This is a very special comtroversial story that takes place in a southern state where racism and the Ku Klux Klan are very big factors in the lives of manu inhabiting in the small southern town. It tells the story of two white males who commit a sadistic crime by beating and raping a young black girl and leaving her on the side of the road to die. After this hideous crime was brough to the attention of her father, Carl Lee Hailey, he decides to take justice into his own hands and take the lives of two men whom vicously raped young girl. The killing took place in the courthous and charges of first degree murder were brought against Carl Lee. No one was willing to take the case except for a valorous man by the name of Hake Bragance decided to take the case. This is when the theme of the story starts to unfold.
Throughout the trial racism, prejudice, and mych hate crimes against the black peoplein the community and were inflicted upon the young lawyer and his family throughout the duratrion of the trial. Many people protested and stood for what they believed in. These groups included the hateful Ku Klux Klan and the people who were rooting for Carl Lee and his family. The white-black suject was always a pending issue throughout the noveland though Grisham's writing, he very cogent in how racism is still a huge issue in the United States and how it is one of the biggest stains on the American fabric throughout history.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The entire book was focused on showing was that racism is an oppressive force and how it changed these people's lives. It ruined Jefferson’s chance to live his life it wrecked Jefferson’s trail and poisoned Jefferson’s mind. The attorney used racist comments against the charges and called him stupid, then those comments made Jefferson act…
- 535 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Racism has a history of tarnishing cities, towns, nations, and whole races. In a small town in Vermont, racism tears apart the people and the community. In the book Witness written about a little town in Vermont in 1924. That little town in Vermont represents some of the many towns undergoing the issue of Klan (K.K.K) domination. Two people that experience the Klan violence are Reynard Alexander and Leanora Sutter; both characters go through experiences that similar, but also experience forms of violence that are different.…
- 441 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
But even though this book was emotional and a bit challenging to read, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed his style of writing and telling stories. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone really, but specifically to lawyers, law students, paralegals, but I would really encourage people who are strongly for the continuation of the death penalty to read this book. I was one of those people and this book totally changed my point of view. I feel like this is an important reason the author wrote this book, he wants people to be able to see what’s going on on the inside and change their mind about their views on the justice system, especially on the topic of death row. Which he did accomplish in my opinion, not only did he do that he also made me broadened my understanding of the subject on injustice towards people in our…
- 1330 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
Summary: This story is about racism in the south and how it affects the people it concerns. It starts out with Jefferson being sentenced to death for a crime that he did not commit. He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and because he was…
- 1349 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
Many people followed the idea of white supremacy, which is demonstrated in To Kill A Mockingbird. In the book, tension between people is shown from the very beginning when Harper Lee describes how the people in the town work. The whites primarily stay to themselves and look down on any black people because they believe they are lower than them. During the court case of Tom, racism is clearly shown as the court still finds Tom guilty without evidence. Although not all, most people in the town believe that blacks are beneath whites and that they deserve to be treated as…
- 482 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
First, the interviews in the documentary were well conducted. The interviews were taken of both blacks and whites, as the plaintiff in the court case was black and the defendants were white. Taking two different perspectives on the issue showed the facts and how each side felt and reacted to the crime. These interviews were filmed in many different places, including the Byrd family house (defendant), and the house of one of the suspect’s family, outside of the courthouse where the trial would be held, and various other locations around the town of Jasper. The different locations of the interviews gave different emotions to the story to give opposing viewpoints. The well-conducted interviews was a large reason why the documentary was a quality project.…
- 392 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The main body of the second part of the book is the Tom Robinson case; a black man being convicted of beating and raping a white woman. Because Mr. Robinson can not afford legal council, the presiding judge appoints Atticus as his defense attorney. To the shock of most of the town, and the horror of some, Atticus accepts the case. Because of his accepting the case, much of the community seizes the opportunity to ridicule him, saying that he’s “in the courthouse lawing for niggers” (Lee117). Despite Atticus’ moral code, this is an odd move, for any southern attorney at this time, let alone him. At that point in history, if a white person even thought about persecuting a black person, the accused were nearly guaranteed a trip to either the gallows or the electric chair. The main reason for this is the deep racism that ran through the south at this time; as it were, most of Maycomb wanted Tom Robinson dead, despite the fact that few thought him guilty. The fact that Atticus takes the case clearly shows his opposition to the common idealism.…
- 804 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
A theme in “To Kill A Mockingbird,” could be that you should never judge a person by their color. The way people were judge affected Tom Robinson’s trial because all colored people were treated differently than white people back in the day. Reverend Sykes explained to Jem; “I ain't ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man” (Lee 279). Tom was not going to be charged with the crime. This is because everything that was said on his half proved that he was innocent but judges never choose a colored man over a white man. Further, Tom Robinson was not able to win the trial because he is a colored man. The judge got the piece of paper and says “ ‘Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…’ “(Lee 282). The color of Tom’s skin changed…
