Prejudice, By, The Merchant Of Venice, And Real World Occurrences Such As The Holocaust

Tom Robinson’s character exemplifies the mockingbird because he is a black man who is denied justice based on racial prejudice. After Mayella Ewell accuses Tom of rape, there is no way for him to be judged fairly because the narrow-minded, white townspeople are unable to get past their prejudices towards blacks. At his trial, Tom’s lawyer, Atticus, argues,

The fact that prejudice prevents us from seeing the good that lies beyond a person’s appearance, religion or race is represented to a great extent in The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. The novel is set in 1930s Germany during the times of rising anti-Semitism when Adolf Hitler, the leader of the ruling Nazi Party put his discriminatory ideologies into practice and began persecuting people of the Jewish race. This persecution is known as the Holocaust in which 17 million Jews were killed by the Nazi Party who described them as a shame upon Germany even though over 100,000 Jews fought for the country in WW1. The Book Thief is riddled with examples of racial prejudice whether it’s when a Jewish shopkeeper is beaten in the name of German patriotism or when the character of

Prejudice and discrimination are two predominate themes surrounding the events of the Holocaust and is depicted in Schindler’s List. Prejudice is defined as “a hostile or negative attitude

Atticus was assigned Tom Robinson in the case against Bob Ewell, and in the process he was an example to both his children and the town as an honorable lawyer. When Bob Ewell brought a case to court claiming his white daughter had been raped by black Tom Robinson, almost everyone assumed the jury would charge Robinson guilty; however, Atticus hoped for a different outcome. Atticus firmly believed his client was innocent, contrary to the public’s beliefs. Because Atticus was highly respected as a lawyer, this case caused a riff between the town. As Tom awaited his trial in the county jail, Atticus spent the night guarded the door to the cell. A group of perturbed men soon ambushed Atticus and demanded to see the prisoner. “You know what we want,” another man said. “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch (153).” In this situation, Atticus displayed honor through risking his life so an innocent black man was not killed. Even though he lost respect among his some neighbors, Atticus was honorable in his actions and stayed true to

Imagine living in barracks, starved, then gassed because of your religion. Getting accused of raping someone because of your skin tone, then getting put in prison. Or getting spat upon because you’re a Jew. All of these things occurred at some point in history, and we are shown what this is like through novels, plays and book such as; “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, “The Merchant of Venice”, and real world occurrences such as the Holocaust. Today I will be talking to you about the ways that prejudice is portrayed in all four of the novels, plays and historic time marks.

Atticus Finch is a man with strong morals. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the people of Maycomb County have finally met their match. Tom Robinson is a negro in early 1930’s Maycomb County. Tom has been accused of rape and Atticus FInch is his best hope. It makes sense for Atticus to be the one defend tom because he is compassionate and very brave.

During the book, Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, an African American man accused of raping

Atticus also does a good job in defending Tom Robinson because he gives a whole speech near the end of the trial. In the speech Atticus points out, “The evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our woman…... there is no particular race of man,” (273-274). In this speech Atticus defends Tom Robinson by saying that it is unfair because many people around him have the assumption that negroes like Tom Robinson are evil people, and even if they are innocent, people will still think that they are guilty. Atticus also continues to argue in his speech, talking about the court system, and how even though there are flaws in the court, it should be a fair place.

Atticus is a lawyer, which allows him to have a say in court cases to prove someone innocent. When Tom Robinson is accused of rape, Atticus is the only lawyer willing to fight Tom’s case. Atticus was known to be one of the best lawyers the town had. Bob Ewell (the person who accused the rape) was in fear of going to prison seeing that one of the most powerful lawyers was against him. On page 23-25, “They shot him,” said Atticus. “He was running. It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over. Right in front of them…”. The amount of power instilled in Atticus caused Bob to create false accusations once again in order to save himself. Atticus was a true figure that resembled what must be done with great

Firstly, Tom Robinson is just one character that is prejudged in the novel. He is accused of raping a white girl named Mayella and it is a problem to the jury that a black man is trying to defend himself in court. Atticus realizes how Tom is being treated unfairly and that it is uncommon for African Americans and white people to associate with each other. During Atticus’s speech, Mayella is accused of lying in her testimony when “she kissed a black man [which is] something that in our society is unspeakable” (Lee 272). The black man who Atticus refers to is Tom. He is ridiculed and judged by several people in the book and he gets all this

Therefore, the mockingbird and Robinson's voice commonly are not paid attention to throughout the whole novel. "It couldn't be worse Jack. The only thing we've got is a black man's word against the Ewells. The jury couldn't possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson's word against the Ewells." (88) This quote from Atticus is noteworthy for it implies that regardless of what Tom Robinson claims in the court, the jury is expected to stand on the white man's side. Although the jury at court is supposed to make objective decisions, along the other villagers, he displays a definite bias against the black man. If there is any responsibility that falls upon Tom, it would be the responsibility for chopping wood and providing help for Mayella who is reflected as the loneliest person on earth in the eyes of Scout. However, the mockingbird figure is wrongly accused of things that he has never done or even imagined. Although there is a sufficient amount of proof that Robinson is innocent, it is ignored after all, and he is imprisoned. Emphasizing this, Atticus tells his son Jem: "In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins." (220) This

Another time Atticus show that it is the right thing to defend Tom is when he says this during the court case “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white. The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is.”

Tom Robinson’s fate was decided; the jury voted he was guilty of all charges of rape against him, even though his lawyer, Atticus Finch, defended him and presented sufficient evidence that could have proved Tom Robinson’s innocence. When Robinson came to the stand, Mr. Finch attempted to persuade the jury with Robinson’s perspective while Mr. Gilmer, Mayella Ewell’s lawyer, thoroughly cross-examined Robinson to attempt to make him stumble and incriminate himself when he answered questions and retold parts of his story. Mr. Finch questioned Robinson first. He asked Robinson numerous questions that were meant to prove his innocence and prove Robinson had nothing to lie about. Mr. Finch began asking questions to give those present in the courthouse background on Robinson’s

This is done in order to engender pity and sympathy towards Tom Robinson in the courtroom and thus motivate the jury to return an innocent verdict.

There are books that are read in school where it portrays examples of prejudice. For instance, a book called “Inherit the Wind” displays an excellent point of view of prejudice. A town named Hills Bro believes in only one religion, and nothing else. They only believe in Christianity. Nevertheless, there was an individual named “ Bertrim Cates” who introduces another belief, the Darwin theory. The town despises Cates for believing in a belief that is different from the town. Another book that portrays prejudice is “The Merchant of Venice”. This play teaches individuals about prejudice and why it is wrong. People would see how everyone was hurt at one time or another by prejudice, whether it was the Christians making fun of Shylock or Shylock showing his prejudice to the Christians. One quote that was said by Shylock who reveals his feelings about the prejudice that was laid upon him. “ Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, affections, passions…..as a Christian is?” (Act 3 scene 1 lines 49-61). His feelings revealed of how he thinks that are Jews not the same as the Christians, and are they not both human.