Boo Radley Prejudice

People around the world are faced with being treated unfairly because of qualities society considers different. These can include something that the person is born in towith, or a decision they made later on in their life. Nelle Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird shows how prejudice views destroy the lives of many. In the town of Maycomb, blacks are mistreated for their color, while others are excluded fromfor not being “normal whites”. Although every character ofin the novel is not treated unequally, three main characters that are victims of prejudice are Tom Robinson for his race, Dolphus Raymond for intermarriage, and Boo Radley for mistakes he made in the past.

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee and was published in 1960. This novel is included in various curriculums to enable students to take this well-written novel to identify the themes and messages and be educated from their literature. Prejudice is defined as a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. The different forms of prejudice that will be analysed are racial, class and social, thus, leads to the citizens of Maycomb to marginalises characters and treat them as an insignificant. It is evident that many characters in this novel suffer from different types of prejudice, which creates a sense of marginalisation. Tom Robinson, Mayella Ewell and Arthur Radley are the important, main

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.

Prejudice in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a very common problem in the society Maycomb; prejudice does not only harm an individual but also a society. Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch and Boo Radley are all victims of prejudice, and all three characters are affected by this. The prejudice exhibited towards them traps them, kills them or makes them stronger.

Prejudice, like evil, lurks in everyone, whether it is visible or hidden beneath the surface of a calm, clear pool. It is the cause of an invisible line, a separation, between people. Often that line is unreal, created in the minds of people, but requires conformity and rejects individuals. Prejudice is explored in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a captivating novel that revolves around the experiences of two children, Jem and Scout, who witness prejudice and hatred in an unfair conviction of a black man, but also morality and courage through their father and other characters. At the same time, their childhood innocence and unawareness of underlying evil fall away, leaving them to face the realities of maturity and adulthood. As the children grow up, the veil of childhood leaves them, revealing the evil and prejudices hidden under the exterior of their neighbors, and discover the harmful consequences of sexism, social hierarchy, and racism.

Prejudice should not exist in this world. But unfortunately, it does and it always will somehow. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is an inspiring book and brings out hard truths about how the world used to be, about the great depression, and in some aspects how it still is today. It follows a girl named Scout and her family through three years of her childhood. Her father, Atticus Finch, took on a very big challenge to defend a negro for raping a girl. The book sort of revolves around this event. Prejudice is in many different forms of discrimination. Throughout the book it is demonstrated by race, class, and gender.

Prejudice is seen throughout the world in many forms even after the Civil Rights Movement. To Kill a Mockingbird shows the extreme prejudice that African Americans were faced with at that time period. This book shows prejudice through character interactions.

To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in small town Maycomb, Alabama, a depression era town where people move slowly and twenty-four hours seems longer.  The narrator of the story is a six-year-old girl named Jean Louise Finch, a tomboy who hates wearing dresses and goes by the nickname "Scout."  Scout's being a tomboy is of no little significance because while we are treated to a sweet and affectionate portrayal of Maycomb at the novel's opening, we will find it is a town where racial prejudice, hostility and ignorance run deep below the surface.  Not only are the majority of the townspeople prejudiced against blacks, maintaining a feeling of superiority to the whole of their race, but

Prejudice is a typical issue amid the early quarter of the twentieth century. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird this issue is obvious in Maycomb. Boo Radley, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson are for the most part casualties of prejudice, and each of the three characters are tormented by this. It influences them all in an unexpected way; devastating them and debilitating them from going about as they wish.

Prejudice, a main theme of To Kill a Mockingbird, is another representation of injustice in the novel. Racism is the most obvious type of prejudice, and this is shown through the trial and the outcome of it. "Well, coming out of the court-house that night Miss Gates was - she was goin' down the steps in front of us, you musta not seen her - she was talking to Miss Stephanie Crawford. I heard her say that it's time somebody taught 'em a lesson, they were getting way above themselves, an' the next thing they think they can do is marry us. Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home - ?" (Scout, pg272). In the 1930's, being racist was seen as normal. Atticus, for example, was seen as unusual because he thought that whites weren't above blacks. "'Cry about the simple hell people give other people - without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they're people too.'" (Dolphus Raymond, pg222). The prejudice of racism is shown throughout the book, and because of Atticus' views, Scout begins to see it as unfair and unjust. Another type of prejudice that is briefly touched upon is that of sexual discrimination. "For one thing, Miss Maudie can't serve on a jury because she's a woman.' 'You mean women in Alabama can't - ?' I was indignant." (Atticus and Scout, pg244). Like racism,

“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible”(Maya Angelou). To Kill a Mockingbird is about a young girl called Scout and the important lessons she learns through the events of a racist trial, the mysterious neighbour, and growing up. She learns many lessons about perspective and understanding people. One of the most important lessons she learns about prejudice. Lee demonstrates the message that prejudice does not only harm an individual but damages a society in the events of “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Prejudice becomes affects society most when the views become what people expect. We can see this in the three main types of prejudice, racial, gender, and class or wealth.

Many people do not realize what prejudice was like in the 1930s. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, prejudice is a main problem for some of the characters. There are many different examples throughout the novel. “Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him” (pg.301), is only one of them. There are three examples of prejudice, people judging each other over things like race and the amounts of money they own, the people of the town judging Atticus and his family for defending Tom, and sending Tom to prison because he was black and Mayella was white when they knew he was innocent.

While lecturing Scout, Aunt Alexandra portrays, “‘The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem. Besides, there’s a drinking streak in that family a mile wide. Finch women aren’t interested in that sort of people’” (Lee 300). Aunt Alexandra has the temerity to discriminate against the lower classes of Maycomb by telling Scout that she isn’t allowed to play with Walter Cunningham, a poor farmer boy. Scout enjoys Walter’s company and wants to be nice to him because of all of the things his family has done for the Finch’s, but the boy isn’t as well mannered, smart, or as associated as Scout. Aunt Alexandra doesn’t allow Scout to tarnish the Finch namesake or her position within the society. Family name, authority, and respect within the community are all important aspects in Alexandra’s daily life. She realizes that by fraternizing with someone of lower status in the community, their family may be thought less of. Without even realizing that her commentary is hurtful, Alexandra disgraces the Cunninghams and discriminates against the farmers and poorer folk of Maycomb by not allowing Scout to be friends with

The exact definition of a prejudice thought is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Throughout the story, each person faces their own individual problems dealing with the prejudice people of Maycomb. These problems have a pattern of involving racism, sexism, or social class. These are the three key points Harper Lee is expanding on throughout the book. Tom Robinson is surrounded by issues involving his race while Scout is dealing with the sexist belief that to be a lady she has to act a certain way. On the other side of town, the Ewells and Cunningham's experience the low end of the spectrum due to Maycomb’s strong social class system. Prejudiced beliefs dominate much of the story of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, which causes the

“Cry about the simple hell other people give other people- without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people too. ”(269) Prejudice is a strong word as well as a nasty act. It is shown throughout the Maycomb County in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Prejudice shows us just how it affects the different groups of people in this novel.