Conscience of the Court
What are the motifs in Conscience of the Court by Zora Neale Hurston?
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The title, "Conscience of the Court," underscores Hurston's motif of justice as a moral and reliable force in the American judicial system. Even though the case presented in the story is one involving a lowly black maid with no attorney against a moneyed white man, the side of good wins in the end. At the beginning of the story, justice is at a disadvantage, as the people in the room and the judge himself all look on Laura Lee as guilty. Hurston writes that when Laura Lee entered the courtroom, "The hostility in the room reached her without her seeking to find it."