Theme Of The Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

I thought that the sixteenth to thirty first chapters of To Kill A Mockingbird led the plot from the last five chapters to the climax, the falling action, and the ending well because it continued from the night at the jail before the Tom Robinson trial, the trial itself and the aftermath of it. In this set of chapters, Jem and Scout were in situations that were risky, such as going to the trial. In this portion of the text, Scout is shown to be more exposed to the harsh world than she was in previous chapters. For example, she goes to the trial and sees the injustice of the case and the unfair conviction of Tom Robinson, who is innocent, and the sad lifestyle of Mr. Dolphus Raymond, the town drunk who pretends to be drunk in order to avoid
the judgemental citizens of Maycomb County. These situations show Scout how unfair society can be and is shown to shock her, Dill, and Jem. A stronger example of when she faces the harsh world is when Bob Ewell tried to kill her and Jem, only to be saved by Arthur “Boo” Radley. This incident seemed to have shaken her the most because she could have been killed had it not been for the chicken wire in her ham costume and she kept asking if Jem was dead when he was unconscious. I felt that this portion of the novel showcased Scout’s increased exposure to danger, and her realization of the fact that while looking at the good in society, one must also acknowledge the presence of evil in society. I noticed that in this portion of the text, the most significant quote was said by Atticus, which is interesting because he also did this in the other sets of chapter, showing that he is certainly the most inspirational characters of the novel. When Scout discusses if hating Hitler is okay with Atticus, he says the following quote: “It’s not okay to hate anybody.” I feel that this quote is noteworthy because it is relevant to today’s society and can be applied at any point in time because hate will always exist and is inevitable. Through this quote, the author, Harper Lee, explains that hating people is wrong, no matter how bad they are, like how Atticus didn’t hate Bob Ewell for spitting on him and attempting to kill his children after the Tom Robinson trial. I found this quote to be motivating because it promotes being nice to everyone and being hate free. Although Harper Lee discusses racism throughout the novel, she also addresses other minor themes.
One of the themes discussed in this portion of the text is biracialism, which is mentioned when Scout, Jem, and Dill talk about Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s children, who are biracial because Mr. Raymond is white and fathered a black woman’s children. When the children had a discussion about Mr. Raymond, Jem mentions that he has mixed children, and then Dill comments that he “doesn’t look like trash.” I found Dill’s comment interesting because it shows how some people consider individuals who marry outside their race and have children as trash in that day, even though some think that way to this day. Jem then mentions that Mr. Raymond isn’t trash because he owns all the lands on the side of a riverbank, referencing prejudice indirectly because if Jem didn’t know about Mr. Raymond’s ownership of land, he would have assumed that Mr. Raymond was trash simply because he had mixed children, like how the others in Maycomb County do. Another theme from the novel is prejudice, which is seen throughout the novel when the black people in Maycomb County are treated poorly compared to the white people, especially during the trial. This is also seen when Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s children are said to be “sad” because they don’t belong with the whites or blacks because the whites wouldn’t accept them because they’re coloured, and the blacks won’t accept them because they’re half white. Overall, Lee discussed racism as a major theme of the story, but ingeniously incorporated several other minor themes into the plot in order to teach a variety of morals to the
readers.