How Does Lee Show Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Prejudice will always be apart of human nature. Prejudice is when one has a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Many citizens in the world do not realize they demonstrate prejudice in their life. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates prejudice through racism, social class, and sexism through certain characters, to emphasize not to judge a person before being placed in their shoes.

Prejudice: noun. “Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience” (Dictionary). Prejudice is one of the most relevant things in the lives of two children, Jem and Scout, in a small town, Maycomb, Alabama. It’s the 1930s, the Great Depression has already hit, and racism has already impacted this small, innocent town. Jem and Scout learn what their town is hiding by finding out who their neighbors really are. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, prejudice is like a second language to the people of Maycomb. It is shown by gender, race, and social status.

First off, in the book, prejudice is shown through the trial. The trial shows the race part of prejudice because Tom is found guilty because of his skin color. “Judge Taylor was polling the jury: Guilty... guilty…..guilty” (Lee 282). Tom Robinson is a black man living in Maycomb, Alabama. He is found guilty for raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. During the trial, Atticus Finch is trying to help Tom Robinson live his life, and be found not guilty. Tom Robinson is, unfortunately, found guilty. The color of his skin determines this decision of the jury. In this time period, black men and women were treated differently than white men or women. There were many facts that were shown in the trial that pointed away from Tom, like when Atticus said

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.

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, prejudice and racism are embedded in the regional psyche of Maycomb, a miniscule town in Alabama. The narrator interpolates injustice and racism in Alabama during the 1930s, largely through the eyes of Scout, who was a child during this time, however, the adult Scout occasionally interjects with some adult observations. Furthermore, the citizens of Maycomb are stereotyped pervasively throughout the book. In Harper Lee’s To Kill Mockingbird, examples of racism, sexism, and social class are used to demonstrate how prejudice can corrupt a community.

What really is prejudice? Prejudice is an opinion based only upon personal bias, and not any actual facts or evidence. Within the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are a variety of situations where prejudice is taken into effect over facts and evidence. When Lee does this, he is not only just giving the characters some detail, but he is also showing what prejudice really means and how it can affect people. A few examples could be when scout is basing her opinion on no facts, Lila at the church getting her opinion from just the kids being white, Boo Radley being judged without facts by everyone, and Tom Robinson being black meaning is already guilty.

Prejudice is defined as: “An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” Harper Lee explores this theme throughout To Kill A Mockingbird with various characters demonstrating or being affected by it, especially because it is set in the turbulent time of 1930s southern USA. In particular, the theme is prominent in the characters Arthur (Boo) Radley, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson. I will begin with Arthur (Boo) Radley.

Prejudice is seen throughout the world in many forms even after the Civil Rights Movement. To Kill a Mockingbird shows the extreme prejudice that African Americans were faced with at that time period. This book shows prejudice through character interactions.

Prejudice is “an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge” (Merriam); according to Lystra Moore Richardson of Yale University: “prejudice… was part of the very fiber of Southern life [during the Great Depression].” With these two pieces of information, it is derived that people formed judgments and opinions of a person without just

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

Scout's perception of prejudice is evolved through countless experiences in Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird. Written in the nineteen thirties, To Kill a Mockingbird promotes the understanding of self-discovery through Scout, an intelligent and outspoken child living with respectable family in Maycomb County, Alabama. Throughout various encounters in the novel, Harper Lee causes Scout's perspective to change and develop from innocence to awareness and eventually towards understanding.

Prejudice and discrimination is looked down upon, yet people still continue to be judgmental and have preconceived assumptions about others. It is a common thing that still happens in today’s society. To be particular, racial discrimination is one example of prejudice and is based solely on the color of one’s skin. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is a caring individual who tries his hardest to treat everyone he meets with appreciation and respect. However, he is African American, which influences him and the other characters' lives in different ways. All he wants to do is help out another character, Mayella, which inevitably costs him his life in the end. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the character of Tom Robinson to illustrate the fact that innocent people are sometimes victimized to a racist society.

Prejudice is something which has affected everyone at one time or another. It is like looking out a frosted window and not seeing a clear picture. When people look through a frosted window they sometimes see a blurred vision of the world outside. Sometimes we see people as very different from ourselves when really they are just a very little bit different from us. We can even see someone as an enemy instead of for who they really are. These narrow minded views in our society are prevalent, even though most of the time they are

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.

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible. (Maya Angelou) By definition prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Prejudice to others is hate, judgement, and evil. The effects of prejudice are shown in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the play The Merchant of Venice, and the tragedy known as the Holocaust. Prejudice affected all people differently, but one thing is true for all; prejudice is crippling and disables those who experience it from being who they truly are and doing as they please.