Justice in David Williamson's "The Removalist" and Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Essay by dzzlng_07High School, 11th grade June 2006

download word file, 3 pages 5.0

Justice can be defined as the act of determining rights and assigning rewards or punishments. In David Williamson's "The Removalist" and Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird", justice is illustrated as an important theme in the community. "To Kill A Mockingbird" is a story of prejudice and corruption of the legal system. Tom Robinson, an African American, lives in a racist white society and is consequently being wrongfully convicted for raping a white girl, Mayella. The complexity of the justice system derives from the fact that its applications and receptions alter with people of different, race, religion, and economic and social status. This corruption leads to a biased view of society, creating conflicting opinions between the individual and social perspectives of justice.

Justice, over the centuries, has become multifaceted in its application and reception based on one's race, religion and economic and social status. In To Kill a Mockingbird, race determines how law is applied and received.

The jural trial of Robinson's rape acts as an extended metaphor to illustrate not only the contrast of applications of justice for different races, but also what justice really is. Robinson is a symbolic representation of the black community who is clearly disadvantaged under the law despite all "proof of the pudding" supporting him. Lee creates a clear juxtaposition of stereotypes between Tom and Mayella, with Tom not only symbolizing the Negroes, but all the "immoral" characteristics attributed to the black community while Mayella is represented as not only innocent and "fragile" but all the goodness attributed to the white society. This illustrates the biased views upon Negroes and shows the differing applications of justice according to different races. Thus, Robinson does not willingly receive this justice system. He knows that their stereotypical view of his race is...