|
Topics:
|
|
|---|---|
Words: |
1053 |
Pages:
|
2
This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples.
|
Cite this essay
Download
Rousseau in his book The Contract Social argues that the individual finds his true being and freedom only in submission to the “general will” of the community. In this desired social contract, everyone will be free because they all forfeit the same number of rights and impose the same duties on all.
The fundamental purpose of the rule of law is to establish a socially acceptable and consistent bottom line of human behavior. It acts as a deterrent and a basis for criminal accountability and punishment, it lays out our civil rights and obligations, offers an equitable remedy for disputes, and installs social order and a sense of security.
The rule of law is necessary in society for the following main reasons:
The best way to ensure the rule of law is through a democratic system where the citizen chooses their representatives to establish the rules of the community through the elaboration of a Constitution which includes the basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee the rights to the people in it.
The most important principle to achieve the rule of law is the division of powers between the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary. Where the Legislative makes the rules, the judiciary applies the rules and the Executive executes the rules. It is very difficult to achieve the rule of law without this basic principle.
Unfortunately, the concept rule of law isn't or hasn’t been the same depending on the customs of each society or the historical context, we can enumerate many examples:
Those examples reflect the fact that the law is established by people, and obviously, they are influenced by the customs and beliefs of each specific time, therefore to we can never say that we have achieved the pure concept of the rule of the law; to get nearer that pure concept along the time, we will always special people with higher ethical and moral principles, at the same time with the necessary strength to fight for their Believes as the main character of the movie “To kill a Mockingbird” Atticus Finch.
Movies are not only entertainment, but also sometimes they are made with purpose, with a message to translate to society to push for changes that the participants in the movies, producers, directors, and actors… want to introduce based on their moral beliefs.
At the time of its release in 1962, won critical acclaim Gregory Peck won an Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Atticus Finch. Horton Foote who wrote the screenplay, also won an Oscar, The film was based on Harper's Knee’s 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Some film critics suggest that the movie was one of the finest family-oriented dramas ever made… powerfully resonant, in present America with its advocacy of tolerance, justice, integrity, and loving responsible parenthood. Certainly, the film withstands the test of time, even in the twenty-first century.
In the movie “To Kill a Mockingbird” the exponent of those beliefs is Atticus and his behavior
Atticus is a widower and a small-town Alabama lawyer practicing in the 1930s, that struggles to instill in his two children a sense of tolerance, integrity, and justice. Finch's reputation as a highly moral lawyer stems from his representation of Tom Robison a black man accused of beating and raping a white woman.
Atticus by putting on an earnest defence in Tom Robinson's case, was breaking the rules of his racially segregated society, He was a white man and a respected member of his community but he was courageous in the face of the community prejudice.
The film targeted a white audience at the dawn of the modern civil rights era. It conveys the message that moral and ethical lawyers follow the rule of law, even when they represent unpopular clients. This was an important message, especially for southern audiences. Massive resistance to desegregation was still the rule in most southern states. Thus, To Kill a Mockingbird was an appeal to decent, moral white Americans to accept racial integration.
They have been along the history of cinema many movies have tried to translate to society those ethical principles to show the importance of getting closer to the pure significance of the rule of law showing tremendous injustices to make people reflect on them, still today unfortunately the message has to be send:
Nowadays unfortunately there are many cases in which we could say that there is no rule of law although we are talking about countries with a solid democracy, some examples would be as follows:
We always need people like Atticus and the people involved in making the movie to push society in search of the fulfillment of the most important principles we mentioned at the beginning: Equability, Freedom, and Fraternity.
Get your paper done in as fast as 3 hours, 24/7.
Fair Use Policy
EduBirdie considers academic integrity to be the essential part of the learning process and does not support any violation of the academic standards. Should you have any questions regarding our Fair Use Policy or become aware of any violations, please do not hesitate to contact us via support@edubirdie.com.
Stuck on your essay?
