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How Racism Affects the Characters of To Kill a Mockingbird

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“How Racism Affects the Characters of To Kill a Mockingbird” How does racism affect a story? As a kid in the 1930s, Harper Lee grew up when there was hardly any equality for African Americans. Harper Lee’s only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is heavily based off of prejudice and racism from her childhood. In her book, she writes about racial discrimination through the eyes of a six year-old girl, named Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, during the Great Depression. Her and her family are deeply tied into racism and prejudice involved throughout this story. Racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is ever apparent as the story is located in a small southern town in Alabama; it is reflected upon three of the main characters: Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, Jem Finch and their father, Atticus Finch. Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch is the main character in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and is the narrator of the story. She starts the novel at the age of six, and over the course of the novel, grows to be nine. Racism affects Scout throughout the story mainly because of her father, Atticus Finch, being involved with defending a black man in court that was accused of raping a white woman. Scout also resides in a small Alabama town called Maycomb. This also leads to much prejudice throughout the book. In the story, Scout if affected by racism and prejudice at her school, and around town. At school, she is picked on by a town boy called Cecil Jacobs for her father doing his job in
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