Essay On Stereotypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

“Nigger”, “Colored-folks”, “Dinge”, racial slurs used in the South in the 1900s-1960s. The disgusting souls who discriminated, judged, hated, and segregated blacks. “White men rule”. Women, their voices, barely able to say as much as a sentence. The blacks, their voices, unable to say as much as even a word, and the children, innocent and curious, saw nothing and said nothing. Harper Lee represented the horrendous acts and judgments of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird. Maycomb, Alabama, 1930s, a small town with a big story. Tom Robinson, discriminated and unequal, was seen as “just another nigger” in Maycomb. “Nigger”, “Chocolate”, “Colored”, racial slurs that began long ago, and are still used to this day. The White

Because of what people have heard about Scout, they stereotype that she isn’t ladylike because she acts like a boy and wears overalls. Mrs. Dubose, the Finch’s neighbor, says, “’…what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You’ll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn’t change your ways- a Finch waiting on tables at the O.K. Café-hah!’”(Lee 135). In this case, Scout is considered a stereotype, but she changes her ways. Scout is confronted with her own stereotypes in the novel but as she grows and learns, she begins to regret her actions. Scout changes her ways throughout the book in order to get rid of the label people put on her. Even though she is still a tomboy at heart, Scout learns how to control her actions and act more like a lady.

Racial stereotypes are things where a person talks about how the other person’s race is. It describes all the “nasty” things in another person’s race. It’s basically gossiping about someone else’s race and ethnicity. Back then, in that time period, there were high amounts of racism and stereotypes, so in that case, a lot of African American people were most likely convicted for doing something they didn’t do. Even though the court is supposed to equally convict or release people who have commited a crime whether it’s Black or White people.

Stereotyping is a widely used opinion that holds people to false claims that are not fair nor true. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird many people, are stereotyped due to color, looks, or wealth. The novel is used to show how a person can become someone they are not due to what others think of them. Stereotyping is shown in many different types of literature such as the poem We Wear the Masks, the song Walk a mile in my shoes, and in the movie A Time to Kill.

Scout was particularly affected by gender discrimination as she was a girl. She was told she acted too much like a boy when she should be acting like a girl. Scout described Aunt Alexandra as “Fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pant” (108). Aunt Alexandra discriminated Scout for not wearing lady like attire and told her that if she continued to dress that way then she could not be a lady. Aunt Alexandra soon became determined to put an end to Scout’s non-feminine behavior. Atticus tried to explain to Scout that "She asked me to tell you must try to behave like the little lady and gentleman that you are. She wants to talk to you about the family and what it's meant to Maycomb County through the years, so you'll have some idea of who you are, so you might be moved to behave accordingly"(178). Atticus decided to take his sister’s word and told his children what they should act like despite him not approving of this. Scout’s behavior is what leads her Aunt Alexandra to discriminating her and telling her she will never be a lady if she continues to not dress

Stereotyping, a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing, plays a big role in “To kill a Mockingbird”, and it’s also a big role in the thirties when everyone was different. In the story there are three different groups of people, the wealthy, the poor, and the black. Each of these group with some exceptions like the Finch family, looks at each other with offset opinions. The stereotyping in this story makes it come true and really plays a big part in character development.

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in a small town called Maycomb in the 1930s. In this novel the people of Maycomb discriminate against people that they have no background information about or people that are different in some way. An innocent black man is convicted of a crime he never commits, a man is stereotyped to be dangerous and scary and there are gender stereotypes.

Scout does not conform to the typical standards of southern girls in the 1930’s: she does not act like a lady, gets in fights, and curses. Scout especially hates dresses. She loves her overalls, and will do anything to avoid wearing a dress. At one point, Scout actually considers running away from her family: “I felt the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me, and for the second time in my life I thought of running away. Immediately” (Lee 182). Scout harbors so much hatred towards the stereotypical feminine attire that she contemplates running away. This quote demonstrates the level of distaste she truly has for dresses, and the overall confines of femininity. Scout persistently defies gender roles and acts differently from the conventional woman. This defines Scout’s personality and shapes her adventures throughout the entirety of the

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.

at all! If a woman wants to be on a jury and meets all the

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.

On Monday, April 4th, 2016, a Muslim family were told to get off a United Airlines flight, because of a flight security issue. The mother explains, “Shame on you United Airlines for profiling my family and me for no reason other than how we look and kicking us off the plane for 'safety flight issues' on our flight to DC for the kids' spring break. My three kids are too young to have experienced this” (Staufenberg 1). Prejudice is still a big problem today. People will grow up thinking that they should not do something or that they can not do something, because of who they are.

The stereotype, that heritage defines education, wellbeing, and personal character, portrays itself in a non-loving manner in many situations. Defining racism specifically proves itself difficult, but according to definition, “Racism is a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” Harper Lee writes a relatable depiction of this belief in To Kill A Mockingbird. Racism is an underlying topic that appears throughout the book showing itself in the relationship between Aunt Alexandria and Calpurnia, the hatred shown towards Tom Robinson, and also the discrimination shown to Helen Robinson. Jesus says in Mark 12:31b, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If the world stood on this commandment and portrayed the Father’s love, racism would be no more

“To Kill a Mocking Bird” is a novel which was written by Harper Lee. In my essay I will discuss how Harper Lee explores the theme of prejudice by looking at the writing techniques and how they affect people.