Examples Of Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Audrey Savengsueksa

Mr Mitchell

English 8th

3/28/2023

Injustice in To Kill a Mockingbird

Injustice is a prominent theme of the novel. This classic novel explores the theme of injustice in the America South during the 1930’s. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a powerful story of a courageous man named Atticus, who stands up against the injustices during his time. The theme of injustice is examined through the experiences of the main characters, which demonstrate a great impact on the individuals. Through the Tom Robinson trial, the discrimination of Boo Radley, and the treatment of Atticus's Family when he defends Tom, To Kill a Mockingbird presents the idea that injustice is shown by societal prejudices that lead to an unfair law and legal

Tom Robinson is a black man who walks by the Ewells every day in order to go to work at a cotton field. Tom is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewell’s oldest daughter. When they go to court, the all-white jury is unwilling to consider that a black man could be innocent and is swayed by the testimony of the accuser, Bob Ewell, because he is white. A quote that supports this is when Mayella is on the stand and admits to being beaten by her father, “Do you remember him beating you about the face?” “No, I don’t recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me.”(188). Mayella hesitated several times and was scared on the stand that she admits to being abused. She also sees her father is monitoring her, making sure she doesn’t betray him. The jury stuck to their choice that Tom is guilty, just because he is a black man. In addition, the jury refuses to listen to the evidence that proves Tom is innocent. “His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side” (211) According to Reverend Sykes, Tom had gotten his left hand stuck in a cotton gin when he was a boy. Mayella Ewell had a black eye on the left side when she was “raped” but a right-handed person, like her father, could have easily given her a black eye. This information is crystal clear that Tom is innocent, but the white jury of Maycomb has never voted a black man innocent. Despite the clear evidence that he is innocent, the jury finds Tom guilty of a crime he did not commit simply because of the color of his skin. Tom’s conviction and death while trying to escape prison show the devastating consequences of the failure of the justice