To kill a mockingbird

The inspirational novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee shows us that good men can only do so much in places where evil flourishes. Throughout the novel we are faced with the reality of racial prejudice and injustice in our society and that ‘evil’ runs rampant in places particularly where good men do nothing. Only brave and just men like Atticus Finch attempt to stop the evil from flourishing. The novel also shows us the ultimate price of ignorance and failure to act- another person’s death.
Of all the destructive powers humans possess, none ruin others lives and destroy our humanity like racism does. Racism is the worst kind of prejudice in our society, and as illustrated in “To Kill a Mockingbird” by what befalls upon Tom Robinson; it can ruin people’s lives. An unnecessary evil, it brings down misery in some way to all who harbour or are victim to it. The most apparent victim of racism was Tom Robinson himself. Falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell, by her father Bob Ewell, Tom was brought before a prejudiced, white jury for trial. Despite convincing evidence that proved Tom Robinson was innocent, the prejudiced views of the white jury caused them to prove him guilty. It is unfair that prejudices based on a person’s skin colour should wreak such havoc on their lives, and yet it was once commonplace as shown in TKAM.
Atticus Finch, one of the more moral men in literature, is depicted as a just man whose ideals of equality go against those of his society. Atticus Finch is appointed by the local judge to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. Friends and neighbours object when Atticus puts up a strong and spirited defense on behalf of the accused black man. He decides to defend Tom Robinson because if he did not, he would not only lose the respect of his children and the townspeople, but himself as well. In addition to being a lawyer, Atticus enjoys being a father to Jem and Scout. He teaches his children to be respectful to everyone and treats them as if they are adults. He upholds his teachings as shown when he treats Ms Dubose with respect even when she treated him disrespect when she called him a “nigger-lover”. Throughout the trial, Atticus tried his best to give Tom Robinson a good defense and gave a genuine heartfelt appeal towards the jury in an attempt to clear all the charges against Tom Robinson. Atticus understands that, rather than being simply creatures of good or creatures of evil, most people have both good and bad qualities. The important thing is to appreciate the good qualities and understand the bad qualities by treating others with sympathy and trying to see life from their perspective. He tries to teach this ultimate moral lesson to Jem and Scout to show them that it is possible to live with conscience without losing hope or becoming cynical. Most importantly, Atticus proved to his children, the townspeople and himself that all men are created equal and should be given the same respect as everyone else.

Injustice is also one of society’s ‘evils’ and continues to run rampant in our modern society. In TKAM shows us injustice can be a result of and type of prejudice whether it is racial based. The most obvious example of this was the conviction of Tom Robinson even though his attorney, Atticus Finch proved him innocent to the point beyond doubt. Racial prejudice then influenced the jury’s decision and they convicted him. In their minds Tom Robinson was guilty of the charges the moment he was accused of the crimes. This racial prejudice caused an innocent man to be convicted and is an injustice. Another example of justice is the treatment of Boo Radley. Everyone thought he was a savage recluse who had hurt his own father and was a serial stalker. This is a type of injustice as they do not even know his true personality which in reality is a kind hearted man. TKAM shows us that injustice if be allowed to flourish can be devastating and people must at least try to stop it.
TKAM has shown us that ‘evil’ can flourish in places where good men do nothing. Injustice and racial prejudice is shown to be flourishing in our society and only moral men like Atticus Finch can only attempt to vanquish it entirely. It seems that we can only do so much in society to stop the ‘evil’ from permeating our society.