Robinson being black and the alleged victim of the rape being a white woman. Finch then states that "I have nothing but pity... For the chief witness whose evidence has been called into serious question... The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is" (Lee, 1988, 231). What Finch is attempting to say is that the true guilt lies on the white woman who has accused Mr. Robinson of raping her, an accusation that is false. However, Finch then relates that "She has committed no crime" (Lee, 1988, 231), due to the fact that the statements of a white woman against those of a black man are always taken as truth by white southern society. But then Finch throws a legal lasso over the court by declaring that the woman "must put Tom Robinson away from her. Tom Robinson was her daily reminder of what she did... She tempted a Negro. She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man" (Lee, 1988, 231). Certainly, in 1960, such...
Robinson was denied his right to justice for a crime he did not commit. One important statement by Finch sums up the entire problem -- "the evil assumption, that all Negroes lie, that all... are basically immoral... that all are not to be trusted around our women... " (Lee, 1988, 232). Thus, it appears that justice in the South of the 1960's was not designed for black Americans but only for white Americans and that prejudice, hatred and bigotry could be found everywhere, even in a court of law, where all Americans are suppose to receive fair and equal treatment under the law.
Kill Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that discusses race relations and the justice system in American culture. Atticus is a lawyer who defends a black man on trial for raping a white woman. As a result, the community is against Atticus and his family. Symbolism is one way that author Harper Lee discusses the sensitive issues in the novel, which was published first in 1960. At that
By allowing his children to address him by hist first name, Atticus is dismantling one of the many traditions that serve to reinforce and perpetuate traditions that ultimately only serve to delegitimize the experience and perspective of certain people. This forces the viewer to take Scout's recollections and narration more seriously, because although they are the memories of a relatively young child, the viewer cannot help but treat them
Aunt Alexandra does not say "please" or "thank you," just a simple command forcing Cal into subservience. Cal has symbolized strength and authority throughout Scout's childhood, by acting as a mother figure in the Finch household. Scout has never seen Cal in such a low and submissive position Equality is not approved, segregation is traditional, and hate is accepted. Maycomb citizens believe that Tom Robinson is not, and should not be
Kill a Mockingbird The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by author Harper Lee tells the story of a southern American family living in a rural community during the Great Depression. Atticus Finch is the single, widowed father of Jeremy, nicknamed Jem, and Jean Louise, nicknamed Scout. Many people of the town of Maycomb, Alabama dislike the Finches because Atticus is educated, because of the way that Atticus is raising his
There are stereotypes on both sides of the racial issues raised in this book, and Lee tries to show that both of them are unfair and generalized, and that there were exceptions on both sides of the Black/white controversies and disagreements in the South. Lee uses rape as a shocking way to bring racism to the surface, because sexual relations between a white woman and black man were even more
Kill a Mockingbird Introduction to the novel. Some writers explain that To Kill a Mockingbird is about growing up in the South during the Jim Crow days. Others explain that the story is about racial injustice in the South. Actually, To Kill a Mockingbird is both a story about growing up in the South and about racial bigotry in Alabama in the 1930s, and it goes deeply into the issue
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