Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

Prejudice is embedded into society and is taught from generation to generation. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the setting is 1930’s in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. The people in this town look down on those different from them and have been taught prejudice for generations. Even though it was set so long ago the lessons are still applicable to many situations today. In this story a young girl named Scout is the narrator and her father is a lawyer who is representing a black man accused of raping a white girl. It is obvious what the fate of the man will be but the story highlights how and why an innocent man is sent to prison and later murdered.

During the 1930’s depression, there was a great divide between black and white America. There were many communities and groups who had been exposed to the same treatment and persecution as the Negroes in To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee has used a small town setting, such as that in To Kill a Mockingbird, to illustrate America’s views on white supremacy and the inferiority of the black race. The author has illustrated view that are expressed world-wide through her characters in Maycomb county.

He implies if one does not follow their conscience will, they will live overwhelmed by guilt. Here, the moral of human beings is threatened by the recurring subject of racism, as well as discrimination issues. Jem is an epitome of a corrupted person as he justifies that Atticus is wrong because everyone else thinks so. Nevertheless, he finds himself after the testimony is given. When it comes time for the trial, Jem follows it closely. Having grown up in the home of a lawyer, Jem understands the workings of the courtroom, besides its racial bias. Once the judge goes over the evidence, Jem becomes increasingly confident that Atticus won but his belief that Tom is innocent contrasts with what actually occurs: Tom is found guilty. While looking at Jem, Scout sees how his “shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between them.” By comparing Jem’s reaction to a “stab,” Lee not only shows Jem receiving blows of devastation over the case and feeling physically attacked but also points to the broader attack on things that Jem thought were once true. This is something that causes him great emotional pain as he has a hard time coming to terms with general unfairness. Jem has counted on the strength of bigotry but in

Harper Lee, author of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, acknowledged the prejudice in 1930’s America. This novel won the Pulitzer Prize for its strength in upholding the prejudice in a small town in the south. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in a town called Maycomb, where a family of three and their cook lives and deals with this animosity everyday. Atticus, the father, is a well-respected lawyer and Alabama state legislator. He chooses to defend African American Tom Robinson against charges of assault against Caucasian Mayella Ewell. Although Atticus knows that he would not win the case, he still wants to defend Tom to teach his children, Jem and Scout, a valuable lesson. Harper Lee made the right decision in having Atticus Finch defend Tom Robinson; however, the decision came with consequences (Lee).

The prejudice seen in the fictional novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee corresponds with the real narrow-mindedness during this time period. A fair trial would be unlikely during this time period between a white and a black man. Tom Robinson was presumed guilty because of his race.

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

To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in small town Maycomb, Alabama, a depression era town where people move slowly and twenty-four hours seems longer.  The narrator of the story is a six-year-old girl named Jean Louise Finch, a tomboy who hates wearing dresses and goes by the nickname "Scout."  Scout's being a tomboy is of no little significance because while we are treated to a sweet and affectionate portrayal of Maycomb at the novel's opening, we will find it is a town where racial prejudice, hostility and ignorance run deep below the surface.  Not only are the majority of the townspeople prejudiced against blacks, maintaining a feeling of superiority to the whole of their race, but

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.

“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

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.

Prejudices are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.

Life is like a thrill ride; one never knows what will be in store for them. Many characters in the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee feel the same way about life, having experienced many surprising and unexpected turns of events. This story is about a sleepy southern town filled with prejudice, and a lawyer’s quest, along with his children Scout and Jem, to take steps in ridding the town of its prejudiced attitude. Despite being a white man, a lawyer named Atticus, defends an innocent black man accused of raping a white woman. However, everything does not go as was hoped, and the mindset of the society overpowered Atticus’s fair-minded argument. From this emerges a theme regarding the bigotry and bias overwhelming Maycomb: A

To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel, that offers a view of life through a young girl’s eyes. The novel is focused on two main themes which are racism and discrimination.

what a bad father he is and why his family have been given a bad name.

“To Kill a Mocking Bird” is a novel which was written by Harper Lee. In my essay I will discuss how Harper Lee explores the theme of prejudice by looking at the writing techniques and how they affect people.