Racial Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Scout recalls a conversation with Aunt Alexandra: “I could not possible hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants” (108). This shows that Aunt Alexandra believes that Scout should not run or jump or play because that would not be “ladylike”. A time that Scout felt a feeling of rebellion towards her Aunt was when Scout overheard her talking about her: “I felt the starched walls of pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me, and for the second time in

On the other hand, Aunt Alexandra faced a different but common obstacle, prejudice. Since prejudice was ubiquitous, Aunt Alexandra demonstrated maturity when she became more accepting of others especially Calpurnia, Boo and Scout. Aunt Alexandra, Scout and Jem’s caretaker, had some difficulties interacting and talking around people who were a different race or a lower social or economic class. When Aunt Alexandra first met Calpurnia, the African-American maid who worked in the Finch’s house, she despised her and all of her actions. No matter what Calpurnia did or what she said, she could not please Aunt Alexandra. However, later on in the novel, Aunt Alexandra developed a more accepting attitude towards Calpurnia. She allowed Calpurnia to serve the children dinner. This shows how much Aunt Alexandra has grown to be more accepting of other races and not be prejudice. Not only does Aunt Alexandra accept Calpurnia for who she is, but she also learns to accept Scout. “She brought me something to put on, and had I thought about it then, I would have never let her forget it: in her distraction, Aunty brought me my overalls” (Pg.264).

By treating her family lineage as unimportant, Scout was thought of by many as bringing shame to the Finch name, thus creating chaos within Maycomb. At the time of their Aunt Alexandra’s visit, Atticus said, “She wants to talk to you about the family and what it’s meant to Maycomb County through the years, so you’ll have some idea of who you are, so you might be moved to behave accordingly” (Lee 178). After Atticus finished this dialogue, Scout began to cry due to the opposition toward Aunt Alexandra’s ideals about lineage being important in one’s everyday life. The reason for her emotional response was that Aunt Alexandra had turned to heredity to explain behavior and justify actions since her arrival. However, Scout had never been exposed to an environment where her history could be so valued. Aunt Alexandra’s order was disrupted with chaos when she saw how little Scout cared about lineage and believed that Scout’s unruly behavior was a result of her neglect to bring respect to the Finch name. When

In to Kill Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout dislikes Aunt Alexandra who tries to make scout more ladylike which results in Scout following the social expectations of Maycomb county. Atticus a loving and caring father, tells her children about Aunt Alexandra’s mission. He tells them about how they are Finches and are different from other people. “Your aunt has asked me to try and impress upon you and Jean Louise that you are not from run-of-the-mill people, that you are the product of several generations’ gentle breeding-.”

This changes the way he lives and ultimately his identity. Aunt Alexandra’s identity can also be identified from looking into her past. In the book Aunt Alexandra is raised on Finch’s Landing with a very strict mindset that the Finch’s are better than everybody else. There are many quotes from the story that show how she was taught in her past and what her past made her believe in. One of these quotes is, “Whenever Scout expresses a desire to do something that Aunty believes is Not Done By Finches, she’s down on her niece like an avalanche.”

“Cry about the simple hell other people give other people- without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people too. ”(269) Prejudice is a strong word as well as a nasty act. It is shown throughout the Maycomb County in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Prejudice shows us just how it affects the different groups of people in this novel.

Scout evaluates people based on their actions; therefore people who did the best they could with the tools they were given Scout considers good, respectable people. Aunt Alexandra, on the other hand, assesses people based on their family history. The longer a family has stuck to their roots and the longer they have held their plot of land the more highly she thinks of that family. This shows a lot about Aunt Alexandra and Scout’s values and

Tom Robinson is a man convicted of raping Miss Mayella Ewell. The prosecution case is based solely on the color of his skin and not any evidence to back it up, but with three witness delineation ,one being from a man whom birth name is Robert E. Lee Ewell. From that name alone can tell that the witness will be biased because Robert E. Lee was a general who fought for the confederate in the civil war, and the confederates wanted to keep the slaves. His name is relevant because this proves that he was raised by his family to hate black people, and that his intentions were to lie just so he can see one get behind bars. In his testimony, his immediate reaction was to blame the black man right away saying, “I knowed who it was, all right, lived down yonder in that ni**er-nest”(Lee 234).

Even though she seems to have a lot of common knowledge, she does not really understand why she is forced to do things she does not want to do. Aunt Alexandra mostly pushes Scout for her own needs and does not even pay attention to what it is doing to young

Racial bias within the court has been openly identified throughout Tom Robinson’s trial. “The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box,” writes Lee as Atticus Finch (252). This refers to the unjust treatment and discrimination endured by black members of society and how some men’s prejudice follows one into court. Had Tom Robinson been of

Aunt Alexandra reveals the tragedies and horrors negatively and positively. When Aunt Alexandra first found out Atticus was defending Tom Robinson, she was not pleased with him. She believed that Atticus defending a black man would ruin the family. Then, when Scout suggested to invite Walter Cunningham over, she said no because he’s not their kind of folks. But, when she heard Tom Robinson was killed, she it disturbing and said it was not right. Both negatively and positively, Aunt Alexandra revealed the tragedies and horrors associated with racism and prejudice.

(Lee 81) Aunt Alexandra was supposed to influence Scout and Jem and teach them as a mother would. However, it did not go well when she came to stay with them. " Jem and I exchanged looks." (Lee 127)

Aunt Alexandra has a different personality then Calpurnia or Miss Maudie but that only creates a third image inside of Scouts head about what's right and wrong or ladylike which makes Scout think and impacts her throughout the novel. In the second part of TKAM, we finally see Aunt Alexandra in person after just hearing about her from Scout. We see a lot about her personality when she enters the room and orders Calpurnia to “put [her] bag in the front bedroom.” This already gives the impression that she isn't as easy going as Miss Maudie or as held back as Calpurnia. We can make the assumption that she is a little bit more controlling which can be either a bad or good influence towards Scout.

Since the beginning of her arrival halfway through the story, she never got along with Scout due to the fact that they both had different opinions on what a real women should act like, and this is the author portrays her as; societal standards. Because of this, she works very hard to convince Scout to let go of her tomboyish habits, which she displays an abundance of times throughout the novel. “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire…” (Lee 108) is a line that proves that Alexandra cares more about what standards society has on women in that time period than what makes Scout happy, But Scout then realizes that she was like this because she wanted to keep a good name for the Finches, even if that means sacrificing one's happiness (Sl Collins). Just like the rest of Maycomb county and their orthodox ways, Alexandra didn’t like black folks very much, so

In the book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ we have seen only sides of Aunt Alexandra that are cruel and hateful. The first time we went Aunt Alexandra in the book we heard about her scrutiny towards Scout when she left her all alone at the kid table, but let all the other kids sit at the adult table. This was only the beginning of what happened that Thanksgiving Day. Jem, Scout’s older brother was to old to play, so Scout had to amuse Francis. This is when things got messy. When Scout was outside with Francis he started talking trash about Atticus. He told Scout Atticus was ruining the family name, that he was a nigger lover. At the start of