Examples Of Otherness In To Kill A Mockingbird

Lenta, M. 2010. "A chain of voices and unconfessed: novels of slavery in the 1980s and in the present day". Journal of Literary Studies. 26 (1): 95-110. (article)

How would you react if you were falsely accused of a crime when all of your life you had been a good man. However, the catch was you were African American.  A white man’s word against your own. What would be running through your mind? This is exactly the kind of question that was running through Tom Robinson’s mind in this novel. During the 1930s, discrimination against targeted groups of society was prevalent, but small victories occurred to combat this issue in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. From Tom Robinson’s trial, to various stereotypes being broken, and the incidents that took place in Calpurnia’s church for colored people. All of these factors contribute to the purpose behind this novel’s meaning.

To Kill a Mockingbird took place during the 1930s, a period shortly after the American civil war in Maycomb County, Alabama, the deep south where black people suffered from racism and discrimination. In this book, Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white woman, which was something that he’s never done, even though all the evidence proved that he did not violate that white woman, Tom was judged guilty because he was a black man. Racism is presented throughout the entire book especially when Scout got teased by her family about Atticus taking Tom’s case, and the townspeople's perception about Atticus, as well as during the trial of Tom Robinson.

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.

Racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply based on their race and that some racial groups are superior to others. This has been a problem in our world forever. In to Kill a Mockingbird there are so many racist events and it reflects on the society as a whole till this day. The book setting was the 1930’s in a small county of Maycomb, where most people were racist and discriminatory. People think racism has died off, but it is still a huge problem. People choose to raise their children and teach them that racism is okay and that is how there is still racism today. There are so many statistics out there based on skin color that right there is even racist if everyone is equal why are there polls being taken separating people by the color of their skin?

Harper Lee’s radical and nostalgic novel To Kill a Mockingbird revolves around the idea of belonging and not belonging, whether it’s referring to belonging to a town, family, social structure, religion or race. Alice Pungs collection of enticing and enlightening autobiographical stories Growing Up Asian in Australia discusses similar issues, notably when it comes to the theme of belonging (or not belonging) to race and societal standards.

Not much has changed in almost a century. Minorities are still being treated poorly. Harper Lee shows this many times throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. In her novel Lee portrays racial prejudice by showing the relationship between whites and blacks.

The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, tells the story of Atticus Finch, a white man defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape. Atticus, his children Jem and Scout, live in the small town Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. With this location and time setting, Lee reveals the racial injustice of the south through the characters Tom Robinson, Bob Ewell, and Calpurnia.

Slavery is perhaps the largest and ugliest blemish on the supposed “perfect” face of the American dream. History books recount decades of Caucasian Americans exerting their dominance over those of different, racial background. Perhaps the most discussed is the enslavement of the African-American population in the name of privilege and progress. Tensions culminate throughout the years until finally, the only thing powerful enough to destroy this evil empire rears its ugly head: war. It is no surprise then, that such a powerful and disgusting time is the subject of a vast amount of literary works. Two well-known authors who tackle this painful topic are Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. Both Douglass and Jacobs provide deep insights into the life of slavery by recounting their actual experiences. These autobiographies possess great power, though they are by no means carbon copies of each other. There are more familial elements in Harriet’s account than Douglass’s, providing a more complex view in Harriet’s case. In addition, while both slaves clash with their masters, Douglass relies on more straightforward tactics. Meanwhile, Harriet relies on cunning to outwit those who oppress her. These differences ensure uniqueness without sacrificing a powerful impact. Indeed, both accounts provide a powerful, personal peek into the everyday life of a slave, alerting the reader in a way that no other work can.

In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she reveals that society enforces strong racial boundaries, and when one is only associated with another of a different race they are labelled as strange and regarded as an outsider. In the story, young Scout Finch learns life lessons from her father Atticus, a lawyer in their small town, Maycomb. Throughout the novel many people disapprove of Atticus for his job since he defends black people and for the way he raises his children to accept everyone no matter their skin color. Scout is often taunted and picked on for her dad’s profession at school and even by relatives; at Christmas time, their cousin, Francis, humiliates Scout for having “a [negro]-lover” as a dad and describes how it “[mortifies]

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

Slavery is a contradictory subject in American history because “one hears…of the staid and gentle patriarchy, the wide and sleepy plantations with lord and retainers, ease and happiness; [while] on the other hand on hears of barbarous cruelty and unbridles power and wide oppression of men” (Dubois 2). Dubois’s The Negro in the United States is an autoethnographic text which is a representation “that the so-defined others

How different people in Maycomb view the issue of race affects how those people treat others.

When I think about humanity I think of the book "To kill a Mockingbird" I go to this book because its a prime example of humanity, it shows in the 1930's that some to most white people in the south did not have any to no respect for the african american's they where accused of almost everything even if they did not do kinda of like how Tom Robinson was accused of raping May-Ella Ewell, Tom was sent to jail for something he did not do. What they sent the whole Robinson family through was cruel even since he was innocent but back then the people thought differently on what was cruel and what was not cruel another part that does not show humanity is later on when Tom Robinson is in jail he gets killed for being african american and since he was

It is commonly acknowledged that Literature is the reflection of the society. It is indeed true that literature reflects the attitude and perception of the society where it is written. Literature mirrors the vices of the society with an intention to make the society realize its mistakes and make amendments. The vast literature, produced from time to time, bears evidence to the fact that man is prone to discrimination. Treating a person or particular group of people differently, especially in a worse way from the way in which you treat other people, because of their sexuality, skin, and class has, been core theme of the Harper lee’s master piece To Kill a Mocking Bird. The novel is told from Scout’s perspective; through Scout, we witness the social construction of race, class, and gender. The novel continues to be taught in classrooms due to its illustration