Analysis of the Criminal Justice System in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

Authors

  • Raghad Alarfaj Department of English Language and Literature, College Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • Mashael Alqahtani Department of English Language and Literature, College Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • Amsha Aldossary Department of English Language and Literature, College Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • Aljazi Alqahtani Department of English Language and Literature, College Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Keywords:

American law, Harper Lee, justice system

Abstract

The American justice system in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird focuses on the 1930’s legal system which did not always give the morally right verdict. This American novel discusses the serious issues in American society, including injustice, racial segregation, racial discrimination, crime and violence. It was first published in 1960. In the story, the court issues a decision guided by prejudice and does not follow the ordinance that justice is to be served equally regardless of race or social circumstances. The novel is analyzed based on the historical approach to understand Harper Lee’s background and how it influenced her writing.

Author Biography

Raghad Alarfaj, Department of English Language and Literature, College Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The authors are BA students from the Department of English Language and Literature, College of Science and Humanities. They are passionate about exploring American novels delving into the intricate narratives and cultural nuances of the genre. Their academic coursework includes British and American literature, poetry, and drama, fostering a comprehensive understanding of diverse literary traditions. This joint paper reflects their shared enthusiasm for literary studies and their commitment to critical inquiry and analysis.

References

Anderson, N. G. "To Kill a Mockingbird: Success and Myths." Critical Insights: To Kill a Mockingbird, edited by Don Noble. University of North Carolina, 2010, pp. 21-37.

Johnson, C. D. Understanding To Kill a Mockingbird. Greenwood Press, 1994.

Karson, J. The Civil Rights Movement. Thomson Gale, 2005.

Khokhar, Muhammad, and G. M. Mashori. “Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird: According to Peter Barry.” Grassroots, vol. 52, no. 2, 2018.

King Jr, Martin Luther. “I Have a Dream.” A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, edited by Clayborne Carson and Kris Shepard, Grand Central Publishing, 2002.

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Heinemann, 1960.

May, Jill P. “In Defense of To Kill a Mockingbird.” Censored Books: Critical Viewpoints, edited by The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1993, pp. 476-84. Reprinted in Novels for Students.

Rapping, J. A. “It's a Sin to Kill a Mockingbird: The Need for Idealism in the Legal Profession.” Michigan Law Review, vol. 114, no. 6, 2016, pp. 847-865, https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol114/iss6/2

Saini, V. “A Critical Study of Lee Harper's Novel To Kill a Mockingbird.” Research Scholar: An International Refereed e-Journal of Literary Explorations, vol. 3, no. 1, Feb. 2015, pp. 392–401, https://researchscholar.co.in/downloads/67-vandana-saini.pdf

Stiltner, MitziAnn. Don’t Put Your Shoes on the Bed: A Moral Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird. 2002. East Tennessee State University, MA thesis. Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/722.

Watanabe, Nancy Ann. "Flashback 4: To Kill a Mockingbird." Love Eclipsed: Joyce Carol Oates's Faustian Moral Vision, Rowman and Littlefield, 2018, pp. 119–134

Winarni, Bekti. Affection and Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee Harper (1960): A Psychoanalytic Approach. 2013. School of Teacher Training and Education, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta, Bachelor Degree Publication Articles.

Downloads

Published

01.01.2019

How to Cite

Alarfaj, R., Alqahtani, M., Aldossary, A., & Alqahtani, A. (2019). Analysis of the Criminal Justice System in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Journal of Teaching and Research in English Literature, 10(1), 3–6. Retrieved from https://journals.eltai.in/index.php/jtrel/article/view/JTREL100102

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2019): January

Section

Research Articles

License

Articles are the intellectual property of the authors. The Journal of Teaching and Research in English Literature does not take ownership of the copyright of any published article. Authors retain the copyright to their articles and may republish these articles as part of a book or other materials. However, while republishing an article published in JTREL, the author must ensure that the following conditions have been met:

  • The source of the publication (the title, volume, number and URL of the Journal) should be acknowledged.
  • The article will remain published on the JTREL website (except on the occasion of a retraction of the article) and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
  • We do not allow the distribution and transmission of plagiaristic works based on the articles that appear in our journal.
  • Readers may not use the articles for commercial purposes unless they get the written permission of the author and publisher. To disseminate copies for commercial purposes, write to editor.JTREL@gmail.com