Essay on To Kill a Mockingbird

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Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, focuses on the issue of hypocrisy using specific characters and incidents. Hypocrisy is shown evidently when Tom Robinson, who is wrongly convicted of beating and raping Myella Ewell, is found guilty even though all the evidence is clear that he did no such thing. Another example is Miss. Gates, Scouts teacher discusses about how Hitler persecutes the Jews and how wrong he is for doing that, but she doesn’t realize that white people are also persecuting black people. Finally at Aunt Alexandra’s party with her friends, Mrs. Merriweather refers to the northerners as “hypocrites” for not being equal to their black and says that down south blacks have equal rights, but doesn’t see how they really treat them. Harper Lee demonstrates hypocrisy with characters and sense throughout To Kill a Mockingbird.
In the novel, Tom Robinson is accused of beating and raping Myella Ewell, but all the evidence shows opposite. This shows how even though a black man is innocent, a white man’s word is accepted and not the one who is right, just because of their color. The Judicial system is very hypocritical about how they proceed in their way of law because they are supposed to offer equal rights to all men in the court, but instead they show prejudice. Having all the evidence in their hands and being able to do the right choice of not accusing Tom guilty, they decide to anyways. Atticus is able to prove Toms innocence by making Bob Ewell write his name his name on an envelope, “Would you write your name for us...You’re left-handed, Mr. Ewell” (149). Tom Robinson was accused of something that really wasn’t, however because he’s black, he is found guilty.
In chapter twenty six, Miss Gates gives information regarding Adolf Hitler and his evil actions toward the Jews and disagrees, but doesn’t see that in Maycomb County they are doing the same to black people. She states “We are a democracy,” and asks to the class for a definition, when Scout says “Equal rights for all, special privileges for none” (208). Then she tells the kids how Germany is dictator- ship and clarifies, “Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution come form people who are prejudiced.” (209). To finish she quotes, “There are no better people in the world then the Jews, and why Hitler doesn’t think so is a mystery to me” (209). Miss Gates mentions how the Jews are being persecuted by Hitler, but she doesn’t realize that the same is going on when they decide to persecute a black man for something that he hasn’t done.
During Aunt Alexandra’s missionary circle with her friends, Mrs. Merriweather calls people from the north “hypocrites,” they don’t treat black people right and argues that in the south
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