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Significance Of Scottsboro Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

883 Words4 Pages

Matthew Kidd
Mrs. Moore
English 10 Honors, Period 5
2 February 2023
To Kill a Mockingbird Theme Analysis Essay The book To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee that is set during the Great Depression in Maycomb, AL. Similar to the Scottsboro trial, which occurred in a similar setting, To Kill a Mockingbird details the trial of an innocent African-American man accused of rape from the perspective of Scout Finch who sees her father work for equality and defends the innocent black man. Scout learns from her father about the racist nature of Maycomb and understands that she also must work for change. Through the lessons that Scout learns, Lee illustrates two themes of To Kill a Mockingbird which are that one must empathize with others in …show more content…

Atticus’s children receive guns as a gift and as they are learning how to use them, Atticus reminds them that "it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird" (Lee 103). The children originally do not grasp the meaning of this and so they ask Mrs. Maudie. She explains to them that mockingbirds do not cause any harm and it would be wrong to hurt them. By reminding his children about not hurting innocent mockingbirds, Atticus is teaching them that it is wrong to hurt those who cause no harm. Much later, Sheriff Tate lies about the case of Bob Ewell’s death and covers up Boo Radley’s role in killing him to defend Atticus’s children. Scout realizes that publicizing his role would be "like shootin' a mockingbird" (Lee 317). This is caused by her realization that Boo Radley is extremely shy and can not handle the public. She also understands the original idea of him that she had based on the rumors about him was incorrect and that he had in reality been secretly looking out for them. She also recognizes that telling the truth would cause unwanted publicity for Boo. Scout shows her maturity in relating Atticus’s lesson to Boo, emphasizing the importance of this theme in Lee’s In summary, Lee's theme that one should not harm the innocent is shown through Atticus's lesson to Scout and Jem after they receive guns, and Scout's later application of the lesson to not harming the antisocial yet innocent Boo

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From the crime to the trial, there are parallels between the crimes and trials. On March 25, 1931, a freight train was stopped in Paint Rock, a tiny community in northern Alabama, and nine young African American men who had been riding the rails were arrested. Two white women, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price, descended from the freight cars, and accused the men of raping them on the train. As a result, the accused men were taken to the Scottsboro jail.

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Mayella vs. Victoria: To Kill A Mockingbird vs. Scottsboro Trial “He couldn’t get us to the chair fast enough.” Haywood Patterson a young black boy accused of raping two young girls named Victoria Price and Ruby Bates said this during his trial. Patterson said this about the judge of the case he was involved in. This was in the Scottsboro trial where a group of black boys was accused of raping the two young girls Victoria and Ruby. This same topic is brought up in the book To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee when a young lady named Mayella Ewell accuses a black man named Tom Robinson of raping her.

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To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb Alabama during the Great Depression. All of the story is an allusion to the Scottsboro Trial where 9 black kids were wrongfully accused of rape only off of the word of a few white girls. The story centers around Atticus who is a lawyer, and his children Scout, and Jem. They are a poor white family who has it better off than most during the depression. Scout is the narrator and her brother Jem is the one whom she hangs out with most throughout the book.

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Throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, racism was still a huge part in our society and this is demonstrated through the Scottsboro Trial and the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The first place this is shown, was after everybody heard about the supposed rape of the white girls. There were protests and tons of people showing hate towards the black men. Another example of this, was all the assumptions white people made, that the only logical explanation for the incident was that the black men raped the white girls. This assumption was without listening to the evidence or facts proving the man's innocence during the trial.

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In Harper Lee's famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the themes of sin, understanding, empathy, and the complexities of human nature are prominent ideas that run throughout the story. This chapter helps us explore right and wrong. It also helps us to understand and have empathy for people. Chapter 11 is a crucial part of the book where these themes become more apparent. Lee skillfully portrays their presence both on the surface and in the larger perspective.

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Harper lee wrote a novel to kill a mockingbird. The novel is about racism and what is right and what is wrong. The Scottsboro Boys were an influence on the writing if lee’s writing To Kill a Mockingbird. The nine African American teenagers accused in Alabama raping of Ruby Bates and Victoria Price on a train in 1931.The scottsboro trial was one of many subjects that Harper lee talked about in her novel.

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