Critical Thinking Question #4

Question: What really hard things are happening in the book?  Are they happening in the world?

   I just finished To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The main issue throughout the whole book is racism. Throughout the book Scout's father Atticus is appointed to be Tom Robinson's lawyer. Tom Robinson is a black man in Maycomb county in Alabama. At school Scout and her older brother Jem are made fun of because their father is Tom Robinson's lawyer. The children at school call their father a black lover, except it wasn't the word "black". It is in constant conversation of how Atticus is the lawyer for Tom Robinson all around town. Then later in the book, Tom Robinson is at trial and accused of rape. The trial continues and all the evidence points towards *SPOILER* Mayella Ewell's(the girl who claimed to have been raped) father of comitting the crime, and there was no solid evidence against Tom Robinson. The jury goes to discuss, and they come back with the decision that Tom is guilty.

        This part really showed the racism to me. There was obviously bias towards Tom being guilty. Even though there was virtually no solid evidence against Tom Robinson, he was still put in prison for life, for a crime he didn't commit and shouldn't have been convicted of doing.

                 Yes, as much as we don't like to admit it, racism is still a issue in today's world. It shouldn't be, but it is. People are still prejudice against certain races. It just doesn't make any sense to me, why would your race be any better than any other race. You think you are better, why because you think your religion is better or just the premise of thinking you are better than someone because you SKIN is a different color. To me the whole idea of racism is absurd. I know I kind went off on a rant, at the end but  there is racism in the book and in real life.