Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Racism is a trait in life that no one can permanently wipe out from society and the world. Racism was always part of human society and will always remain an aspect of life. No matter how hard someone tries to get rid of racism, it will always fail. One novel that provides an explicit view of racism is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. In the novel, Scout, the main character tries to understand racism portrayed in the meanest way in her own home town. After witnessing a cruel aspect of racism, Scout learns that unlike her previous thoughts of her town and the world, no one is unbiased and sometimes, not even fair places like the courthouse can stop them. Many parts in Lee’s novel can be related to many scenes in modern America, like the Scottsboro
Trials, unfair treatment of African Americans, and even Lee’s own personal life. The similarities between Lee’s novel and real-life events connect and enhance the vivid and striking scenes of reality and racism in the southern United States.
One apprehensible similarity that connects Lee’s novel and real-life events is the trials of Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro Boys. One similarity between the trials of Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro Boys was the quick timeframe it took to sentence them to death. Both Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro Boys were accused of raping white girls, which is punishable by death in Southern courts. Despite having the best lawyers in the country, Robinson and the boys were found guilty and sentenced to death. The article “Scottsboro Boys Case” summarizes most of the boys’ fates. It reads, “The accused were shackled and taken to Scottsboro, the Jackson County seat […] On April 9, a judge sentenced the eight convicted defendants to death by electrocution” ( “Scottsboro” par. 2). Similarly, the trial of Tom Robinson was quick, lasting for about a day. Lee wrote, “When this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson. The foreman handed a piece of paper to Mr. Tate who handed it to the clerk who handed it to the judge […] Judge Taylor was polling the jury: ‘Guilty … guilty … guilty… guilty’” (211). Both defendants had their fates sealed the moment they entered the courthouse. The jury did not need mounting evidence to prove they were guilty. Their minds had already done the job for them. The Southern United States during the 1930s was filled with depression and anger. White people were eager to vent out their anger on a vulnerable, easy target. To them, African Americans were the perfect match. Also in the South, if an African American man raped a white woman, he is automatically guilty in a white man’s eyes, no matter what. According to white men, Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro Boys were the perfect man to get rid of. All they need was a catalyst, and rape was the best one. This similarity highlights the extreme form of racism that existed in modern America, one that no African American can escape. In both of these cases, racism prevailed over law and evidence, and eventually, justice. Another similarity between the trials of Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro Boys were the questionable witnesses that lied to the courts in order to save face. In the Scottsboro Trials, Ruby Bates initially collaborated with Victoria Price, her partner on the train to accuse the Scottsboro Boys of raping them. However, after she noticed her lies and that she along with Price convicted the boys, she knew she had enough. She decided to then stand as a witness for the defense, testifying that she lied to the initial court in order to avoid arrest. The article “People and Events: Ruby Bates, 1915-1976” explains why she decided to switch sides by noting, “Having a crisis of conscience, she sought out Reverend Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor of Riverside Church, whose picture she had seen and found trustworthy.
They met, and he convinced her to return to Alabama to testify” (“Ruby Bates” par. 6). Similarly, the key witness to the Tom Robinson Trial, Mayella Ewell, showed signs of lying and fabrication during her testimony. When Atticus, Tom’s lawyer cross-examined her, she was angry at him just for treating her like a lady. Mayella said, “I got somethin’ to say an’ then I ain’t gonna say no more. That nigger yonder took advantage of me an’ if you fine fancy don’t wanta do nothin’ about it then you’re all yellow stinkin’ cowards […] Your fancy airs don’t come to nothin’-your ma’amin’ and Miss Mayellerin’ don’t come to nothin’, Mr. Finch” (Lee 188). Both Ruby Bates and Mayella Ewell were groomed for court. They had never been to the courthouse before, nor been treated like a Southern lady. As a result, they were afraid that they will lose. However, Victoria Price and Bob Ewell forcibly coached them to speak whatever they said in court. Bates initially spoke for Price because she knew that refusing to speak will mean admitting that she was illegally transiting on a train and will go to jail. However, she realized that what she has been doing was wrong, morally and ethically. As a result, she decided to go back and testify for the defendants. Mayella Ewell
was forced to speak for Bob Ewell because she knew that she would be beaten up if she did not do anything. Also, she did not want people to know that it was she that started the relationship between her and Tom. When Atticus cross-examined her, the anger and regret in Mayella’s body rose so quickly that she lashed at him for being rude towards her. Mayella wanted her testimony to stop. The only way to get out of the witness chair was to cry and run towards her seat. Mayella did just that. The similarity between Ruby and Mayella highlights the questionable evidence the prosecution has in trying to convict the defendants. However, for the jury, no one has to say a word. An African man is guilty, regardless. This shows that racism can prevail over evidence, no matter how questionable or wrong the evidence is. A third similarity between the trial of Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro boys was the plight two great lawyers had in defending African Americans in a crowd of racist and angry white men. Samuel Leibowitz and Atticus Finch were two of the best lawyers that were chosen to defend the Scottsboro Boys and Tom Robison. However, they failed, not because of their skills, but because of racism and hatred.
