Examples Of Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird, and in the world today there is racial and social inequality going on all around us. I am sure that there will never be true racial and social equality, but I think that it will get dramatically better. Just like it has gotten better since the 1930’s, which is the time that To Kill a Mockingbird is set in.

Discrimination has always affected people to a certain extent in society. Whether it be in the form of class or racial discrimination, people experience it in their everyday lives. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee illustrates the dangers of judging others before getting to know who they are. She demonstrates discrimination through social classism, gossip, and racism and how these things can lead people to judge others before they know their story.

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.

Many people have experienced racism or prejudice at least once in their lives, but they are not aware of the different ways it could take place. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates how racism and prejudice presents itself in many ways in the town of Maycomb. This is shown in the characters Tom Robinson, Walter Cunningham Jr, and Scout, who are all victims of prejudice or racism. These characters are subjected to all kinds of prejudice and from all kinds of people, sometimes so much it would change their lives.

The mockingbird is a type of bird commonly found in North America. It sings and imitates the sounds of other birds and animals. It is considered a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they do is sing and never eat crops. They are comparable to the people who get criticized for nothing, they are both innocent. Hatred in society takes many different forms such as racial, disability, and religious prejudice. Prejudice has been happening for a long time and still happens everyday. Everyone can experience prejudice differently, whether they experience it personally, or experience it with a large group. Continuing hatred is a real problem today. Many people have been taking a stand against it through protests and fighting for their rights. In

Defeating racism, tribalism, intolerance, and all forms of discrimination will liberate us all- victim and perpetrator alike." -Ban Ki-moon. In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many characters who are victims of all kinds of discrimination. The novel took place in the 1930's where this was a major part of towns across the country.

In the beginning of the novel, Boo Radley had prejudice laid upon him. The town’s discrimination towards him was excessive. He was seen as the, “boogie-man,” of Maycomb County by several characters, including Jem and Scout. Firstly, although Boo was never seen, rumours were passed from parents to their children that he was an ugly monster. The children were told he ate any animals he could get his hands on, and he looked through women’s windows deep into the night. Secondly, the finch children, Jem and Scout, as for their neighbour, Dill, are perfect examples of how children in Maycomb viewed Boo Radley. Scout, being 6 years old at the time, believed that, “every scratch of feet on gravel was Boo Radley seeking revenge, every passing Negro laughing in the night was Boo Radley after us; Insects splashing against the screen were Boo Radley’s insane fingers picking the wine to pieces.” (Lee 55) Through the theme of prejudice, this identifies how the children demonize Boo. This is justified without reason, understanding that they have never seen, met, or talked to

In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Harper Lee shows that people can easily discriminate others based on information that they have obtained from others. This story takes place during the Great Depression in a small town named Maycomb where Scout and Jem, two youngsters, grow up and learn how the world around them contrasts with what they previously believed. As life goes on they start to notice the way people are treated and how in some cases, some are unfair, as shown when their father takes up a case that is centered more towards the race of the people involved than the actual case. As in this world, discrimination takes place every day, preventing people from becoming equal to each other and creating a rift between people getting along

Renegades of Discrimination Throughout the Deep South, and for about a century following the Civil War, segregation and discrimination was strong. Examples of this were present in works of literature and film, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, a 1960 novel by Harper Lee, and The Help, a 2011 film by Tate Taylor. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, takes its point of view from Scout, a young girl who lived in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama who observes a segregated society with little understanding of it. In the film The Help, Skeeter, the main character, is fresh out of college, and moved back to her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, and there she faces sexism, and has to observe the discrimination and racism that was alive and well.

According to Galatians 3:28, “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Jesus Christ.” Even God says it, people are to treat others equally with no higher expectations for any race, gender, religion, etc. Discrimination is defined as “the practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people.” This topic can be formidable for some people to talk about, for they may have personal experience with it.

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is set in the late 1930’s during the Great depression in Alabama. During those years racism was a big issue and may still be. A theme that develops throughout the novel is how we’re discriminated by our skin color, or who we are. In the story both communities are racist to each other. It may not appear obvious, but Calpurnia, the housemaid is one example of discrimination.

Discrimination is when people are judged based on prejudices and stereotypes this doesn’t just happen towards a person, it happens to certain types of social groups to in which action occurs. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird” discrimination is shown multiple times. When Tom’s trial occurs, discrimination is shown the most because he is black, they find him guilty of a crime he did not commit. “Well Dill after all he’s just a negro” says Scout (“Lee” pg 199). Scout is implying that since Tom is black he really had no chance of winning the trial, no one is going to believe a black man over a white women especially when it comes to rape.

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird racism affects the events in the novel by producing unfair prejudice between the white and black populations. Jem and Scout Finch are the son and daughter of Atticus Finch, a defense attorney. After their father starts defending a black man, Tom Robinson who is accused of rape, they experience alienation and racism. Throughout the novel, the reader comes to realize that Robinson is an innocent man, charged guilty because of his skin color and the racist jury.

During the Great Depression, White Americans often had a mindset of superiority over segregated African Americans. They believed they were the “original” americans and better than other different ethnicities. Due to the overwhelming amount of racism and prejudice from the White population, many African Americans were unjustly treated as seen throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The characters Scout, Dolphus Raymond, and Tom Robinson mature through experiences amongst the ideas of racism and inequality. Growing up without a mother, and instead an African American housekeeper, Scout, even as a young girl, understands the somewhat superiority she is expected to feel towards African Americans.

The theme in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, could be to not discriminate others for any reason. Back when this book was written, discrimination was in every aspect of life. In the book, Scout always has an open mind and doesn't discriminate anyone for race. Scout does at least one time discriminate another kid for being poor, but that was the time period she was in. Scout says, “Naw, Jem, I think there's only one kind of folks.