Social Paradox In To Kill A Mockingbird

Ashley Zecca

Ms. Vyse

English II

23 March 2016

The Social Paradox in To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is a novel told from the perspective of young girl, called Scout. The reader follows Scout?s journey through school, a court case, and white supremacy over the course of several years. The audience sees domestic disputes through the eyes of an innocent, eight-year girl. Scout?s accounts are often humorous or light-hearted, but they portray situations the truly affected people of the United States in the 1920?s to the 1930?s. During the 1930?s, the southern United States faced several socioeconomic issues, including The Great Depression, The Scottsboro Trials, Jim Crow Laws, and social prejudices. Harper Lee

Within the time of this growth period, America was faced with a court case that caused extreme outrage, the Scottsboro Trials. The court case began after two young, white women claimed twelve black, young men raped them while on a train to Memphis. Nine of the young men were convicted. The court case lasted only three days and sentenced eight of the accused to the death punishment by the electric chair. The youngest Scottsboro boy was only 14 years old. Later, the Supreme Court reopened the Scottsboro Boys? case. One of the plaintiffs confessed to lying under oath about being raped. Once again, the Scottsboro Boys were still considered guilty. The court?s rationale behind the decision was that they were black. The two young women committed a federal offense by lying under oath. During the same time period as the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird Alabama was faced with another legal matter that lead to social and political outrage, The Scottsboro Trials. Two white, young women illegitimately accused twelve, black young men of raping them, while on a train to Memphis (Belsches). Only nine of the accused were indicted. Due to the extreme Racism epidemic in the 1930?s the defendants were given an unfair trial. The trial lasted approximately three days and resulted in the ?Scottsboro boys? being declared as guilty and eight of them were sentenced to the electric chair. It wasn?t until the case was reopened by the Supreme Court that one of the plaintiffs confessed that the story was a lie. Young men were still found guilty (Encyclopedia of Alabama). Both court cases revolve around the same theme, racial injustice. Neither defendant received the proper trial because of their race. During this time, racism was at one of its highest points. Not even the law could protect black people from discrimination. The innocent Scottsboro boys were killed at a