Similarities Between To Kill A Mockingbird And Just Mercy

Can a system designed to deliver justice be its own worst enemy? Nearly 87% of Black adults and 61% of white adults believe the U.S. criminal justice system is biased against Black people. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the courtroom becomes a battlefield where racial prejudices overshadow the search for truth, while Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy exposes the systemic failures that condemn innocent men and women to death-row. Through the harrowing stories of Tom Robinson and Walter McMillan, these works truly reveal how the legal system can be the beacon of hope and a source of profound injustice. Although “To Kill A Mockingbird” and “Just Mercy” differentiate each other from their diction and themes, the legal system is depicted as a double-edged weapon capable of both justice and

There are various ways each book emphasizes the presence of justice and the factors that contribute to its success when it is served. Taking Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Atticus Finch’s defense of Tom Robinson serves as a great example of justice being highlighted. Atticus Finch represents the moral backbone of the novel, advocating for the justice and equality by defending Tom Robinson, an innocent black man accused of raping a white woman. As a result of Atticus defending Tom Robinson, when Scout and her brother Jem, have been dealing with taunts from their peers and neighbors, Scout tries to understand why Atticus would take on a case that brings so much trouble. In response, Atticus explains, “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience,”(Lee 193). Despite the prejudices of the time, Atticus’s commitment to justice is displayed as a factor for hope and integrity, all in all developing a theme of justice presented in the book. Similarly, we see in Bryan Stevenson’s, “Just Mercy”, the fight for justice through legal advocacy. As a lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice