Theme Of Accountability In To Kill A Mockingbird

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD What aspects of a person determines their accountability for the choices they made when put under great stress? In the text “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee, the author, discusses the underlying themes of accountability through the portrayed characters that were most closely involved with the case of a black man’s trial. The story, told by a young girl, whose father, Atticus Finch, is the defense attorney for the defendant, Tom Robinson, during the time of extreme racism in Alabama. The case demonstrates how everyone has a little bit of villain within them, when this innocent man is accused of rape and framed for assault, by a father and daughter, Bob and Mayella, and as a result of people's actions, it costs him his
This goes to show that no matter how ethical an individual is, they can never completely eliminate the bigotry that was forced upon them as an infant. Another example of a character who has an upbringing they just cannot seem to escape, would be Tom Robinson. Since childhood, it has followed him around that his life is worth less than whites, and if push comes to shove, no one would have a problem with using him as a scapegoat. Even if they knew full well he was innocent. Atticus explains to his children why Tom was convicted this way; “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins”(220). This phrase makes it clear that a well educated man is fully aware of the godawful racism that always shadows Tom, and all other blacks. In a society such as this, it would be nearly impossible for people of different colours to be capable of trusting white men, and likely cause them to make rash decisions. When Atticus is questioning Tom about the night he supposedly raped Mayella Ewell, he mentions the fact that Tom ran, and asks him, “Why were you scared?. ”Tom response is simple, but disheartening; “Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you’d be scared too” (195). Tom confessing his utter fear of being punished for his ethnicity just goes to show how he has been taught nothing
These bold allegations imply not only that, in a panic, Mayella fabricated her testimony, but that she in fact had motive to do so out of fear for her life at the hands of her father. Just so, it may have been her father's responsibility that she felt threatened to, yet he intentions were purely evil to degrade Tom’s life as less than hers. Nonetheless, no matter what the circumstances, it is undoubtedly inhumane to willingly sacrifice another's life in pace of your own. Another defining moment of one’s intentions was made evident by Atticus. Unwavering, he stood behind the law whenever it suited him, but simultaneously, he desired to alter it. He speaks to the flaws of the justice system:
“The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime
Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant”