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Scout's Realization In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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“Scout’s Realization”
Injustice is prominent in many aspects of the world including the courtroom. The narrator, Scout, In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, has a coming-of-age moment when she watches her father Atticus defend Tom Robinson. This is where she learns about the forces of racism. In the courtroom scene, Harper Lee uses two literary devices- a plot event and irony to highlight the theme of realization and acceptance of the harsh realities of the world.
During the courtroom scene, Lee uses a plot event, the lawyers defending their sides, to show how each lawyer speaks for a different cause. Scout observes how they are both doing their jobs, but she realizes that in this scenario, they represent different causes. Scout notes: “Mr. …show more content…

Scout, as well as the reader, thinks Tom’s innocence will be proven but this is not the outcome. Bob Ewell is allowed to go free despite the fact of being guilty of abusing his daughter, Mayella. This is ironic because Tom Robinson is the one who is innocent, yet he is still found guilty of a crime he did not commit. As Atticus says to the jury: “‘She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards,’” (231-232). This quote from Atticus highlights the irony of the court case, as it is obvious Tom is found guilty not because of a crime he has committed, but for the color of his skin. Scout has lost all hope she once had in his innocence being proven. She already knows the verdict and she says: “I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: ‘ Guilty… Guilty… Guilty… Guilty…’” (240). This moment displays the sense of despair Scout feels in such injustice. She realizes the prejudice that exists in the world. She realizes the injustice that exists in the world. She realizes that racism that exists in the world. Scout watched the whole court case, hearing all the evidence to back Tom Robinson. She knows that if Tom

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