As one of the country’s best criminal lawyers, Leibowitz initially hoped that with his help and expertise, all the Scottsboro Boys would be acquitted. However, he came to realize that even his knowledge cannot break the racism in the South. Trial after trial, his reason lost to passion and hatred. The article, “People & Events: Samuel Leibowitz, 1893 – 1978” explains Leibowitz’s anger towards the South and its way of life. Angry at Thomas Knight, the prosecutor, Leibowitz argued, “Even the dumbest cop […] would have spotted those two as tramps and liars. You know damn well they lied that day at the Paint Rock station and the Price girl has been lying ever since. Now you want me to plead three or four of the boys guilty of something they never did” (“People & Events” par. 1). Similarly, Atticus Finch was one of the best lawyers in Maycomb County. In the courthouse, his cross-examinations of Heck Tate, Bob Ewell, and Mayella Ewell were extremely effective. However, like Leibowitz, Atticus was unable to persuade the court to turn away from racism and listen to reason. At the end of the trial, Atticus understood why he failed to acquit Tom
Robinson. He told Jem, “They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again” (Lee 213). In a normal courthouse, the two lawyers will win their cases and the defendants will be freed. However, in the same courthouse filled with racism and hatred, passion wins, no matter how logical one can get. The case is very simple. It is racism versus reason. Both lawyers initially provided sound evidence that would be enough to acquit the defendants. However, racism prevented reason from passing through, resulting in the defendants’ conviction. The similarities in both lawyers show how racism wins in all cases. If a lawyer with years of experience proves unable to break racism, nothing can. It is almost impossible to change a racist man’s heart. Even if a lawyer tells them that the other side is lying, they will not care. In terms of racism, Lee’s novel is strikingly similar to real-life events, racism triumphs over reason, a major irony in what is supposed to be a fair and just court system.
Another similarity between Lee’s novel and real-life events is the similarities between Scout and Lee’s own personal life. In the novel, Scout’s childhood parallels Lee’s childhood in that both girls shared similar traits. Both Lee and Scout acted in ways not known to a girl in the 1930s, more like a tomboy. During the summer, Lee often played around with her siblings and friends. The article “Harper Lee” illustrates a quote about Lee’s childhood. Lee remarked, “We had to use our own devices in our play, for our entertainment. We didn't have much money . . . . We didn't have toys, nothing was done for us, so the result was that we lived in our imagination most of the time. We devised things; we were readers and we would transfer everything we had seen on the printed page to the backyard in the form of high drama” (“Harper” par. 2). Similarly, Scout’s childhood was filled with happiness and adventure. To Scout, summertime is the only place where she can run free and forget about reality. She said, “Summer was on the way; Jem and I awaited it with impatience. Summer was our best season: it was sleeping on the back screened porch in cots, or trying to sleep in the treehouse; summer was everything good to eat; it was a thousand colors in a parched landscape (Lee 34). Both Lee and Scout enjoyed their childhoods. They had fun, played with their imaginations and forget about school and reality. For just three months of the year, there was no school, no worry, only a day of wonder and joy lying ahead. This similarity shows the remarkable commonalities one can share in a work of literature. By adding traces of one’s childhood into his/her own novel, it brightens the image and shows how powerful the plot is for the author and the reader. Adding parts of a childhood also shows how meaningful the overall plot is for the reader, thereby adding a sense of power to the novel’s overall theme of racism. Another commonality Scout and Lee shared was their friend. Dill was Scout’s summertime friend while Truman Capote and Scout played for many years in Monroeville. Every summer, Truman Capote would vacation in Monroeville with his relatives. The moment Lee saw Capote, they became the best of friends. The article “Truman Capote Biography” paints a picture on how Lee and Capote played and defended each other. It read, “Lee found Capote to be a delight, calling him "a pocket Merlin" for his creative and inventive ways” (“Truman Capote” par. 3). Likewise, Dill visited Maycomb and Scout every summer, yearning for adventure and happiness. Scout enjoyed his company and appreciated his enormous library of literary characters stored in his mind. Scout said, “Dill was a villain’s villain: he could get into any character part assigned him, and appear tall if height was part of the devilry required (Lee 39). Both Capote and Dill came from troubled families. Therefore, their times spent at Monroeville were the best times they had ever seen in their childhood. Their friendships with Lee and Scout took them to the next level of friendship, one that will always stay true and unbroken forever. Capote and Dill were the complete opposites of normal boys during the time period. They do not curse, hunt, and play sports. Instead, they are shy, reserved, and smart. As a result, they needed Lee and Scout to guide them through their time in Monroeville and Maycomb. Without them, Capote and Dill would be lonely and afraid during their stay, with uncertainty lying ahead them. Dill’s innocence was eventually washed away, when he gawked at the injustice taking place in Maycomb, This similarity proves the importance of including personal experiences in novels to illustrate a point. Lee added Dill to say that racism affects everyone, including Dill and Scout, especially when Dill cried at the courthouse. Dill’s scenes as a child and a maturing man at the courthouse show that racism can totally transform a child, from immature and playful, to sad and surprised.