Race, Class, And Gender Play A Role In To Kill A Mockingbird

Social inequality is an uncivilized ranking scale which was created by simple minded people who held the fear being surpassed. The argument made by Harper Lee in her work To Kill a Mockingbird is that social inequality is a hierarchy that is complex and affects everyone. More specifically, the author argues that the racial boundaries put between the black and white during the 1930’s caused great stress. This is proven in the novel multiple times. The people of Maycomb judge one another based on the background and wealth of their families. Not only do they judge each other within the community, they discriminate against anyone different than them. Social inequality does not only exist in the form of racism, there are many forms; some of the major ones appear in this book. Social inequality based purely on family background, social inequality based on the wealth of the individual and family, and racism. These are three of the major forms of social inequality that appear numerous times in the book.

Racism is something that most people would claim they do not believe in or support; however, as clearly shown in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, racism is a disease that spreads through a region and worsens as time goes on. Racism is an issue that is still prevalent in the American society today, and Harper Lee’s timeless novel continues to teach the lesson that one needs to look beyond the color of another man’s skin and see them for who they truly are. Mr. Raymond’s conversation with Dill after Tom Robinson’s testimony initially shows that racism is better comprehended with age. He says, “Let him get a little older and he won’t get sick and cry… Cry about the hell white people give to colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people too” (Lee, 1960, p. 269). Here, it becomes clear that children can be naive to racism and the evil in the world, but as they continue to grow up in an area that feels so strongly about white supremacy, they become immune to the injustice and prejudice. Further, Mr. Raymond’s words allow the reader to better understand the severity of the racism in Maycomb and the entirety of the country. It also unveils a crucial theme in the novel, namely that one must consider a person of color to be no different from oneself, as all humans are equal. Additionally, racism is repeatedly referred to as a disease in the novel, which is explained when Atticus is talking to Uncle Jack about the trial and he says “‘... I hope and pray I can get

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.

Racism is both an ideology and a system of domination. To be racist is not just a misuse of derogatory slurs and whatnot. Only certain communities have the power and the privilege to be racist. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird racism was one of the most recurring themes. Communities as well as specific characters were impacted by racism. Tom Robinson, Calpurnia, Bob Ewell and Dolphus Raymond were characters that suffered from Racism.

It is very evident that Maycomb is a small town in which there is much racism, and social status greatly determines what kind of life you will lead. The different types of social inequality are an important theme in the novel, and Harper Lee

Social inequality based entirely on race affects people who don’t deserve it. To Kill a Mockingbird original publication was in 1960, it is a classic novel written by Harper Lee, the book is set in 1933 to 1935. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama and follows two years in the life of 7-year old Scout Finch, her brother Jem, and their father Atticus, an attorney who hopelessly strives to prove the innocence of a black man accused of rape. The book also talks about Boo Radley, a mysterious neighbour who saves Scout and her brother Jem from being killed. The definition of social and legal codes are social codes made up of rules and standards, and a legal system is a code of laws made by a state or nation. Throughout the book, social and legal codes are exploited by people to help maintain their social status. In Maycomb County, social and legal laws harm black people to protect white people, such as Atticus Finch, Bob Ewell, and Tom Robinson.

People are not born prejudiced. “It is something that is learned". It can be learned in the same way other attitudes and values are learned, primarily through association, reinforcement and modeling. For example, children may learn to associate a particular ethnic group with poverty, crime, violence and other negative things” (2006 Anti-Defamation League). Also, prejudice in “children may be reinforced by listening to derogatory ethnic jokes, especially when others laugh along or think they're cool”. Lastly, children may simply imitate the prejudices of their older family members and popular friends. Prejudice is to pre- judge. “Prejudice is a baseless and usually negative attitude toward members of a group. Common features of prejudice

Throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird Lee discusses the effects of ignorance and the toll it takes on people such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Scout herself, and many more. Through her examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the populist of poverty stricken Southerners, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of ignorance are the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story. A good example of this injustice is the trial of Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white girl and is found guilty. The book is from the point of view Scout, a child, who has an advantage over most kids due to her having a lawyer as a dad, to see the other side of the story. Her father tells her in the story, “you never really know a man until

In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she reveals that society enforces strong racial boundaries, and when one is only associated with another of a different race they are labelled as strange and regarded as an outsider. In the story, young Scout Finch learns life lessons from her father Atticus, a lawyer in their small town, Maycomb. Throughout the novel many people disapprove of Atticus for his job since he defends black people and for the way he raises his children to accept everyone no matter their skin color. Scout is often taunted and picked on for her dad’s profession at school and even by relatives; at Christmas time, their cousin, Francis, humiliates Scout for having “a [negro]-lover” as a dad and describes how it “[mortifies]

How different people in Maycomb view the issue of race affects how those people treat others.

Is Stereotyping and racism truly wrong? In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee six year old Scout Finch, and her older brother Jem, live with their father in cozy Maycomb, Alabama. They love to spend time with their close friend Dill, and also spy on their mysterious and reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley. Later Atticus, there widowed father, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges from the Ewell family, exposing the children to the evil of stereotyping and racism in the South. Throughout the trial Atticus taught his children to respect others, no matter what action they were accused of committing. Atticus lived by the theme respect others, protect the innocent, and always take a moral stance.

To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written by Harper Lee, tells the story of a little girl named Scout. Set in Alabama in the 1930s, Maycomb county, Scout’s home, is a sleepy place, that hides a dark streak of racism. Maycomb gets pulled into a whirlwind court case of sexual assault consisting of an African American man getting accused of beating and raping a white girl. Scout, whose father defended the African American, learns of the deep problems in society. Still in the mindset of constant racism, the jury ruled against the black man, even though the evidence clearly proved that the girl’s father beat her. Unfortunately, this racism survives today, and one only has to take a peek at the news, or a glance outside to notice it. Racism still exists today, as seen through brutality against

To Kill a Mocking Bird is a book that has been turned into a movie. The themes that are covered in this interesting book and movie ranges from racism, prejudice to social injustice which goes to show how human beings can be very cruel to fellow human beings simply because they are different from themselves. Tom Robinson’s trial further shows that in a society where the white race is seen to be superior, no other race mattered. This paper therefore is an analysis of the themes that emerge from the court proceedings of the Tom Robinson trial. It goes on to analyze how the content shapes the language used and how social identities, functions and relations are performed through language choices.

In the Novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, The Narrator Scout Finch relays her experiences of Racism and Prejudice. Children are new to the world, they haven’t experienced the real world yet. They have unbiased opinions, they don’t know the stereotypes until they figure it out themselves. Scout Finch is just a little girl during the great depression. In Maycomb county where she lives, Black people were frowned upon by most families. People even shunned others if they were married to a black man or women if they were white. If a Black person was convicted of a crime they would most likely be found guilty.

names’s Tom Robinson”. Discuss the effects of racism on Maycomb citizens such as Tom and Helen Robinson,