Examples Of Justice In To Kill A Mockingbird

1147 Words5 Pages
Justice is the equality for everyone THESIS STATEMENT: In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses Atticus’s search for justice to illustrate that justice is not fair and it is not served to those who were innocent. Atticus believes that justice is fairness and equality for all races, not only by law, but in everyday life. He believes that fairness is the foundation of justice and justice is the first step in creating equality for all. When talking to his brother, Atticus says, “Before I’m through, I intent to jar the jury a bit---I think we’ll have a reasonable chance on appeal, though. I really can’t tell at this stage, Jack. You now, I’d hoped to get through life without a case of this kind, but John Taylor pointed at me and said,…show more content…
Atticus was hopeful from the beginning of the case that the outcome would be unexpected. He says he was appointed this case, but however, he could have easily fought it, if he was a well-respected lawyer. He chose to represent Tom because he saw Tom as an innocent man, not as an African American. Atticus explains his reasons for taking on this case to Scout, when Scout questions him about it, “‘For a number of reasons, the main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again’” (Lee 75). Atticus feels as if it is his duty to protect and defend Tom Robinson. He feels that he needs to defend Tom to show his children justice, and that everyone deserves it, not matter their skin color. He thinks that if he chose not to defend Tom, he would be letting his children down. In Atticus’s final argument for Tom, he expresses the inequality of races, “Which gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson’s skin, a lie I do not have to point out to you. You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to
Open Document