Examples Of Justice In To Kill A Mockingbird

There is not a "true" definition of justice and there will never be a totally correct definition either. The word just means acting or doing something based on your morals and ethics. Because the definition of just can take many forms, so can justice. To understand justice, you have to understand how to be just. What people consider just evolves with time. For example. it was considered just to beat children decades ago. One particular decade, the 1930's, Jim Crow Laws were going strong and racism was a common thing. According to some whites, the Jim Crow Laws were just because blacks were thought to be the inferior race. If you want to learn more about the Jim Crow Laws in Alabama, click here. Atticus Finch believes that there is one place

A courtroom is supposed to decide if something is just or not. Atticus believes that courts are " the great levelers" and the place where skin or race does not matter (Lee 274). Not everyone shared his opinion though. Some of them were just too tied up with the belief or was simply scared of change. Jem learned that some things are just "ain't right" with the legal system (Lee 284). He personally though that people in Maycomb were good people and ones that would treat people equally. Instead, he learns that they aren't and the courtrooms aren't in fact, the great levelers. Jem sees that courtroom didn't change what people though of black people and in the end, convicted an innocent man. To Jem, the Tom Robinson Trial did not deliver justice and was a shining example of the problem with the Jim Crow Laws. Jem's definition of justice would be something along the lines of, people, no matter their background, should be treated equally in all situations. A black man would have the same opportunities of a white man but also face the same consequences of him

On March 25, 1931, nine black men were accused of rape by two women. The accusations were groundless and the deputies "pressured [two white women]" into accusing the men (Kingdig). All nine of them were found guilty and sentenced to death and one life in prison. Immediately, people heard about the things going in Alabama so colored people decided to protest and fight for a fair trial. Because of the Jim Crow Laws, the jury was made of all white men. To make things for the nine black men, the media, which was also white, ran information antagonizing them. Ruby Bates would later go on "to repudiate her testimony " and later join the cause to save them (Kingdig). The case eventually reached the Supreme Court and all were declared innocent but it would take twenty years for all of them to be free. The nine young men eventually got their justice, but it should have never happened in the first place. The mentality of a white men during the 1930s were that they could do almost anything to a colored person and they wouldn't get in trouble. Similarly, Mr. Ewell had this opinion, but Atticus decimated "his last shred of credibility" meaning if Mr. Ewell would accuse a black person, people wouldn't believe him (Lee 292). But, Mr. Ewell already had his time in the sun when he Tom Robinson was on trial. In the courtroom, Mr. Ewell was seen as equal