To Kill a Mockingbird Theme of Justice and Judgment

To Kill a Mockingbird presents a judicial system that doesn’t practice what it preaches. Ideally, a jury of one’s peers dispassionately determines guilt or innocence based on the facts; but in practice, according to the novel, what actually happens is that a group of white men not influential enough to get out of jury duty give a verdict they had decided on before they even entered the courtroom. Is there any way for a justice system to overcome the unjust biases of the individuals who carry it out?

1. Does Tom Robinson receive a fair trial under the law? Why are why not?
2. According to the novel, it is ever justified to act outside the law in order to ensure justice? If so, when is it justified? If not, what do you do when the law allows injustice?
3. What’s the novel’s take on the American legal system? What are its strengths, and what are its weakness?

To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that the criminal court system is broken, but that it’s still the best chance for justice.

To Kill a Mockingbird contrasts two kinds of justice – that of the courts and that of individuals – to show that they both have strengths and weaknesses.