Introduction
To Kill a Mockingbird is a book filled with quotes that have one meaning or another. However, there are quotes that not only have value in conveying the meaning of the book, but that hook the reader and make them think about many things, such as “There is one way in this country in which all men are created equal – there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is the court” (Lee 201).
Analysis of Atticus’s Message
A lawyer’s speech should be unique, sounding firm, clear, and compelling, but the author also uses this quote to explain what equality is and why equality is so important in court. After all, judging someone based on how unequal they are compared to others can be considered biased, unfair, or both. This is what Atticus Finch is referring to when he tells the others that they are falsely accusing an innocent man and that for anyone to respect the court, it must first be fair.
Even though Atticus failed at his task, he raised his children correctly. His children are likely to fight injustice in the same way, and Finch’s speech should have made many people aware of their unfair treatment, the racism that the book compares to sin. Because the people of the small town turned against Tom Robinson, not because they genuinely disliked him, but because they believed they were stronger than he was. They believed they had every right to lynch him, hate him, judge him, and sentence him to death, and that no one could stop them, that no one would be outraged, that these people were wrong, and that they were murderers and monsters.
Conclusion
To sum up, people can see that Atticus was right, even though most people thought he was insane. It begs the question of whether there is an Atticus in our lives now, warning us that we are doing wrong or remaining silent while injustice occurs, but we do not hear him. Perhaps it appears to us that the one who addresses us is asking us to look at ourselves from the outside and that the person is lying to us, attempting to defame us, and that only we are correct. Sometimes we have to pay dearly for our mistakes; there is only one hope that even today, people like Atticus try to reach us, and perhaps someone will listen to them after all.
Work Cited
Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. 50th ed., HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.