Ageism And Stereotypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird is an important book that has continued to teach people about race and prejudice for over 50 years. Harper Lee’s message is the harsh reality of how prejudice is built into society and is one of the most important messages of the 20th and 21st centuries. This book teaches us to stand up to prejudice and spread more love. It teaches us to look at things from another person's point of view and to be accepting of those who are different from us. Even to this day we face issues involving prejudice such as police brutality, the achievement gap, homophobia, and equal

Stereotypes have been around for hundreds of years, from the “savages” in 1492 after european colonization, to gender and racial stereotypes during the 1930s, and many more still in place today. Everyone has to deal with them, and we all do it in a different way. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee includes characters that break stereotypes to show how they are restricting and harmful.

Prejudice is one of the world’s greatest struggles. It does not only hold society back, but is harmful to the people who do good .In Harper Lee’s book To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem live through and witness prejudice and racism in the small town of Maycomb. They see someone wrongly accused of a crime because of his race. Scout and Jem also witness and take part in prejudice against a man no one knows anything about. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee uses characterization to show the negative effects of prejudice and racism.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that takes place in Alabama during the Great Depression. It is narrated by the main character who is a little girl named Jean Louise Finch aka “Scout”. Scout has a father named Atticus who is a lawyer and an older brother. The Finch’s are a white family and when Atticus goes to defend a black man, the whole town is shocked.This novel has tons of racism. Racism is an issue that is still current. Large amounts of racism are expressed in the novel still happens today through racial profiling, police brutality, and segregation.

Discrimination, it has been part of human nature for a long time, especially relevant subject in literature such as To Kill a Mockingbird. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character of Scout Finch was exposed to different types of discrimination as she grows up. Discrimination affected the lives of characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird because of society’s prejudicial views of race, gender, and class.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird the author, Harper Lee, develops the topic of stereotyping and prejudgement as something negative through the characters’ speech and actions. The characters are standardized a great deal throughout the book. They are categorized as different things, but most of them prove the falseness of labelling to emphasise the theme of the novel, as well to teach the reader a moral lesson; to be less judgemental and be willing to accept others. In the novel, stereotyping others is based by the way they look or talk established on what society considers normal.The technique of stereotypes helps create the theme of the coexistence of good and evil. In chapter 20, for example, Scout and Dill find out that Mr.Raymond’s paper bag turns out to be Coke instead of whisky, and his constant drunkenness is fake. He explains, "When I come to town, […] if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whiskey-that's why he won't change his ways. He can't help himself, that's why he lives the way he does" (268). The evidence portrays

there to spread the word of their god, but are being mocked while they do.

Stereotyping was used a lot in to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee . It was shown a lot against Tom Robinson in the court case. Also, with Dolphus Raymond Supposedly being a drunk. Lastly it was used against Boo being a terrible person and creepy. Those are just some of the ways the book to kill a mockingbird shows the impact stereotyping has on people, and how it can affect their life.

Racism has the power to change anybody’s life. Jem Finch is a young teen character from To Kill a Mockingbird who longed for the warm summer days when he could just play on the lawn and not care about the future. However, as the novel progresses, it becomes clear that he cannot just play around when he knows what is going on around him and what is happening to the black community of Maycomb, Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a success in the world of literature. Set in the 1930’s down south where racism was rampant, Harper Lee shows us the challenges of growing up in a community of inequality through the characters Jem and Scout Finch. Jem is older than Scout by 3 years so he understands how serious the nature of racism is and

Prejudice, which comes from the word to prejudge. We prejudge or have an opinion about a person based on the the group an individual belongs too,thus stereotyping was born. What is the most reasonable solution to stop this act from being preconceived in the minds of our children today? An example is the social class difference between the people of Maycomb. A conversation between Scout and Calpurnia have about Walter Cunningham,” He ain't company, Cal he’s just a cunningham-” , said scout.

Today, many people are faced with different forms of discrimination and prejudice. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells the story of Scout Finch as her family, friends, and herself as they endure and encounter different types of prejudice such as getting ridiculed for being a tomboy, racism, and reverse racism.

Homeschool stereotypes Whether you call it stereotyping or bigotry, the action of judging someone by their outward appearance is quite often demeaning. People get stereotyped for numerous reasons, but whatever the cause, it usually is not constructive. Obviously, the worst type of bigotry is Racism, which is discussed at length in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. However, to keep things lighter today, we will be discussing the problem of Homeschool Stereotypes. Homeschoolers are stereotyped as much as the next nerdy guys, but today we will only focus on a few.

Throughout the story of To Kill a Mockingbird many assumptions or stereotypes were made based on what they saw or heard. First off, Boo Radley, who is a tall mistreated boy, has rumors about him that make people think he is a freak. Next is Tom Robinson, a tall black man who was accused of raping a woman named Mayella. He was found guilty based on the color of his skin and the assumption that African Americans are bad people. Finally is Scout, a 6 year old girl who is the daughter of Atticus and sister of Jem. Most people look at her as a little immature girl, but she isn’t. She is an intelligent girl who cares about the goodness of the people in her community. Which is why you shouldn't assume things based on what you hear or see.

Former U.S. representative Ed Koch once said "Stereotypes lose their power when the world is found to be more complex than the stereotype would suggest. When we learn that individuals do not fit the group stereotype, then it begins to fall apart." ("Brainyquote") giving a view on how stereotypes can lose their power once they are seen to only have the power we give them. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the recurring theme seems to be that gender is not a defining factor in who we are. This can be seen in Scout's defiance to the traditional feminine gender roles.

In the riveting coming-of-age novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee projects the idea of acceptance of all people, through the eyes of a child. Harper Lee combats the prejudice of social standing when she proves that some of the poorest people have the best of character traits. While racism of African Americans is first and foremost in this novel, the acceptance of white people into the African American community shows racism can be beaten from both point of views. Finally, the disabilities that Arthur Radley portrays, is forgotten, when his actions help him soar above the bigotry of the people of Maycomb County. The most obvious topic is the overt racism based on a person's skin color, however, Harper Lee takes us beneath the skin to show that discrimination occurs in other ways.