Zhang 1

Yining Zhang
Mr. Hakim
English 9
3 November 2014

To Kill a Mockingbird: Journal Response #1

Social justice is one of the main focus that considering in our society. In order to
provide social justice, people need to change their mind of doing injustice things to stand
and view the problem in a more justice position. However, it is definitely not easy to
change an idea that have been widely accepted in public. Specially, when this idea
become a tradition or societal norms, this idea of injustice will be rooted in peoples mind
and become almost unchangeable. It is also determined by age getting harder as people
get older.
The fear and other tensions cause by outside pressure are factors of both
advantage and disadvantage. They push people to fight through process that provide a
better condition from injustice treatment. But nonetheless, the people who owned the
better treatment will not take actions of promoting justice due to the fear of losing their
position that the changes will affect them in a bad way and turn the current situation,
which they have been satisfied, to an unpredictable future. Unless the solving of
problems can somehow relates or provide benefaction to their life.
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the people in Maycomb invariably live a
slowly, leisure life. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores
around it, took their time about everything (Lee 6). The way they live shows the attitude
towards life, they do not accept the change of their life and slowly accept other people

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who are different. The condition of people in Maycomb will not force them to fight for
any change and they do not change themselves automatically, which is discouraged to
promote social justice, because the way they lived have been already became a tradition
of Maycomb long before Scout have been born. As the consequence, the Radleys and
Miss Caroline cannot be fully accepted with their identity of foreign residents, which is
not encouraged social justice for people are like them to have same opportunity or
treatment as native Maycomb residents.
However, the justice is a part of natural human condition that is exist in our
society. In history, there are many example of people going on strike to fight for their
own justice and many great men have contributed their efforts for others. It is more like a
belief of rights instead of reasonable factors determine results. The unfavorable factors
can be a lot, but the desire from the people will break down no matter what that impeded
them from finding or promoting social justice. It might take a long time, but it will never
stop. The things that encouraged me is the feeling of doing the right thing, which the
justice will be found for everyone.

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Work Sited
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1960.
Print.