To Kill A Mockingbird Injustice Analysis

Injustice In All Shapes And Sizes

Out of many reoccurring themes in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, injustice proves itself the most extensive. In the small southern town of Maycomb, populated by both blacks and whites, several situations involve great injustice. One will see injustice practiced by a person making quick assumptions or judgments, as well as one possessing a prejudiced or predetermined bias. Whether a minor situation or one in a courtroom, injustice is always wrong. The common theme of injustice displays itself through a number of vastly different scenarios, such as Aunt Alexandra’s quick judgments about Walter Cunningham, the Finch’s unique experience at Calpurnia’s church, and the people of Maycomb’s biased verdict of Tom Robinson.
The first example of injustice involves Scout wanting to invite Walter Cunningham over to play. Aunt Alexandra does not approve of the older Cunninghams, for many reasons. However, this does not mean she should assume Walter is the same as the rest. “But I want to play with Walter, Aunty, why can’t I?’ She took off her glasses and stared at me. ‘I’ll tell you why,’ she said. ‘Because---he---is---trash, that’s why you can’t play with him’”(256). While talking with Scout, Aunt Alexandra jumps to a hasty conclusion saying Walter is “trash”. Harsh comments
like this should not be said about a person one does not know. Scout only wanted to treat Walter with kindness by inviting him over to play. Instead of realizing Scout’s true motive, Aunt Alexandra jumps to an insensitive conclusion and treats Walter unjustly.
As well as jumping to harsh conclusions, injustice also appears when race gets in the way. "Stop right there, nigger.' Lula stopped, but she said, 'You ain't got no business bring in' white chillun here---they got their church, we got our'n'"(136). Jem and Scout's experience at Calpurnia's church was not a pleasant one. Lula, Calpurnia's fellow churchgoer, hated the Finch children for attending. For one particular reason... their Race. God makes everyone different; hating someone because of their race is inappropriate. Often people forget this and immediately judge because of the person’s racial differences. Instead of immediately shunning the Finch children because of their skin color, Lula should have put the race aside and looked deeper at their hearts.
Lastly, injustice appears when people have a preconceived bias. The false conviction of Tom Robinson is an example of this because the people of Maycomb walked into the courtroom with prior bias towards Mayella Ewell. She is white therefore she must be right. This caused everyone to vote "Guilty...guilty...guilty.."(240). These votes changed an innocent man’s life, all because of a prior bias. All evidence and testimonies were presented and even a small protest from Mr. Link Deas saying Tom did not cause a "speck of trouble", but because of a set bias people still chose a guilty verdict. Especially in a court room, one should leave all opinion behind and listen to the evidence given in order to decide whether or not the suspect is guilty. Injustice occurs when one has a strong preconceived idea about another.
Walter, Jem, Scout, and Tom are all very different because God created everyone unique. Therefore, one should not treat another unjustly because it would be the equivalent to treating God with injustice. Aunt Alexandra, Lula, and the people of Maycomb, unfortunately did not avoid these forms of injustice. In Tom’s case, this caused his life and family to never be the same. One should strive to avoid jumping to hasty, insensitive conclusions, put the race aside, and leave all prior biases behind and look deeper at one’s character. Be careful because injustice comes in all shapes and
sizes.