There is a scene in the classic legal drama "The Proud Wife", where the heroine Alicia chats with her colleagues and asks why they chose to be lawyers, and the other party replies: "Because of "Kill a Mockingbird". Alicia smiled and said, "Yeah, that book created a lot of lawyers." ”
The literary work To Kill a Mockingbird succeeded in shaping the image of a lawyer of integrity and bravery, Anddix, who inspired generations of Americans to join the judiciary and aspire to be An Atticus-like figure.
At the heart of the story, Atticus chose to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. Through wonderful cross-examination, Atticus proves to the jury that Tom could not have committed rape. But the jury of 12 white men still chose to convict Tom.
Although Atticus lost the case, he succeeded in stirring people's hearts, and they began to examine their attitudes towards black people.
In the American mind, Atticus is a model of moral perfection, the embodiment of justice, a synonym for high moral character. The American Film Institute voted the Greatest Screen Heroes in 2013, with Addiks at the top of the list.
Why is Atticus so embraced and loved by Americans, and even regarded as a legal hero?
From the book we can get a glimpse of one or two.
But in this country, in a sense, all men are created equal—there is an institution of human society that allows beggars and members of the Rockefeller family to sit on an equal footing, fools and Einsteins to distinguish between inferiority and inferiority, and ignorant people and university presidents. This kind of institution, gentlemen, is the court—it can be the supreme court of the federal government of the United States, it can be the most basic magistrate's court, or it can be the noble and sacred court that you are now serving. Our courts are also flawed, no social institution is an exception, but in this country our courts are great egalitarians. In our courts, all men are created equal.
This passage comes from Addix's closing statement. Although the first sentence of the U.S. Constitution speaks of equality for all, and although the Civil War advocated the abolition of slavery, the Southern United States during the Great Depression still practiced a strict system of apartheid, and people were divided into three, six, and nine equals, which is a tacit fact in people's minds.
But the courts represent the authority and sanctity of the judicial system and should not be biased, and all are equal before the law. But at that time, the jury was made up of white people, women were excluded, and prejudice had long existed. Atticus called for a return to the truth and respect for the truth, and Tom was a crippled man with a crippled left hand, and he could not have committed such a heinous crime. Jury members can privately disagree, but in the face of the law, they should let go of their preconceived notions, respect the spirit of the judiciary, and treat suspects objectively, rationally and fairly.
Contrary to wishes, there have always been people in history who say that two plus two equals four have been sentenced to death, and there have always been those who have been executed in the name of justice.
After Tom's death, Underwood, the editor of the local authoritative newspaper, published a fierce editorial attacking Tom's death, bluntly saying that the act was sinful and tantamount to killing a mockingbird.
Gradually, I understood What Mr. Underwood meant: Atticus took everything a free man could to save Tom Robinson, but there was no lawsuit at all in the secret court of hearts. From the moment Mayera Yuell opened his mouth and shouted, Tom was dead.
Tom is a victim of discrimination and prejudice, and race is his original sin.
Near the end of the story, Bob Yuel has a grudge against Atticus and actually kills two unarmed children, Scutt and Jem are saved by the strange neighbor Radley, and Yuel screams for his life.
At first, Atticus believes that Jem stabbed Yuel to death during the fight and insists on taking Jem to court to defend himself in defense. However, this was strongly opposed by the police officer Tate, saying that Yuel had committed his own sins and could not live, and tripped on his own blade and died.
Atticus thinks Tate said this because he wanted to protect Jem, only to realize that the person Tate really protected was the freak Radley.
At this point, Atticus was extremely conflicted: if Radley was brought to court, it would be the death of another robin, then he was an accomplice; if Yuell's death was considered to be accidental, then what did the law mean to him?
Atticus said, "But before I accept others, I must first accept myself. There is one thing that cannot follow the principle of conformity, and that is the conscience of man. ”
This time, he chose to follow his conscience. The law is not perfect, and sometimes justice is done to break the boundaries defined by the law.
Some people may lash out at Atticus for handling this matter a bit double-standard, but this does not prevent him from becoming a heroic figure. Atticus is a flesh-and-blood man, with arguments and compassion, and most importantly, he is firmly opposed to killing a mockingbird in any form, and does his best to protect vulnerable people like Tom and Radley, who are good at heart but easy to be hurt by others.
Robins just hum beautiful music for people to enjoy and do nothing bad. They don't eat the flowers, fruits and vegetables grown in people's yards, nor do they nest in the barn, they just sing for us. So killing a robin is a crime.
Remember, killing a mockingbird is a crime.
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