In today’s society, people are not treated equally. Many people push for equality, but the problem is still occurring today. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she uses racism to prove how people’s views on African American’s have not changed. Through the use of symbolism and diction, Harper Lee shows the idea of social injustice against blacks. Lee uses symbolism to show how innocent people are sometimes treated unfairly. In Chapter 10, Atticus states, “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”. The mockingbird is meant to symbolize innocent people or minority. By using this statement, Harper Lee is trying to show how it is unjust to accuse a guiltless person, in this case Tom Robinson, of committing a crime just because of his
To Kill a Mockingbird, written in 1960 by Harper Lee, is a classical tale of how racism and prejudice affected the lives of African-Americans in a small Alabama community in the early 1900s. Racism affects multiple events throughout the book. If racism could have been overcome, many people in Maycomb could have had a different life. During the book, racism played an important role in three major events. These events included Helen Robinson not being able to get a job, Tom Robinson’s conviction, and Miss Merriweather explaining her feelings toward black people.
Harper Lee’s coming-of-age story reminds readers how far society has come. In the time period in which the novel is set, society faced many issues involving racism and discrimination. Now in the 2000’s the world doesn't focus on the colour of one’s skin but the person it carries. Harper Lee effectively represents African-American history in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the novel Lee shows how racism negatively affected Maycomb County’s population by utilizing major themes including racial discrimination and the right to a fair trial. Lee’s novel has a similar story to multiple cases in the early 1900’s as well as showing links to the troubles the town faced with the Great Depression and social standings.
What if one of literature’s most celebrated novels wasn’t as good as one originally thought? Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird tells the story of Scout and Jem Finch, and their friend Dill Harris, three children living in a small town in the deep south during the Great Depression. One summer, Maycomb County is thrown into racial turmoil when Scout and Jem’s father, Atticus, is appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the white daughter of the town drunkard. Although the themes in To Kill a Mockingbird center around equality and justice, Lee sugarcoats many of the elements of racism and ultimately ends up championing the Caucasian race as opposed to delivering powerful messages about diversity.
Scout Finch, a six-year-old tom-boy, does not recognize people where they come from, or the color of their skin. Scout sees the world as a very innocent place, and she has not yet recognized the evils of the world. Scout contributes to the theme of the novel don't judge a book by its cover. Scout was raised that there is no difference in skin color and that everyone is the same no matter where they came from. Scout went to an all-black church with Calpurnia, scout did not act like it was a big deal, even though everyone else thought it was.
Racial prejudice existed in the 1930’s and still exists today. Due to small minded, arrogant people it has come to affect millions of innocent people like a fictional character named Tom Robinson. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, racial tensions run high in Maycomb county when Atticus Finch decides to defend a black man whose name is Tom Robinson. Throughout the story Lee wants to show how racial prejudice affects judgement, facts, and stereotypes.
In this book “to kill a mockingbird” the book is place in 1900’s the kind of racism that takes place in the book doesn't happen today But was very common in those Times.Now African American are accepted like any other person.
¨You never really understand a person until you consider things in his point of view-until you climb inside of his skin and walk around it.¨-Harper Lee. For many people, in their lifetime they have been misjudged or prejudged someone else. The story is all about the way you view people and who they actually are. The novel focuses on showing readers that skin color does not matter and that behavior is not based on race/color. In the novel ¨To Kill a Mockingbird¨ Harper Lee really focuses in on symbolism through many different objects, people, and situations.
tries to give us an insight into what it is like for these very civil
Racism was very “popular” as you should say back in the 1930’s . Whites had all the power while blacks and other minorities were suppose to fear them. In Maycomb , Alabama racism was around and had effects on citizens. Segregating whites from blacks is a horrid thing. It’s inhuman to say you're better than someone else because of their skin color. We as humans are equal some may be more wealthy than others but when it all comes down to it we will all go in the same box in the same ground. Racism was and still is a horrible thing and it affected a lot people.
As the United States “progresses” in economic, educational and technological advancements we still are fighting for racial equality. With more than 50 years since the brown vs. board of education case there is still incidents like Ferguson, Baton Rouge, and Phiando Castile where many questions are still unanswered. However, Harper Lee dealt with these same problems in 1960 when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee created an emotionally confronting story. Lee writes through the eyes of “Scout” a lawyer’s daughter in a small sleepy town of Maycomb in Alabama during the great depression. Throughout the book “Scout” learns coming of age lessons from Atticus and her own experiences. But when Atticus takes on a case defending a black man (Tom Robinson) convicted for rapping a white woman (Mayella Ewell) and is found guilty. “Scout” her brother Jem begin to understand the effects of the prejudices in society. Therefore, Lee applies the literary concepts of diction and tone to revel the truth that prejudices in society negatively affect the way people treat each other in To Kill a Mocking Bird.
During the 1930’s coloured people were thought less of than others. White people were considered on a higher class than coloured people such as Africans and for that reason, they were treated unfairly and unjustly. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird tells us a story of racism observed from the perspective of a young girl Scout Finch in Maycomb, Alabama. Harper Lee conveys a powerful message on racism and prejudice, as proven by the racial separation, false accusations, and gender stereotypes.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, these social injustices occur in legal institutions such as a court of law or a prison due to racism and prejudice, and vilifying individuals out of fear and prejudice. Harper Lee demonstrates this theme of prejudice correctly as she keeps the setting and time period in mind with the topic of racism. However, although prejudice has loosened up a lot in regard to skin color today, it is still an issue that needs to be addressed. For example, the Michael Brown shooting and all the other additional police shootings and brutalities from white cops to innocent African-American citizens are other instances of major social injustices. The horrors of prejudice still exist today and need to be put to rest.
Racism has been a big part of the human race ever since people were born. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the townspeople of Maycomb, Alabama misjudge the African-Americans of their town. They treat them like trash, and some people even think they are just filthy beings. Clearly, then, racism has had many ubiquitous effects on many of Maycomb's citizens.
Racism was a very large part of society in the south during the 1930’s. Many colored people were thought of as less than their peers. Whites were considered better than African Americans were, and almost every white person accepted the unjust judgment. Racial discrimination hit hard in the south. Many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird were impacted by racial discrimination, including Calpurnia, Scout, and Tom Robinson and his family.
In the riveting coming-of-age novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee projects the idea of acceptance of all people, through the eyes of a child. Harper Lee combats the prejudice of social standing when she proves that some of the poorest people have the best of character traits. While racism of African Americans is first and foremost in this novel, the acceptance of white people into the African American community shows racism can be beaten from both point of views. Finally, the disabilities that Arthur Radley portrays, is forgotten, when his actions help him soar above the bigotry of the people of Maycomb County. The most obvious topic is the overt racism based on a person's skin color, however, Harper Lee takes us beneath the skin to show that discrimination occurs in other ways.