Racial Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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

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.

Michael Crichton defines prejudice as “opinion in the absence of evidence”. This theme is embodied in Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird and brims throughout the course of the story. Harper Lee exemplifies prejudice by using the juxtaposition of the unbiased man, Atticus Finch and his disparaging sister, Alexandra. Atticus’s quote “you never really understand a person until you consider things from from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” relates to the quote by Michael Crichton because they both illustrate the theme that you cannot judge a book by its cover.(30)

“Hypocrisy is the mother of all evil and racial prejudice is still her favourite child” says Don King. There exists today, as many people have experienced or witnessed, the discrimination of African Americans in today’s society. However, throughout the history of racism mankind has overcome time old prejudices to improve people’s view of their fellow Americans. Individual combatting acts toward racism have become beacons of light in the darkness that is discrimination in society.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a novel based during the Great Depression in Maycomb, Alabama is expressed through the perspective of a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, Scout, and her brother,Jem Finch who conveyed their views on their beloved town in its dark moments of prejudice. When an African-American man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping the daughter of one of Maycomb’s lower ranked white families, Mayella Ewell, her family starts harassing the Finch family because of Atticus’s decision to take on Tom’s trial. Throughout the book, the children also meet new people, like Dill, who comes to visit his aunt every summer.The children perceive how when individuals demonstrate their real nature when looked with prejudice and

​Prejudice can be described as an opinion or judgment of a person based usually on race, class, or age before they know more about them. There are many forms of prejudice in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird such as race, gender, class, and age prejudice. The many forms of prejudice in the novel become stronger throughout the novel like: Age prejudice is common between many ages in Maycomb, gender prejudice is common between mostly women, class prejudice is common with poor families like the Cunningham’s, and racial prejudice is common throughout the whole novel with African Americans. Harper Lee shows how these forms of prejudice in the novel have the biggest impact on the characters living in the

We as humans have a predisposition to separate ourselves from things we don't understand and the things we find to be different than ourselves. Harper Lee has done a good job of capturing this instinct, and showing the reader the evolution of prejudice amongst humans and how it can impact our society. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the most important theme found is Prejudice plays a big role in human interaction.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in the 1930’s. The story stretches over a span of three years through the duration of the Great Depression. The Jim Crow laws “was a system of segregation and discrimination that barred black Americans from a status equal to that of white Americans,” as described by Tsahai Tafari (1). In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch occasionally acknowledges the social separation between African Americans and Caucasians in Maycomb. The institutional racism justified by the Jim Crow laws included the location of residency separation between white families and black families. Not only were colored people separated from white people in residential areas, but also within public areas such as

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

Racism is “any action or attitude, conscious or unconscious that subordinates an individual or group based on skin colour or race. It can be enacted individually or institutionally,” (US Civil Rights Commission). In other words, any act, thought, or relation to treating someone as if they are below you based on the color of their skin or ethnic group is the effect of racism. Racism and prejudice is presented in To Kill a Mockingbird on various occasions similar to ones in our past and present. These unfortunate acts are no novel, on the contrary, they have been an issue as far back as the 1600s, when slavery began to take a rise.

The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee demonstrates the effects of racism in southern America. Throughout this appealing novel, there are many characters who illustrate different personalities. Personally, I would compare Scout Finch to myself. After analyzing the character Scout Finch in relation to myself, while Scout portrayed more of a complex personality, I am easier to get along with, hence demonstrating how personality is the best method of establishing allies. Mine and Scouts personalities differ as Scout depicted more of a tomboy personality and solved a variety of problems by fighting, due to the aggressive personality she demonstrates.

Most people who read Harper Lee’s only novel have probably contemplated one of its major points at issue, that is the existence of hope for Tom Robinson. There being racial prejudice at the time a favourable verdict was out of question, but Atticus held out some hope of an overturn. Hence, Robinson shouldn’t have acted cowardly leaving his wife and children unprotected.

is one that is the most prevalent. This theme is the root of every racial and social problem in

To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel that shows prejudice in society. The narrator Scout knows most of her neighbors. Jem and Scout could have judged people by their looks when their personality could be different. The new teacher in their town doesn’t know most of the people there. She thinks they all have a good lifestyle. A child could see everything in a good point of view while an adult could see it as a bad point of view.

In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, discrimination was a prominent theme. In the novel, there are examples of sexism, classism, and racism which all help show the reader that to kill a mockingbird was set in a small town in the 1930s, and the town struggled through the depression, was very segregated and as it was a small town there was a lot of opinions and gossip these ideas are clearly shown through the Cunningham’s, scout, and Tom Robinson in the novel.