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The Scottsboro Trials And To Kill A Mockingbird Comparison Essay

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The Scottsboro Trials and To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the famous father named Atticus says “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it (Judith 2). This quote is said during a time of intense racism. “Not long after Obama took office, the National Urban League released its 2009 State of Black America report. The findings showed that racial inequities continued in employment, housing, health care, education, criminal justice, and other areas” (Buckley 1). This essay will primarily focus on the criminal justice area of this when discussing the Scottsboro trials and comparing the trials to the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird. In some schools, To Kill a Mockingbird is mandatory for students to read (“Harper Lee dies at 89: A quiet life, a lasting legacy-- see the photos” 2) however, in others it is banned. Jon Stewart said there is a “gaping racial wound that will not heal, yet we pretend doesn’t exist” (Judith 2). There are similarities between the famous Scottsboro Trials and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. THE SCOTTSBORO TRIALS There were nine African American teenagers aboard a freight train during March of 1931 in Jackson County, Alabama (Alex 1). All nine of the teenagers were accused of raping two white …show more content…

There have been movies and books released about the Scottsboro case, and a movie made based on Harper Lee’s novel (McDaniel 3). The movies and books are loved by many and often compared. Some today credit Harper Lee with playing a role in the fight to end racism because of how she portrayed characters within her novel. Therefore, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and the Scottsboro trials have similarities that are often discussed years after the novel was released and the trials

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Imagine that your living in the 1930s, you’re a white woman, and you had just gotten “raped” by a black man or group of black men. This exact scenario happened in the critically acclaimed book To Kill a Mockingbird and in the real-life court case deemed the Scottsboro trial. Which in both the book and the court case, the characters, and people were shaped and influenced by society to become victims and accusers. This paper is going compare and contrast how the fictional character Mayella and the non-fictional plaintiff Victoria Price and Ruby Bates as painted victims and accusers by society.

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Harper lee creates a trial similar to the Scottsboro trial in her book To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee was a kid when the trial became popular so it would make sense to mimic the trial. It could have been a way to express her opinion on the unfairness of the trial. Mayella Ewells is similar to Ruby Bates because they both violated the social principle of segregation. Mayella Ewells tempted Tom Robinson by kissing him “She reached up an’ kissed me” Robinson told Atticus Finch when giving his testimony.

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The Scottsboro Boys To begin, the Scottsboro Boys case of 1931 was very controversial at the time and lasted until 1937. The case is about nine young men who were illegally riding the train to find work because in those times work was very hard to come by. The train was stopped and the young men were taken off near Scottsboro, Alabama and charged with a minor crime. There also were two Caucasian young women riding the train illegally as well Ruby Bates and Victoria Price. There is a lot of misconception but charges of rape was filled.

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