To Kill A Mockingbird Injustice Essay, Research Paper
Whether the injustice is mental, economical, or physical, the innocent person it effects, will always suffer. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird has more than an abundant supply of injustice present in novel. Miss Maudie says it best when she states that it’s “a sin to kill a mockingbird” (p.94). This statement reflects the following characters because they can all be considered mockingbirds, and since they were all harmed in some way they can all be considered as victims of injustice as well. The four characters that are involved in some kind of injustice are Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, The Cunninghams, and Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson suffered injustice by being charged with a crime he did not commit. Boo Radley was also a victim of injustice because many accusations were claimed about him just for the fact that he stayed in his house. The Cunninghams suffered injustice by being honest farmers that were hit financially. Finally, Mayella Ewell was also a victim of injustice because she grew up in an environment that forced her to end up lonely and scared. When injustice strikes, the innocent person it affects will always suffer.
Tom Robinson, the most obvious of characters that suffered injustice, receives my deepest sympathy because he was a victim of physical injustice who suffered the worst consequence, death. For all the good deeds he did for Mayella Ewell, he eventually ended up dead. Tom Robinson was a victim of Maycomb County’s policy where an honest black man’s word does not up rank up to a dishonest white man’s word. This policy ended up getting him killed as he was convicted of a crime he did not commit. He panicked and tried to get away from this injustice by escaping the prison. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful as he ended up dead. There are far too many examples of the people of Maycomb using racial slurs. As wrong as it may seem, Tom Robinson was black, and because of this he ended up being killed which makes him a clearly seen victim of injustice.
The next victim of injustice, Boo Radley, suffered mental injustice. Boo did not do anything wrong, but the town of Maycomb believed him to be a horrifying and evil person just because he stayed in his home. The children, much like everyone else in the town, feared Boo until they really met him. Boo was labeled in a negative way without doing anything. Boo made a valiant effort of dealing with his injustice by trying to communicate with the children. He was very successful, as the children no longer see him as the outcast he once was, but rather as a friend. With Boo Radley being a victim of injustice, he proves the point that you don’t have to necessarily do anything to suffer any kind of injustice.
A group of characters that may not be seen as victims of injustice, the Cunninghams, suffered economical injustice. The Cunninghams tried to live like honest farmers but The Great Depression hit them hard financially. Much like Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, the Cunninghams did not do anything wrong, but now they have absolutely no money at all. The Cunninghams felt that they could deal with this problem by working around it. Instead of paying with actual money the Cunninghams offered other goods. They were somewhat successful as the town considered them as honest farmers that do not receive handouts from anybody. The economic injustice that the Cunninghams suffered may not seem as clear as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley’s injustice but the Cunninghams did suffer so they still can be considered as victims of injustice.
The last character that suffered injustice, Mayella Ewell, suffered in a mental and physical way. Mayella was brought up in a household that resulted in her being beaten by her father and turning into a lonely and scared child. Mayella Ewell enjoyed the company that Tom Robinson brought her because she always felt lonely and alone. It can be easily seen that she is scared of her father has here testimony at the Tom Robinson trial was deeply influenced by here father. Mayella Ewell felt that she could deal with this problem if she created some sort of relationship with Tom Robinson. She was not successful as her father terminated any this relationship when Mayella tried to kiss Tom Robinson. Unfortunately, Bob Ewell did not enjoy the company Tom Robinson brought Mayella, and she was beaten by Mr. Ewell. Mayella Ewell suffered not one but two forms of injustice.
Injustice was more than present in this novel. By the examples of injustice in the book you can easily see that the innocent are always targeted for injustice, and the end result is always the same where the victim receives harm. This was the result when Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, The Cunninghams, and Mayella Ewell were the recipients of some sort of injustice. This information can bring to the conclusion that no matter what form it comes in, injustice always harms the innocent mentally, economically, or physically.