In the 1960’s, a book named ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Nelle Harper Lee (pen name: Harper Lee) was published. Sixty years this summer, it remains one of the most loved and read books in the world. The plot and the characters of the book were based on Lee’s observations as a young girl of ten, in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama in 1936. The story, as seen through the eyes of and narrated by a six-year-old girl, Jean Louise Finch, nicknamed Scout, is set during three years of the Great Depression. Little Scout lives with her elder brother Jeremy, nicknamed Jem, and their father Atticus, a middle-aged, mild, and gentle lawyer. His conviction in his beliefs, however, reveal him as strong-willed and just. They live in the fictional, ‘tired old town’ (as Scout sees it) of Maycomb, again, set in Alabama.

Events unfold such that a judge appoints Atticus to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of a serious crime. Maycomb’s citizens disapprove of the notion of a white man defending a black man. However, Atticus agrees to defend Tom. At the trial the jury convict Tom, despite the evidence being in favor of his innocence. Atticus hopes that he can eventually prove Tom’s innocence, but Tom is shot fatally when trying to escape from prison. He was convinced that he was not going to get justice because of who he was and that the offence that he had been accused of was committed against a white person.

Opinion about the book is divided with one of the reasons being that the story of Tom and his family are not developed enough. However, the book succeeds in opening young readers’ minds to the horrific injustice and prejudice faced by the black community, and in turn to be mindful of our own prejudices that build walls and exclude.

The reference to the mockingbird arises with Atticus saying to Scout and Jem, “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

Harper Lee uses the word Mockingbird to describe one who is innocent, and Atticus might have used the reference to ‘Mockingbird’ in allusion to Tom’s innocence.  This makes one wonder if Tom had not been innocent, was he not entitled to a just trial? Irrespective of any aspect, whether it be race, gender, color, etc., justice must be served no matter who asks for it.

Between current times and the time of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, the marked difference is in the reactions of people. In the book, though the jury at the trial knew that Tom was innocent, he was still convicted because his innocence or guilt was immaterial, and they believed that his was a life that was dispensable due to his color. In their world his life did not matter. When Atticus was asked to defend Tom, very few took his side and the rest made their disapproval known. It is 90 years since the incidents that moved Lee to writing the book, occurred. Over the years, a steady flow of incidents has developed and have all had catastrophic consequences.

Now however, in the case of George Floyd in the U.S.A, it isn’t just one mild, soft-spoken man and his quiet courage asking for justice, it is an outpouring of the public, white and black both, asking for justice to be delivered and for law to be without prejudice.

Inspite of the verdict and Tom’s ultimate death, his kin showed Atticus their gratitude for attempting to defend Tom. But justice should not be something you have to be grateful for-instead, it should be a right, something to be expected.

That is one thing that humans as a race should work towards achieving. If in the past, there were so many people dreaming of and fighting for equal rights, why can’t we, as a much more advanced civilization make it a reality?