Atticus Finch Racism

Racism is a horrible thing. Saying different nationalities are better than the other, saying colored people do not deserve the same rights as we white people is so degrading and just mean.

The general topic in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is criticising helpless people that have done no harm, and how it is a terrible deed. In the Novel a Mockingbird is a symbol of one of these helpless people. In part 1 of the novel, characters such as Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are portrayed as “mockingbirds”. The general topic also represents injustice, especially in the south. Atticus Finch is presented as seeker of justice that believes in equality for all, as well as one of the few characters to never rethink an opinion. Furthermore, Atticus is the father of Scout and Jem Finch, who he treats like adults and answeres all questions honestly as he would to any other Maycomb county member. He is portrayed as a decent respecting

Discrimination: unjust treatment of a different group of people or things. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, discrimination is visible. The one most identify with is racism, with a great deal of the story revolving Tom Robinson’s, a black man, jury case. Left in the shadows, though, is the prejudice of other characters, whom the community of Maycomb may find to be a bit on the outs. Whether it is their way of life or how they act, someone always pick up on it and calls them out. Atticus Finch is old compared to the rest of the parents of students at Scouts school, keeping him from activities like the Methodists vs Baptists football game. Boo Radley, making poor decisions as a teenager, is confined to his house twentyfour-seven and

Scout witnessed and in a way, was a part of the shaming of Walter Cunningham. Walter Cunningham is a classmate of Scout. In the book to Kill a Mockingbird in chapter 2 Miss Caroline is Scout's teacher she is seeing what kids brought for lunch, she stopped at Walter because he didn't have any lunch. Miss Caroline then asked where his lunch is and he just said he didn’t have any, Miss Caroline then tried to give him quarters so he could go out and get food. Jean Louise said “Miss Caroline, he's a Cunningham.” Miss Caroline didn't get it at first why everyone was shaming him. Miss Caroline then realized he would never be able to repay her the quarters. Walter doesn't show up to school except on the first day because he always gets shamed for not having money like everyone else does in school and also for not having shoes. The book to Kill a Mockingbird is during the 1930’s the same time the Great Depression is going on. During the Great Depression many people lived in poverty and needed food, clothing and shelter. There weren't enough jobs for everyone to make enough money for their family’s so kids started to find jobs to help out, In the article A Case of Unemployment it states that “one in four Americans who wanted to work was unable to find a job.” The ones that were trying to find jobs couldn’t and then couldn’t support their family’s anymore. With Walter when he did go to school on the first day he got shamed for not

Atticus Finch believes “ You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (Pg 39). He tells this to his young, and naive daughter Scout, when she makes false accusations about the people in the town she lives in, based on what she has heard about them. Over the course of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main characters, Scout and Jem learn about prejudice. Some of the most prominent characters in the novel such as, Mrs. Dubose, Mr. Raymond, and Boo Radley have a big impact on the kids in showing their true identities, in contrast to what they have been made up to be by the kids, and society. As a result they learn that it is really hard to blame a person when you look at things from their perspective.

“In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee 220). This quote by Atticus Finch paints a perfect picture of segregation in the 1930s. Truth did not matter back then because everything relied on skin color. Throughout the novel racial segregation plays a major role in the setting, conflict, and theme.

Harper Lee’s depiction of racial views in To Kill A Mockingbird gives Atticus Finch a main

Atticus, he is persistent, positive, truthful, serious, concerned, wise, empathetic, and reasonable. But which ones make him, him the most? Is it positivity, or wisdom, it could be any of them.Which ones make you, you? In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the theme of social justice is demonstrated through the character of Atticus Finch who is positive and persistent. Social justice is where there is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, allows us to look back in time to the 1930s and view the everyday lives of both black and white people during the Great Depression. Published in 1960, the novel is written to show us, the reader, what living was like in the 1930s by exploring the lives of a lower income white family and the life of a black man. Being that the book took place in the 1930s, racism is a prominent subject that frequently appears throughout the subject. Atticus Finch, a white man, is a lawyer who has to stand up for a black man when he is immorally accused of raping a white woman. It can arguably be said that Atticus Finch is not a racist because he may of had his own prejudice, but He still fought with an unwavering determination to try and prove that Tom Robinson was innocent, Atticus also always treated Cal, his maid who was black, with that of an equal status to a white person, and also when Tom Robinson died, he personally came to tell his family that he was dead.

Atticus is a good man with a strong set of morals. We must do away with the idea that Atticus is racist based on the writing in Go Set a Watchman because, despite being the sequel to this book, Harper Lee wrote it before hand and based it on her father earlier in her life. However, that book was never intended to be published and the way Atticus is portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird is the only form that was meant for the public eye, meaning that the morals and actions that Harper Lee wanted to be show were those from To Kill a Mockingbird, the other story’s Atticus is basically an entirely different character sharing only a name. This idea is reinforced in To Kill a Mockingbird by his constant reminder to his children to avoid using hateful racial slang and the fact he fights for Tom

Racism, or disliking an individual because of their sex, age, religion, education or class, falls under the term prejudice. The most common form of prejudice is racism and is seen in everyday life and even in novels. This idea ties into the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, because it focuses on the difficulties and the inequalities of black people in a prejudice world. Atticus Finch can be portrayed as a character facing prejudice because he was criticized ultimately for doing what he strongly believed in, which was defending Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson received far more prejudice than Atticus Finch because he was a black man accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell.

The Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW defines discrimination as unfair treatment towards someone due to not conforming with a specific group. Numerous federal laws (legalisation) have been introduced. An example is the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 which covers discrimination faced in employment/occupation. Sex, race, marital, Homosexual, disability and transgender are types of discrimination categories which are considered to be against the law in NSW. The type of discrimination law that I have chosen is race which is violated and portrayed in the movie ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Racial discrimination refers to being unfairly treated due to your race, colour, ethnic background, nationality etc.

names’s Tom Robinson”. Discuss the effects of racism on Maycomb citizens such as Tom and Helen Robinson,

After reading Go Set A Watchman, readers may change their opinion on Atticus Finch. In go set a watchman he seems like a much different man than he was before in to kill a mockingbird. Though some readers may for the opinion that Atticus is now a racist, I do not completely agree. I don't believe that Atticus is a racist person. I think that he just made racist comments and actions, and that is where he was at fault.

The black community is thankful to Atticus because he took time to represnt the case of a black man, fighting for racism. This is ironic because even though the verdict of the judge was unfair, the black community still celebrated Atticus, as someone finally stood up for their rights. They thanked him by sending him ‘hunks of salt pork, tomatoes, beans, even scuppernongs.’. This was their way of showing that they were greatful for the action Atticus took in helping the black community.