- 293 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The Scottsboro boys were nine young men who jumped on a train that was heading out west. “They jumped on the train in search for government work in Memphis, Tennessee” (“Scottsboro Boys” Crime). After getting into a fight with a group of white boys, they got thrown off at the nearest train station. Thinking that the little fight was going to be no big deal, that wasn’t the only thing they were going to get in trouble for. “The assault charges they faced quickly grew much more serious when two female rail-riders, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price, accused the black youths of raping them” (“Scottsboro Boys” Encyclopedia). When the girls were questioned by the police, they claimed that the boys had raped them, which was the most serious offense imaginable during the time of the Jim Crow Laws. The International Labor Defense called Leibowitz to defend the boys in their second trial. A lot of people questioned Leibowitz’s decision to take the case and he quickly received many death threats. “He was assigned five uniformed members of the national guard to protect him” (“Scottsboro Boys” Crime). The boys were put in jail for two years until their second trials. Ruby bates came back and completely changed her story. “She testified that she and Victoria Price had made up the rape story to avoid arrest themselves” (“Scottsboro Boys” Crime). Eventually, all the boys escaped from jail or had been set free.…
- 721 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Altogether, black people, and even people associated with black people in the historical fiction book To Kill a Mockingbird face Social Injustice caused by a majority seeing them…
- 1819 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
I had waited for this trial for what seemed like forever, but was only three weeks. I walked up the glossy, marble stairs leading to the doors of the Maycomb County Courthouse. The smothering sun shone on the stairs. Others waiting to enter stared as I passed, thinking only that I was a cranky, old man who worked at the courthouse. Every day when I walked to my job people would stare at me like they would stare at my psychotic brother. But only if he would come out of the house. The crowd anxiously waited for me to unlock the doors. As I opened them I was trampled by people trying to get good seats for the trial. As always whites were let in first as the blacks were at the back. The blacks sat in the balcony. As the whites got the good seats. When I got to my…
- 627 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The book Arc of Justice by Kevin Boyle is about race and discrimination in the early and mid 1900’s, it is very depressing. The story begins in 1925 Detroit, an ever growing city so tight with racial tension. Dr. Ossian Sweet and his wife Glady’s and fourteen month old girl Iva have moved to a bungalow on Garland Avenue (a mostly white neighborhood) in Detroit. The Sweet’s left the baby at her grandparent's at first, until they were sure they would be safe. He brought along with him nine friends to help protect if needed, and a bagful of guns in a gunnysack. He brought a shotgun, two rifles, and six pistols, and a bulging brown satchel filled with four hundred rounds of ammunition. ₁ The first night they stayed in their house they were terrified, They stayed up all night with their rifles at their sides. Their new neighbors rioted, throwing rocks at the Sweet’s house, breaking glass and scaring everybody in the house. The hired police officers meant to guard the Sweet’s against danger made no effort to stop the mob. Suddenly, someone inside the house shot out into the street, wounding one white man named Eric Houghberg and killing a man named Leon Breiner, and the 11 black adults, including Sweet's wife were taken to jail immediatley and charged with first-degree murder. Under the racial rules of engagement for 1925 America, what should have happened to the group of black defenders is that they all would be dragged from the house into the streets and immediatley lynched. However, the NAACP hired the iconic lawyer, Clarence Darrow to defend them.…
- 936 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee took the world by storm in 1960s with a story about southern racism and discrimination. Although the novel focused on small town life in southern Alabama, it influenced the future and success of the Civil Rights Movement. Harper Lee wrote this novel in a childs point of view at the beginning of the Civil Rights Era when events such as the murder of Emmett Till, the lunch counter sit-ins, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott put Alabama at the center of the movement. Throughout this era there was a great deal of racial discrimination and the expectation that no one would try to argue with the whites assumed authority. In Lees book, the focus is centered on the conviction of Tom Robinson, a poor black man. He was convicted of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a notoriously poor white family in a small town called Maycomb. The protagonists father, Atticus, took on the case but only did so because otherwise, I couldnt hold up my head in town, I couldnt represent this county in the legislature, and I couldnt even tell you or Jem not to do something again. Atticus also struggled with the fact that he had no hope of winning due to the race of his client. Ts morbid, watching a poor devil on trial for his life. Look at all those folks, its like a Roman carnival. At the end of the trial, Tom was convicted and sentenced to death, despite undeniable evidence that he was innocent. These results shocked readers and reminded many of the Scottsboro trials and how unfair they were. In addition, the childs point of view on To Kill a Mockingbird allowed many white southerners to question the way the system was if even a child could point out its flaws. After these realizations, the famous novel was quickly made into a movie, expanding its audience even further. After the movies big debut, several significant events occurred, which shaped the Civil Rights Movement and America as we know it today. For example, within a few years,…
- 543 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Thesis: Carl Lee Haley should be found not guilty because he had Christian morals, he was insane, and his family was the victim in this society.…
- 1345 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
“I want to tell you a story. I 'm going to ask you all to close your eyes while I tell you the story. I want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to yourselves…. Can you see her? Her raped, beaten, broken body soaked in their urine, soaked in their semen, soaked in her blood, left to die. Can you see her? I want you to picture that little girl."…
- 1967 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays