Racial Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the trial in the novel is one of the most important incidents that takes place in the text. It is very important to our understanding of the text as a whole as it shows the racial discrimination in that time period of the 1920 – 1930’s and how society in the 20th century has improved and has become more accepting of different races throughout the world as a whole. The topics that will be discussed in this essay are the trial and how it represented a prejudiced society, what happened after the trial and the effects that the trial had on the children.

Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is set in a small, southern town, Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The story is told through the eyes of a girl named Scout about her father, Atticus, an attorney who strives to prove the innocence of a black man named Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape and Boo Radley, an enigmatic neighbor who saves Scout and her brother Jem from being killed. Atticus does his job in proving there was no way that Tom Robinson was guilty during his trial, but despite Tom Robinson’s obvious innocence, he is convicted of rape as it is his word against a white woman’s. Believing a “black man’s word” seemed absurd as segregation was a very integrated part of life in the south. The social hierarchy must be maintained at all costs and if something in the system should testify the innocence of a black man against a white woman’s word and win then what might happen next? Along with the prejudice amongst blacks and whites, the story also showed how people could be misunderstood for who they truly are such as Boo Radley. Without ever seeing Boo, Jem and the townsfolk made wild assumptions on what Boo does or looks like. Even so, while “To Kill a Mockingbird” shows the ugliness that can come from judging others, its ultimate message is that great good can result when one defers judgement until considering things from another person’s view. Walter Cunningham, Mrs. Dubose, and Boo Radley are all examples of how looking at things

The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, tells the story of Atticus Finch, a white man defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape. Atticus, his children Jem and Scout, live in the small town Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. With this location and time setting, Lee reveals the racial injustice of the south through the characters Tom Robinson, Bob Ewell, and Calpurnia.

“But now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He’s ruining’ the family, that’s what he’s doing’.” (Lee 110). The power of hatred is one so strong, that it imprisons the Finches and African Americans of Maycomb County. In Alabama of 1920 to 1930, segregation is an established action of the Southerners, it’s a lifestyle. The slurs passed from the mouths of white Southerners and ending with the shooting of a black man, the ways of Maycomb County are ones seen as either shocking or common in today’s eyes. To Kill A Mockingbird is an eminent novel by Harper Lee that illustrates the aspects of discrimination and prejudice, tolerance and courage during a time in America where racial inequality

To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's only novel, is a fictional story of racial oppression, set in Maycomb, A.L. in 1925 to 1935, loosely based on the events of the Scottsboro trials. Unlike the story however, the racial discrimination and oppression in the novel very accurately portrays what it was like in the 1920's and 1930's in the south. Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a poor low class white girl of 19, never stood a chance of getting a fair trial. This can be supported by giving examples of racially discriminatory and

Harper lee has presented racism in the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by describing how blacks live and are treated harshly. The court case of Tom Robinson, which is the main part of the story is a metaphor that Harper Lee has created of the situation in the 1960 's. Things were not stable at the time and Tom 's case is just one example of the racial discrimination the blacks were facing during this time.

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

As the United States “progresses” in economic, educational and technological advancements we still are fighting for racial equality. With more than 50 years since the brown vs. board of education case there is still incidents like Ferguson, Baton Rouge, and Phiando Castile where many questions are still unanswered. However, Harper Lee dealt with these same problems in 1960 when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee created an emotionally confronting story. Lee writes through the eyes of “Scout” a lawyer’s daughter in a small sleepy town of Maycomb in Alabama during the great depression. Throughout the book “Scout” learns coming of age lessons from Atticus and her own experiences. But when Atticus takes on a case defending a black man (Tom Robinson) convicted for rapping a white woman (Mayella Ewell) and is found guilty. “Scout” her brother Jem begin to understand the effects of the prejudices in society. Therefore, Lee applies the literary concepts of diction and tone to revel the truth that prejudices in society negatively affect the way people treat each other in To Kill a Mocking Bird.

‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee in 1960 is a novel set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. The story follows Scout Finch, the daughter of Atticus Finch, a well-respected lawyer who is defending an African American man against the charges of rape. The characters in this novel are constructed in such a way that through their actions, appearances and attitudes the issue of racism in the 1930s arises quite clearly. Harper Lee has used the contrast between characters in certain events to inform and shape the readers view of just how bad racial issues were in society during the 1930s.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” racial injustice in the justice system is shown through Scout’s childhood stories. Scout goes through her time as a young child seeing people being falsely accused of rape and not being treated fairly because of their race. Through symbolism and The Trial of Tom Robinson, racial injustice in the justice system is shown.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee explores the consequences of a societal structure founded on bigotry, racism, prejudice, and the hunger for power. Lee employs a variety of literary techniques to portray the consequences of Maycomb’s errant societal structure or even social hierarchy. Thus, Lee uses 1930s Maycomb to critique and evaluate the flaws in her own 1960s America. A particular incident which is central to Lee’s underlying message is the trial of Tom Robinson. Robinson’s trial serves to reveal the institutionalisation of racism and bigotry, as well as the insatiable thirst for power created by the social hierarchy.

In Harper Lee's very fruitful novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, the creator investigates the issue of equity utilizing the image of the mockingbird. Set in the 1930s Deep South - a period of extraordinary narrow mindedness and racial disparity - the novel unravels as a record of bad form to the most generous yet unreasonably blamed subjects for the town of Maycomb. The kind hearted, however African-American Tom Robinson is unjustifiably put on trial for the charged assault of youthful Mayella Ewell. In spite of racial treacheries, Boo Radley is defrauded by the group taking into account the unfair town legends the Maycombians have made about him, driving him to live in a state of banishment inside his home. Atticus Finch, in spite of the fact that

Justice has long been considered something that is important to the success of a society. However justice in itself is something that is hard to achieve. Recently in the news, a story has arisen regarding a father who was not able to afford a lawyer, due to this he was not able to see his kids for five years. This is what some people would call political injustice, a case in which someone's given rights have been ignored. This is very common despite people saying that justice should be given to all people. Social injustice is a case in which people are affected by less government and law related issues, including, environmental rights, civil rights, and an access to education. This can be also seen clearly in “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Through the society that Harper Lee portrays in her novel she suggests that justice is something worth fighting for. Examples of both social and polítical injustice becomes apparent.

Racial Prejudice and Injustice From The Perspective of a Young Girl During the 1930s, a time period of prejudice and injustice, blacks are brutally treated and are viewed down upon from whites. Even with simple things like bathrooms or water fountains, black men and women are not welcome to associate themselves with the whites. In her book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays a perspective of the racial segregation from a young white girl. Scout Finch, a nine year old girl, has been raised by her father alongside her older brother Jem.

Race is an issue that has plagued our society for hundreds of years. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, race plays a big role in how people are treated. However, the issue of racial discrimination has not gone away, and African Americans are still being treated unjustly today. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird and the article “America Has a Big Race Problem” focus on the topic of racial inequality in America. In the novel, Robert Ewell is only considered better than the African Americans in town because “if scrubbed with lye soap in very hot water, his skin was white” (Lee 229).