"‘your human beings also ties into the theme

“‘ Your father’s right,’ she said. “ Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.

They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”‘ (Lee 90). In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, siblings Jem and Scout Finch grow up in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama. There they witness racial inequality and injustice. By analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader can learn that racism, the moral nature of human beings, and social status relate to the theme of justice and fairness.

In Maycomb, most of the people are racist. “ It’s just as much Maycomb County as missionary teas.” (Lee 212).

In this quote, Atticus talks to Aunt Alexandra about the unfair outcome of the trial. It is unusual for Atticus to be bitter about something. The emotion is obvious though, and the towns’ hypocrisy is evident as he is suggesting that prejudice is a usual occurrence as the afternoon teas that the missionary circle holds. Tom is guaranteed to lose his trial because he is a black man accused by a white woman “‘ Link that boy might be going to the chair, but he’s not going till the truth’s told’ Atticus’s voice was even. ‘ And you know what the truth is.’” (Lee 146).

Mr. Tate and some other men come to the Finch house to talk to Atticus about the Tom Robinson case. There’s some tension so Jem shouts that the telephone is ringing. Atticus knows that Tom losing that trial is likely, but getting the truth out would still be an accomplishment. The moral nature of human beings also ties into the theme of justice and fairness. Scout and Jem assumed that people were good just because they never encountered evil. Now that they have seen evil, they must put it into their understanding of the world. “‘ Thank who?’ I asked.

‘ Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.’ My stomach turned to water and I nearly threw up when Jem held up the blanket and crept toward me. ‘ He sneaked out of the house- turn ’round- sneaked up, an’ went like this!” (Lee 72). This is after Miss Maudie’s house caught on fire and Atticus was wondering where the blanket on Scout’s shoulders came from.

Scout is frightened to know that Boo Radley was right behind her. Though she begins to understand that he is just trying to protect her and also to be friends with her. Boo gains the sympathy of Scout in this passage. Tom Robinson wasn’t ready for his evil and it destroyed him. “‘ They shot him’ said Atticus.

‘ He was running. It was during their exercise period.’” (Lee 235). Atticus was telling Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra about what happened to Tom Robinson.

Tom never harmed anyone, yet he was convicted anyway and was awaiting his trial in a prison. Atticus believed that Tom hated being imprisoned for a crime he didn’t do and was stressed about the situation and led Tom to run. Scout learns what social class is and how it influences justice.

Scout announces that she’s going to invite Walter Cunningham to dinner and her Aunt gets upset with her, so Jem takes Scout to his room to cheer her up. “‘ There are four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes. …

Our kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells despise the colored folks.’” (Lee 226). Scout reaches her own conclusion of “ Everybody’s gotta learn, nobody’s born knowing… Naw, Jem, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” (Lee 227). In, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s theme of justice and fairness is related to racism, moral nature, and social class. Tom was given an unfair trial from the start, just because he was a black man accused by a white woman.

Scout and Jem learned that good and evil is not black and white. Tom Robinson was killed because of the evilness of some people. The social class of Maycomb had a big effect on the outcome of the trial and in the minds of the people. Therefore, the theme of justice and fairness was the most important theme in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird.