Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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.

In the book, Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella. Tom is an african american while Mayella is white. Tom is convicted of doing something he didn’t do, but since he was black it was easy to put the blame on him. Atticus Finch is his defense attorney, and he does a very good job of at least making the jury think about the possibility of Tom being innocent. In Atticus’s closing statement it says, “The truth is this: some negroes lie, some negroes are immoral...But this is a truth that applies to the human race”(Lee 273). Since there was a stereotype that all blacks were bad Tom was easily found guilty. Which the truth is really that not all bad people are black and not all black people are bad. While in jail Tom is almost attacked by other community members. They go to his jail cell, but Atticus was waiting for them. The book says, “They gone?”...”Get some sleep Tom. They won’t bother you any more”(Lee 206). Atticus was waiting for them to show up, so he could defend Tom. They came to kill Tom and take the law into their own hands. They didn’t want the chance of having him get out since they just assumed he was guilty since he was black. There were some people who reacted to Tom’s trial as people reacted to Sacco and

In the movie The Associate and the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Laurel Ayres and Scout Finch will learn that prejudice causes underestimation of worth and stigma towards an individual. Common theme: Prejudice causes underestimation of worth and The Call → The Threshold In The Associate, Laurel Ayres, is called on her Hero’s journey when she finds out that her partner, an unqualified white male, received a promotion over her because she is a woman. Laurel, disgusted by the prrejudice, is told “Every time you are in a really important business meeting, try showing some chest.

Atticus asks Tom why he ran away from Mayella’s home and Tom responded with “Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you’d be scared, too,” (195). Atticus feels as if it must be self-evident that a black man living at the time would rather not find themselves in any situation with a white person. The unspoken truth is that if Tom Robinson had not run, he would have most likely been killed. Dill began to cry as he watched Tom Robinson being disrespected but Mr. Raymond reminds him to “Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people too,” (201). Mr. Raymond claims that people become less sensitive as time passes. Innocent children like Dill are still able to recognize the injustices between white and black people. Atticus explains to the people in the courtroom that“[...] the truth is: some negroes lie, some negroes are immoral, some negro men are not to be trusted around women-black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race in men,” (204). Atticus tries to justify the mindset of the people in the courtroom to implicate that everybody's the same. Atticus argues that if Tom Robinson was convicted, it would be because he is a human being. In that day and age, black people were already labeled with bad characteristics which made them guilty by

Setting demonstrates the reasoning behind why Maycomb is so prejudice. Scout Finch described the setting with the following words towards the beginning of the novel, “Maycomb was the county seat of Maycomb County… Atticus’ office in the courthouse contained a checkerboard and an unsullied code of Alabama” (Lee 5). The quote reveals the setting, which is located in Alabama, a southern region of the United States. Southern states tended to support slavery and were often regarded as racist. Alabama was especially notorious for hating African Americans.

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 in this novel affects every member of the community including the one’s which are not seen or heard from. Boo Radley is another significant example of the occurrence of unjust with his presence being nonetheless felt throughout the novel. Radley represents, first of all, the tendency of people to misjudge people and mythologize them; secondly, he is symbolized by the mockingbirds. When Scout first introduces Boo Radley to the reader she refers to him only as a "malevolent phantom" to which a great deal of superstition is attached. This conveys the unjust acts that are being forwarded onto Radley despite the rumours being fake and him being innocence.

“’Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced. Prejudice.’ She enunciated carefully” (Lee 329). The teacher in this primary classroom scene exists in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.

