Justice broadly means the fulfilment of legitimate expectation of the individual under law and to assure him the things which he or she deserves. Justice, in true sense, tries to minimise the gap between the individual rights and the social good. It mainly emphasizes on the concept of equality and fairness amongst the human beings. It demands that no discrimination should be made among various members in the society.
Unfortunately, when we are asked questions like “Can there be justice for all?” and “Can there be equality for all people?”, the answer to this question is no. We live in a world where justice has never really emerged. Since long time, the tales of racism is widely heard. In our country too, the caste system discriminated various levels in the society.
However, I do agree that it is natural to most of us that we should desire to reward a noble act and punish an evil one. Yet, it is important to remember that society does not give equal rewards to all people all of the time. There is no possible way to keep track diligently of every good or bad act and consistently reward or punish respectively. The definitive of justice words seem simple, such as, “one good deed deserves another,” or “justice consists in rendering to each his due,” but the interpretation of such justices is not clear.
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To define justice it is very essential to refer to the root idea of the word “Just” meaning joining or fitting. Thus it carries meaning of cementing human beings together. The values of liberty equality and fraternity are important in any system of law and justice. Therefore, there is need for a constant process of adjustment between the conflicting claims of liberty, equality and fraternity in a society. Thus, justice reconciles the claims of one person with another.
The definition of justice varied from person to person and also has evolved over time. Hence, it is essential to examine the concept from the time of ancient Greece to the present day. Like in ancient Greek, Aristotle explains justice as,
“Justice is a virtue practiced toward other people, and it is the whole of virtue, not just part of it. Just as the state is prior to the individual, so justice, being a virtue that is practiced toward others, is more related to the community than a particular virtue of some other name might be.”
Most of us today would view the concepts of ancient Greece and the Middle Ages as barbaric. The most striking difference between modern justice and that of previous eras is our conception of egalitarianism. Nearly all societies today at least give lip service to the idea that all people are considered equal before the law. And to ensure this fact, societies have developed separate organs(basically legislature, executive and judiciary) to perform the state functions.
Literature can be the means of understanding as well as creating our world—by teaching and reinforcing society’s laws, articulating its values, and enforcing the social contracts that unite us as a culture. The movies and books that we referred in the class embodies stories various contexts and enriches our determination to pursue justice and take apt action on injustice.
“The Purloined Letter”, authored by Edgar Allan Poe, is a good detective story. It turns away from action towards intellectual analysis. On the one side, a ruthless criminal. On the other, a bumbling policeman. In the middle: a brilliant detective. We know for sure that Dupin could be a very successful criminal. The parallels between Dupin’s purloining and D—’s purloining are, well, not exactly subtle. He seems to have four major motivations: money, political and personal loyalty to the royal lady, and the desire to show off.
He cares just as much about out-detecting the police detectives and outwitting D— as he does about seeing justice done. After all, how long has he had this letter? Was he just sitting on it waiting for G— to come back, or did he only decide to hand it over because he needed the money? There is no exact answers to these questions. In one scene, the government official is stealing and is thus corrupt, but in a different scene, this stealing is ethical as it is motivated by the idea of distributive justice.
In fact, we don’t even know if getting the letter back to the royal lady will serve justice, and we really don’t know that Dupin cares about justice at all. As G— says, if that letter is made public, it “would bring in question the honour” of the royal lady. So, Dupin is basically working against D— to help the royal lady hide a scandal from her husband and possibly king.
On the other hand, I am not saying it’s right or nice for D— to steal letters and use them to blackmail people. But we do want to point out that there don’t seem to be any “innocent” people in this story, Dupin included. What matters is who plays the game most skillfully—and, so far, it seems to be Dupin. He has hit two birds with a stone. One he has completed his duty and the other is that he has gained money by handling the letter to the prefect. But on the other side he has purloined the letter.
The movie “V for Vendetta” conveys justice as fairness. V for Vendetta is a film based on a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and David Lloyd in 1982. Through the plot and motifs presented in the film, we gain insights into the idea of justice. The director, James McTeigue leaves V’s act of justice in the film unjustified, and guides the audience to interpret it themselves. V as the protagonist in the film, is critical to the representation of justice, because the film portrays the definition of justice through V’ s actions. The Guy Fawkes mask depicts the main adumbration of justice in the film. V wears a Guy Fawkes mask throughout the film, not only to hide his identity, but also to bequeath the idea of being a superhero to the audience.
V shares the mask with the public and invites them to attend the 5th November protest. The mask is representation of political justice. These scenes suggest to the audience that all people should have the right to fight for political justice. V kills “ The voice of London”, Lewis Protherol. Protherol’ s rant on V suggests to the public that no on escapes judgement, which is irony to himself getting killed after. It was an act of personal justice, because Protherol was a commander in the Larkhill detention camp.
Detective Finch investigates Dr. Surridge’ s diary and reveals to the audience how V was taught to obey orders through violence. The same way V pursues justice by killing people who were involved in the Larkhill detention camp. Through the voice of V, the speech given by V on British Televison Network further advocates the idea that all people should have the right to fight for political justice. V alleged the government of oppressing the people, and justice should be attained through the power of the people. This justice he is suggesting to the people is not violence, but is the power of the truth.
Justice is an important theme in To Kill a Mockingbird, in which Scout confronts difficult truths about bias and racism within her community. She learns that while the courts can be a potential source of justice, there are also other ways of achieving justice outside the courtroom.
In his closing remarks during Tom Robinson’s trial, Atticus tells the jury, “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.” In this idealized vision, a jury would deliver justice by issuing a decision guided by reason rather than passion. Their judgment would treat all individuals equally, regardless of their race or social circumstance, because equality and lack of prejudice are essential preconditions to justice. Even though Atticus suggests the courtroom should be a institution of justice, the failure of the legal system to provide an equal trial suggests that characters must look for other ways to achieve justice.
The most obvious victim of injustice in Mockingbird is Tom Robinson, who is wrongfully convicted for the rape of Mayella Ewell. Although Atticus has hopes for his appeal, Tom is shot and killed while trying to escape prison. His death ensures that he will never receive justice through the legal system. Although many people in Maycomb were against Tom, there are also several people who see his conviction and death as terrible miscarriages of justice. Although many people in Maycomb were against Tom, there are also several people who see his conviction and death as terrible miscarriages of justice.
While the trial may have changed a few people’s minds in Maycomb, justice for Tom, as well as the black characters in general, remains unattained. The question of whether justice is served in the death of Bob Ewell after Boo Radley kills him to protect the children is open to interpretation. In one sense, Bob’s death serves as punishment for his crime of attacking Scout and Jem, and for his responsibility in Tom Robinson’s death. Bob Ewell’s death may compensate for his crime of attacking the children, it does not mitigate the wrongs done to Tom.
To Kill a Mockingbird reveals the complexity of justice in episodes such as Mrs. Dubose’s flowers and Bob Ewell’s death, where traditional methods of justice are not employed, but the guilty parties pay penance for their crimes. However, there is no such possibility of redemption to the outcome of Tom’s trial, which is a flagrant miscarriage of justice and is never remedied. As a result, although some forms of justice are achieved through penance or retribution, at the end of the book Tom’s trial remains a lasting injustice that can never be repaired.
References
- Concept of Equality in the Declaration of Independence and Letter from Birmingham Jail
- Distributive Justice (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- Social Justice (Psychology ResearchNet)
- Intelligence and Social Inequality: IQ Test Scores and SES in Relation to Parental Socioeconomic Status and Social Justice Variables (ScienceDirect)
- Inequality and Moral Values in the EU Countries: An Empirical Analysis (EconStor)
- Equal Opportunity (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
