Carl Lee was being voted on guilty by an all-white jury as well until Jake Brigance lifted the barrier of race from his closing argument. Resulting in Carl Lee being found innocent, despite him truly committing the crime of murder. Both men also underwent disrespect from their district attorneys. Towards the end of both plots, they show everyone is to be treated equal no matter what
Both the cases of Tom Robinson from the book to kill a mockingbird, and Emmett Till were judged in front of an all white all male jury and they both lost. There were a lot of similarities in the cases the white people got away with what they did. Emmett Till was murdered after he was dared to talk to a white woman and her husband, Roy Bryant ,and his half brother, J.W. Milam kidnaped and beat Till and finally killed him. Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white girl.
Gilmer starts his cross-examination of Tom Robinson by asking him about a previous case he had when he got in a fight with another guy. Mr. Gilmer asked, “what did the guy look like when you got through with him” (Lee 223). Mr. Gilmer starts with this by putting a bad picture in the jury’s mind of Tom by making a false statement that Tom beat the guy up and hurt him when in reality Tom was the one that got beat up. Then Mr. Gilmer goes on to tell the jury “anyone who was convicted of disorderly conduct could easily have had it in his heart to take advantage of Mayella” (Lee 223). Mr. Gilmer says this claiming Tom is a bad guy and he did it, just because Tom has had a questionable history does not mean he is a bad guy anymore.
For black back then, when you have to go to court you are more than likely going to be guilty. Tom Robinson is in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in this small town in Alabama named Maycomb. This is about Tom Robinson getting accused of raping a white girl by the name of Mayeela Ewell. The Ewell family is one of the meanest families in Maycomb, but Mayella still has a higher ranking than Tom. This shows how racist the town of Maycomb is and some families that live there.
Leading up to the Civil Rights Movement, the black community was in a constant battle against law enforcement treating them unfair compared to the white community. The Scottsboro Boys and Emmett Till’s cases were one of the many times that the legal system showed to be unfair to blacks. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, the law enforcement and community were very racist against blacks and believed all blacks were criminals. In the story, Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer gets put into a very difficult situation and decides to defend a black man, who went by the name of Tom Robinson.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Injustice is carried out through the story proving it to be a significant theme. In Harper Lee’s novel,injustice is carried out by the Jury pronouncing Tom Robinson guilty,when he is innocent. When Scout shuts her eyes,Judge Taylor polls in the jury,which says “Guilty ...Guilty...Guilty”(282).Not only did he not rape her, he helped her. Tom simply helped her with the chiffarobe,so his verdict is unfair.
In order to set the stage for the reader, Harper Lee, describes the treatment of blacks and Tom Robinson specifically. As the case progressed and Robinson was examined rudely by Mr. Gilmer, Mayella’s lawyer. This examination was different than any other in the trial. He talked down to him, he called him “boy”, and he would not even look at him. Dill could not handle this treatment because he states in this quote, “Well, Mr. Finch didn’t act that way to Mayella and old man Ewell when he cross-examined them.
A couple of months later, Bryant and Milian admitted that they committed the crime during a magazine interview for which they got paid. Since the Double Jeopardy laws was in place, the men could not be tried twice for the murder (Bio). The trial was unfair because there was only white men in the jury, the courts said they were unable to identify Till's body, but they found the body with his ring with the initials on it, in addition there was an eye witness, Till's uncle Moses Wright who testified against Milian and Roy. This murder played a big part in the African Civil Rights Movement (Osborne). A little black boy lost his life for speaking to a white woman.
In both situations racism won by the death of the black man. In the To Kill a Mockingbird trial Mayella Ewell testified Tom Robinson joked and
These questions theorize that Knighton was wrongfully executed because he a different pigment than the victim and the jury. Bruck further delineates with an analogy about how it did not matter who paid for the crime, “Knighton was picked out to die the way a fisherman takes a cricket out of a bait jar. No one cares which cricket gets impaled on the hook.” The cricket analogy exemplifies that the government’s legal system is random and chaotic thus presenting that citizens cannot trust a system that is arbitrary and unjust. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a young white woman.
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
To Kill a Mockingbird’s themes of justice, morality, and ethics are represented through the actions and beliefs of the characters Atticus, Bob Ewell, and the town of Maycomb, represented through the Missionary Society, which is controlled by the sociable white women. Justice, as in justice by law, is inherent in the novel as is justice through karma. Morality is also central to the novel; a strong sense of morality, or rather a lack of, guides the characters as the story progresses. Ethics and unethical conduct form the basis for the plotline. Harper Lee uses characters to control the events that bring conflict in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Essay In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County. The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.
As conversations and debates arise he uses viable evidence and details of the case to slowly persuade other members on the jury to choose not guilty and acquit the boy. The similarity ¬¬¬between the two protagonists is that both Atticus and Davis did not give up from trying to prove there defendants as ‘not guilty’. The two kept persevering. Even though Atticus did not get a chance to prove his defendant Tom Robinson to be not guilty and Davis, with the other convinced jurors, did, they both looked beyond backgrounds and skin color and avoided prejudice to truly understand and solve the
To Kill a Mockingbird: Social Justice Many Authors have a way of expressing themselves through their literary works. In To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee blends her views of social justice into the main character Atticus Finch. In Harper lee’s famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird social injustice is the leading problem; the main character Atticus Finch show readers how to overcome racial tension by his consideration and ability to solve problems. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents the idea that Consideration is demonstrated by when Atticus Finch deals with the problems of his Children and of his work.
During the scene where The jury, made up of all white members, is eating dinner, they reveal their verdict, with a significant number voting for a guilty verdict that condemns Carl Lee to death. A jury member then states a racial slur saying Carl Lee will die. The jury's racial Bias closes their eyes to what Carl Lee is, not just a black man killing two white men but a father with responsibilities as a provider and protector