Poetic Justice is a term that describes a character getting what he deserves, in the end, especially if what he deserves is punishment. Poetic justice is a big literary element in To Kill a Mockingbird. It really balances out the ending of the novel
In the book Bob Ewell is the town drunk. He is the one of the poorest persons in Maycomb. He is racist and prejudice against colored people. He beat up his daughter savagely because she kissed a black man. Then, Bob Ewell accused Tom Robinson a black man of raping his daughter. This was taking to trial and Atticus Finch was the defense attorney for Tom Robinson. The trial seemed to be a tug-of-war between the attorneys. The trial continues throughout the day and Tom Robinson is found guilty of raping Mayella Ewell. Tom was not in his right mind when he heard this. Atticus promised an appeal so they could have another chance. But, they would never get that chance. The next day Tom ran from the jail and tried to climb the fence to escape. The jail guards saw him in the act and told him to stop, but he didn’t listen so they shot a warning shot. He still kept going, and then the guards shot him and killed him.
Bob Ewell got an innocent man killed which would lead to bad karma. At the end of the novel Bob Ewell tries to kill Scout and Jem, but Boo Radley saves them and kills Bob. This really balanced the story.
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