According to Bob Ewell, he witnessed what happened and made Tom so scared that he ran away. All of the white people already know who is going to win, based on the preference of skin color, so Atticus, the lawyer of Tom, decides to state his opinion of the unfair trial. “I shall be brief, but I would like to use my remaining time with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, this case should have never come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). From the trial, we can infer from Atticus’ points that Tom Robinson is innocent. But since he is black, he doesn’t receive a fair trial and the jury just sides with Mayella Ewell even though the evidence that Atticus points out, clearly reveals that Bob Ewell actually harassed his daughter. “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are

During the trial Atticus brings up plenty fantastic pieces of evidence and even pointed out the real criminal, which should have left the jury sure of Tom’s innocence. Sadly, they were only focused of the fact that Tom was a colored man. This insignificant detail is what destroyed Tom’s case. Everyone agrees that Atticus was a good man and an admirable lawyer, but some people believe that Atticus should have defended Tom, while others believe that Atticus should not have

The most shocking and impactful revelation for the Finch children is the existence of prejudice in adults they had grown to trust and respect. Atticus’ principles and fair upbringing of Jem and Scout shielded them from prejudice in the time before the trial, and their views regarding the basic equality of all humans remain nearly pure. The children’s exposure to some form of prejudice begins directly after Atticus takes the case defending Tom Robinson, with Atticus having to explain that “’nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything—like snot-nose…ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It's slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a

The class understands here that Cunningham Jr. can not afford to take the money as his family is not able to pay it back. Prejudice of social class is seen here because the community has created a preconceived feeling about how poor they are. Therefore, Walter Cunningham Jr. is the main target of the communities prejudice towards his family because he is around the community much more than others in his family and they are able to view just what the family has by him. Like Walter Cunningham Jr., Mayella Ewell is a victim of social class prejudice. Aunt Alexandra says as she discusses her theory with Jem “The tribe of which Burris Ewell and his brethren consisted had lived on the same plot of earth behind the Maycomb dump, and had thrived on county welfare money for three generations” (Lee, 132).

The townspeople were against Atticus for defending Tom because he was an African American. Atticus didn’t care what anyone said about him and continued to defend Tom. For example, in the book, Atticus states “The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells...”(Lee, 88). What Atticus means by this is no matter how innocent Tom is the jury will still find him guilty and take Mr. Ewell's word instead of Tom’s because Tom is black. Atticus had tried the best he could to prove Tom was innocent because he isn’t racist and thinks everyone deserves the same amount of respect as everyone else no matter the color of their skin.

Throughout the trial, racism is a recurring theme because Atticus continues to explain discrimination outside of the court in his final speech. When the jury comes back Judge Taylor announces “Guilty…guilty…guilty…guilty…” (Lee, 211). It is evident that the jury made up of twelve white men ignore the fact that the Ewell generation itself is known to be a futile part of the society. Even though Tom is very honest in his testament, the jury favours Bob Ewell who is born with a bad reputation, simply because of his race. After, Tom Robinson is convicted of a guilty verdict he is taken to the Enfield Prison Farm, where he loses all hope of gaining freedom. Atticus explains to Tom that “We had such a good chance... I told him what I thought, but I couldn’t in truth say that we had more than a good chance. I guess Tom was tired of white men’s chances and decided to take his own” (Lee, 235-236). It is obvious here that Atticus is aware that Tom does not stand a chance because of white supremacy, although in his heart he tries to provide him hope. Tom Robinson chooses to take his chances of survival by fleeing the prison because he knows himself, that he will be sentenced to death. Tom Robinson knows that because of the colour of his skin, whatever he says will not be accounted for and that Bob Ewell will be victorious because he is white. “Tom

Lastly, prejudice is shown in To Kill a Mockingbird by social or economic status. The Cunninghams cannot pay people back in money for services or things they have been given. They pay people back by goods that they already have. People know that it’s mean to make fun of them for paying people back that way, just because of their status. Another example is that Aunt Alexandra will not let Scout play with Walter Cunningham. She says to Scout, “Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him,” (Lee 256). This shows that even the kids are being taught to stay within their own class, even if it is something as simple as playing with another kid. Also, the Ewells are the trash of the town, and everybody knows it. The whole town just turns and eye to them and pretends like they are not there, because they live behind the dump and are the trash of their society. So, that shows that prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird is shown by social and economical status.