Civilized and enlightened society today demands and seeks justice, yet it is not served properly and will destroy the innocent and delicate in society, the mockingbirds. No society can be perfect and ideal without any form of injustice since the idea is deeply embedded into human nature and human propensity for bias, intolerance, and bigotry. Injustice and inequality were prevalent in Maycomb, A community in Alabama, due to conflicts between different races, genders, as well as family backgrounds and social status. Harper Lee effectively proves the ubiquity of injustice in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird through the examples of the unlawful trial of Tom Robinson, limited opportunity and rights and stereotypes of women, as well as erroneous rumors and misconceptions about Scout’s neighbors. Racial injustice brings inhumanity and emotional ignorance to people who are subjected to it.
Tom Robinson was deliberately discriminated at the court by being falsely convicted and executed for raping a white girl named Mayella Ewell just because he was black. Gender inequality not only takes away distinction and uniqueness of the women in the neighborhood but also instills stereotyped feminism. Being a woman by definition was considered a sin by the ‘foot-washing Baptists’ and tomboy Scout was constantly to become a lady by the adults in her life. People are judged according to their family backgrounds and social status as prejudice based on those of the people permeate every facet of Maycomb county. Boo Radley was the scapegoat of unpleasant rumors and gossips that were not true.
Justice is barely rendered in this novel since people of Southern United States in 1930’s were highly insensitive and unconscious of considering things from each other’s point of view.
