“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(Lee 119). In To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird was Tom Robinson. The town of Maycomb committed the crime of killing the mockingbird when Tom was wrongfully accused of a crime he didn’t do. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee displays prejudice and injustice through the court case of Tom Robinson. Injustice and inequality play a huge role in Maycomb, it dictates what people believe and how they act. An example of injustice is the case of Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was accused of raping a women named Mayella
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During this time period, dark skinned people were seen as less than, and this has become apart of their culture. “To Maycomb Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan… that Robinson boy was legally married, went to church, but when it comes down to the line the veneer's mighty thin. Nigger always comes out in ‘em”(25). Prejudice is highlighted when people of Maycomb believe colored people have no values and aren’t human. This then leads to the division of people. When Scout asks about prejudice, Atticus tells about how their society is evil. “Nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything...it’s hard to explain ignorant trashy people”(107). When Atticus explains the prejudice in Maycomb, scout becomes aware of her society and the prejudice in it. Atticus also explained that Tom had no help and that helping him was the right thing to do. When the case is over, Tom was still guilty even after the evidence prove him innocent. “Atticus had used every tool available to freemen to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed”(28). Prejudice has taken hold of Maycomb for so long that it has blinded many people’s decisions. Before the court started Tom was dead because of the prejudice in Maycomb. In Maycomb
During this time period, dark skinned people were seen as less than, and this has become apart of their culture. “To Maycomb Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan… that Robinson boy was legally married, went to church, but when it comes down to the line the veneer's mighty thin. Nigger always comes out in ‘em”(25). Prejudice is highlighted when people of Maycomb believe colored people have no values and aren’t human. This then leads to the division of people. When Scout asks about prejudice, Atticus tells about how their society is evil. “Nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything...it’s hard to explain ignorant trashy people”(107). When Atticus explains the prejudice in Maycomb, scout becomes aware of her society and the prejudice in it. Atticus also explained that Tom had no help and that helping him was the right thing to do. When the case is over, Tom was still guilty even after the evidence prove him innocent. “Atticus had used every tool available to freemen to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed”(28). Prejudice has taken hold of Maycomb for so long that it has blinded many people’s decisions. Before the court started Tom was dead because of the prejudice in Maycomb. In Maycomb