Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Prejudice, judgement formed without knowledge or fact, affects all people to a degree. All people, coming from different walks of life come to the issue with a their own perspective. This perspective guides them through the issue and makes them react differently to similar concepts. Tom Robinson tried to follow the set system of court, trying his best to use a faulty system. Jeremy Finch threw a violent hissy fit at the unfair judgement and yielded no results. Dolphus Raymond gave people an excuse to outlet their prejudice against alcoholism and not himself. All people subject to different levels and types of prejudice, all people reacting in different ways. Prejudice is a major part of the book Kill a Mockingbird with it’s own set of ethical restrictions that each character reacts to differently. The major ethical dilemma of To Kill a Mockingbird is prejudice caused by ignorance with Tom Robinson, Dolphus Raymond, and Jeremy “Jem” Finch each addressing it in their own ways.

In conclusion, throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, prejudice is shown as one of the most important things in the lives of the citizens of Maycomb, Alabama. One of the most evident types of prejudice is

“Prejudice is a learned trait. You’re not born with it; you’re taught it,” said Charles R Swindoll (Author). Prejudice is incorporated into How to Kill a Mockingbird in many ways. Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Miss Maudie are some of the ways prejudice is shown.

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 means an opinion that is not based on reasoning or actual experience. In To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, prejudice is portrayed in many ways. For example, when the townspeople of Maycomb hear that Scout Finch’s dad, Atticus, is defending a black man in a court case, the kids in school began to hector Scout for his Dad’s actions. “This order, given by me to Cecil Jacobs was the beginning of a rather thin time for Jem and me.” (Lee, pg 99) says Scout after the long school day. “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an’ that nigger oughta hang from the water-tank!” (Lee, pg 102) said, Cecil, after Scout confronted him about it the next day. This is an example of prejudice because even though the trial hasn’t begun yet, people are already against Tom Robinson. By looking at his dark skin color, the townspeople already believe that he is guilty. Even after Atticus Finch brought in evidence and strong arguments that Bob Ewell was really the one who had done harm to Mayella Ewell. But the all-white jury still believed that Tom was responsible for Mayella’s abuse. “Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with…” (Lee, pg 292).

“To better understand a person you have to climb up inside their skin and walk around in it.” The quote previously stated by Atticus in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is an unveiling of the upcoming forms of prejudice. The setting for the novel is a fictitious town called Maycomb. This town is situated in Alabama. The racial prejudice shown in the novel has a lot to do with the town being situated in the southern United States. The backwardness and narrow-mindedness of the community fueled racism in Maycomb. These negative qualities account for the social and religious prejudices in the novel. Maycomb people have very inward looking views and so these views are passed on

If you have ever seen anything on the news, it was written with a bias. People have opinions and prejudices, and they tend to communicate this in their writings/scriptures. Harper Lee portrays the 1930’s from her perspective as Scout and she also demonstrates to us her opinions, which are highly influenced by her brother, Jem, and father, Atticus in the book To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM). Scout and her family teach us through their thoughts that prejudice is wrong, that the ‘real’ world is not what a child expects it to be, and that we do not get the justice we deserve.

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

Most

We have long been a society that has judged based on skin color, ethnicity, and religious orientation. To Kill A Mockingbird speaks to just that. Scout, Jem, and Atticus live together in a small town that is full of widespread prejudice, and hate against one another for small differences like skin color. The old days in America, especially in the South, where prejudice was rampant and widely viewed as acceptable. Society was brainwashed into believing that whites are higher being than black people.

The thematic implications of prejudice are seemingly endless, and with its one simple conclusion within its stories, it is no surprise to see that prejudice can sometimes, in literature develop the most important themes. One case of this would be the experiences of jem and scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper lee. In To Kill a Mockingbird the two main characters are faced with many events in which their reflections of these events show prejudice. Using all the concepts and the story of To Kill a Mockingbird I have come to the conclusion that prejudice is the one of the major themes of the story if not only.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us that prejudice is established by stereotypes. Harper Lee also argues that prejudice creates malevolent effects towards people. Harper Lee argues that prejudice is established by stereotypes and that it creates

One of the main themes in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is racism and prejudice. Chapter 23 of the novel talks a lot about this. In this chapter, Scout says she wants to invite Walter Cunningham over for dinner. When Aunt Alexandria hears this she forbids Scout from doing so, stating that Walter Cunningham is trash. Jem takes Scout out of the room where they begin to discuss the caste system in Maycomb.

In the novel “To kill a mockingbird”, even though we see the world through a young girls eyes Harper Lee did an excellent job showing the effect of it in Maycomb that included being discriminated by class gender and skin colour. Prejudice is defined as an "preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.". In the novel 'To kill a mockingbird' there are various ideas presented like blooming into an adult, Heroism, Bravery and Prejudice, but the main idea in this book is Prejudice. The highest form of prejudice in “To kill a mockingbird” is

In To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, prejudice plays a big role and sets the table for one of Atticus Finch’s biggest court cases. During the 1930s, it would be very difficult to win a case for an African-American in the deep south, especially since he, Tom Robinson, was accused of raping a white woman by the name of Mayella Ewell. A time when white people always had the upper hand over African-Americans and that even if there aren’t any facts or proof that something happened usually the African-American man would be charged and automatically lose the case. Examples of prejudice are in almost every chapter from small things to big cases like Tom Robinson’s. One example in the book is when the court case was immediately in favor of Mayella because she was white and Tom Robinson's big disadvantage was that he was black. We have seen multiple examples of prejudice in our daily lives over the past couple months about the National Football League players that have decided to sit or kneel during the National Anthem because they feel that African-Americans are being treated worse than white Americans. Prejudice was a problem in 1930s and still is a big issue in the society in the United States of America.