Harper Lee argues in his novel To Kill a Mockingbird that the moral obligations of a court are set aside in favor of the law that resides in the minds of men. He describes his characters in such a way that alludes to their inner thoughts. Through the practice of repetition, the citizens of Maycomb force the social inequality that is white supremacy into existence. Whether it's following suit or ignoring the problem altogether, it's only people who allow injustices to happen. In a public plea for an era of tolerance, Harper Lee attacks Southern racism through Scout Finch's account of her father's failure to correct a corrupt legal system dominated by prejudiced citizens seeking to rule the law with their own hands. Tom Robinson, the man falsely accused of raping the poor white woman, Mayella Ewell instills a sense of abject horror in most of Maycomb's citizens. Most of Robinson's irrational fear is simply that, a fear. In the eyes of the residents of Maycomb, Tom resembles a snake in the grass, waiting for the right moment to strike and hurt as many white people as possible. Emancipation in the 19th century, still fresh in the minds of many Southerners, had already threatened to socially outmaneuver the black man relative to the white man with its continuing momentum. Ewell, therefore, relishes the opportunity to vilify Robinson, as well as free himself from abusive accusations against his daughter and condemn a black man with support for the racism of his peers. The accusation of being innately malicious, ignorant, and spiteful is ironically how the boogeyman appears to the vast majority of Maycomb's population. Most who describe Tom this way would fit just that description, just waiting to put down Blacks and prolo...... middle of paper .......---. "Atticus Finch---Right and Wrong." Atticus Finch --- Right and Wrong, Alabama Law Review, vol. 45 (1993-1994): 473. Racism in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Ed. Candice Mancini. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. 67-76. Print.Johnson, Claudia Durst. “The law of the land is not the same as the moral law.” The Secret Courts of Men's Hearts: Code and Law in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird. (1991). Literary companion series. Ed. Terry O'Neill. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Incorporated, 2000. 71-83. Print.Halpern, Iris. “Rape, Incest, and Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird': On the Legal Construction of Gender and Sexuality in Alabama in the Context of Racial Subordination.” Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 18.3 (2009): 743+. Gale Opposing views in context. Network. November 11, 2011. Lee, Harper. To kill a thrush. New York, NY: Harper, 2010. Print.