TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Jose Manuel De Urquidi Human beings can be unfair concerning very important decisions judging the skin color instead of the word of a man. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, skin color tipped the balance of justice to injustice because of people who believed white men are superior and black people can not be trusted.
Racism was a part of life in the mid 1900's, and it was mostly seen in small towns, a perfect example was Maycomb County. A black man, Robinson, was accused by a white man, Mr. Ewell, of raping his daughter. The Ewell's family was known as not having a good reputation in Maycomb County, in fact the whole community saw them as dirt (they lived beside a dump), they didn't have money, education or even a steady job. They lived because people in Maycomb were merciful and donated things to them.
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RobinsonSo, eventhough people knew they were not trustworthy, they thought ANY white men's word was better and had more truth on it over a honest and hardworking man, like was Mr. Robinson.
But, like in all places, there is people who don't care what others say and really want justice to be done. Atticus Finch, a lawyer with a son and a daughter, was that kind of man in Maycomb County. He knew what was right and the correct thing to do, he didn't wanted something unfair to happen. He was appointed to the deffense of Robinson and really believed he was innocent and that Mr. Ewell was telling lies and making his daughter agree with him at court hoping everyone would simpatize with him against Robinson.
After a very long trial, Atticus uncovers very important evidence and makes Mr. Ewell contradict himself and discovers that Robinson is really in fact innocent. He tries hardly to make everyone in court think like him and encourages the judge and the other people to really judge what took place, not judge the skin color of the accuser and of the one being accused.
The trial ended, it had taken several hours for the jury to decide the final veredict. That was good for Atticus because the judges in similar cases hurriedly said the accused (a black man) was guilty. So, after the long trial, Atticus had accomplished to change some of the people's paradigmas and almost managed to throw aside what people thought of black persons on those time. Eventhough, at the end, corruption and racism made the final veredict, Robinson was declared guilty and was sent to jail. (Later, in prison, he tried to escape but was shot dead by the guards).
Eventhough a few people realize what the truth is and try to make justice, the corruption of others makes the final injustice because of skin color. Sometimes people, as Atticus, try to go against the flow and contradict what people think, making them see what is corrects, but in most cases sadly fail.
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