To Kill a Mockingbird Essay
When controversy and conflicts sprout, many individuals go to courts to seek justice and to have a fair and just trial. Since this is the United States, a country known internationally for its equality and democracy, many individuals would think that the court system in the U.S. is the fairest and has the most sophisticated court system. However, for many individuals, this simply is not the case. Many face discrimination and are not given the right to a fair trial. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus states, "our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal." Atticus’s statement about how courts are our great levelers and that in courts, men are created is deemed as inaccurate and
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One thing that often occurs in court cases is bias. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the jury was all white and from a different area. However, Tom Robinson was a colored man accused of rape. On page 273, Atticus states, “The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the …show more content…
The oath is a swear in which the one speaking or participating in the trial must tell nothing but the truth. If one breaks this deep oath, they can be charged with the crime of perjury, which is a serious crime that can result in five years of imprisonment. In To Kill a Mockingbird, on page 231, Bob Ewell states, “-I seen that nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” On this page, Mr. Ewell is explaining what happened on the day of the crime. When explaining his story, which Atticus proves if full of lies, he exclaims that he saw Tom Robinson raping his daughter. It is also stated that Mayella had bruises on the right side of her face which indicates that a left-handed person must have hit her. Tom Robinson only has a working right arm, because he injured his left arm which he injured when using a cotton gin. To prove that Bob Ewell was the one who beat Mayella up, Atticus tricked him into writing his own name. Ewell wrote his name using his left hand which indicates that he is left-handed. This proves that Bob Ewell wasn’t telling the truth because Tom doesn’t have a working left arm while Bob does. Also, about one out of ten people are left-handed and back in the day, being left-handed was very unpopular and adults would try to train children to be right-handed. Examples of Bob’s lies in court are