I don't think justice has been served in the novel. Wanting to be a lawyer when I grow up, I had given the definition of justice some good thought, and I think justice is fair or just treatment of a person. The book didn't seem to really resolve the injustice stemming from the eras prejudice and the controversy surrounding Bob Ewell. There was no justice in trying to stab Jem and Scout, nor in being killed. A more just approach would be to put Bob on trial, but since he fell on his knife, there was no justice in that sense. Also, for like of a term, I believe that Tom was slaughtered like a pig. On page 315, to take part of Atticus' quote, "...Seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn't have to shoot him that much..."(Lee 315). To make a text to world connection, in one of the more recent shootings, an officer fired around 30 shots into the wind shield of a car in which a black couple was sitting just because it looked like he was reaching into the car for a gun. There was no gun in that car. In both of these cases, there was no justice. Instead of stopping Tom outside the gates, or calmly escorting the couple out of the car, both groups were shot. Also it is in no way just to convict Tom with evidence. While I like to think that "Evidence is everything in the court of law"(Phoenix Wright[Phoenix Wright:Dual Destinies]), persuasion is everything, both in past and present. Because their "values" were prejudiced, they were persuaded to make the wrong decision. However, I do think when Mr. Tate says"...Let the dead bury the dead," he is correct. While justice was not be served, it now cannot be served.
Do you think justice was served?
I agree with you in the sense that Justice hasn't been served, however I feel it has grown. In the beginning of the book, I imagine Scout as a really little girl asking many simple questions and not understanding much, however now she is understanding sympathy and realizing that there is racism all around her. Along with that, I think justice has partially been served because of the fact that many white people felt sorry for Tom Robinson and really started to feel empathy for African American people.
ReplyDeleteI do not think justice was served. For example Tom Robinson's trial. The jury could have let Tom Robinson go and put Bob Ewell on trial for raping his daughter. Instead they convicted the wrong man, and they are letting Bob Ewell walk the streets of Maycomb and he will continue to abuse his daughter. I agree that shooting Tom Robinson was not getting justice and I think the reason they shot and killed him was because they knew that there was going to be another trial, and he could have been proven not guilty. Knowing this the guards shot him, so that the judicial systems would stay the same and never change. Lastly, I agree that there was no justice in trying to stab Jem or Scout and he only tried to stab them because he was trying to get back at Atticus for defending Tom Robinson.
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