Racism And Loss Of Innocence

The act of prejudice is one that everyone experiences. Whether it be, a person who is distributing hate, or a person who is receiving hate, everyone has contact with it. Although it is present all over the globe, it is prominent in the United States. Both in the present and the past, endless acts of discrimination have taken place and left a monumental impact on the country. The effect that it leaves can be seen in the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. In this story, sexism, racism, and isolation, are demonstrated in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s. As the story progresses, Lee compares these concepts to one another and uses them to make a statement about the problematic nature in America.

The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is centered around the racism and injustice in the American South in the 1930’s. It focuses on a young Alabama girl named Scout, and her father, who is defending an innocent black man accused of rape. In her book, Harper Lee reveals the idea of empathy, through quotes such as, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it" (Lee 30). In the book, Atticus Her writing exemplifies the theme that empathy helps people better understand the motives and actions of others, through juxtaposition, symbolism, and stereotype revelations.

Prejudice is one of the world’s greatest struggles. It does not only hold society back, but is harmful to the people who do good .In Harper Lee’s book To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem live through and witness prejudice and racism in the small town of Maycomb. They see someone wrongly accused of a crime because of his race. Scout and Jem also witness and take part in prejudice against a man no one knows anything about. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee uses characterization to show the negative effects of prejudice and racism.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a witty and well-written account of the realities of a “tired old town” (4) where there was “nothing to buy and nothing to buy it with” (4). Purposefully, it comes across not merely an innocently portrayed, yet eye-opening, story of a young girl start to grasp the inequalities of her society. Rather, it is accompanied by recollection of the unfortunate pillars of hate of the places Harper Lee matured in. We now perceive this account as an ‘archaic” and “ancient” recount of some historically frowned upon mindsets in an enthralling atmosphere upon which we pin historical quantities of prejudice, racism and most of all, bigotry. The unfortunate reality is that we look at history in a vacuum and ignore the occurrences of our own times. So although we, like Scout’s teachers teaching about the horrible acts of the Holocaust while being outspokenly racist, are able to analyze social inequalities in other places in time or the world yet refuse to open our eyes to the same prejudice, racism and bigotry today. To instance, when reading To Kill a Mockingbird , we often frown upon citizens for judging “folks” based on their family name and race, although, everyday, some member of our current society, such as police officers and employers, do the same thing and no one bats an eye. Alternatively, the issue which we definitely desperately desire to avoid, racism, is explicitly tackled in To Kill a Mockingbird to the point of viral awareness of the problem in

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)

Imagine a world where evil and unjust actions are based on the color of skin; a world where some don’t even realize that they are prejudicing. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, these themes are present. People and how they commit evil, hypocritical, and unjust acts. We see these themes and great issues through the point of view of a child; the vigorous, youthful, elementary-aged Scout. Through this character Harper Lee shows the innocence of children, and what they go through in our inequitable world.

The concept of conflicting perspectives is consistently present in Harper Lees’ novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The text asks questions about current trends in society and the attitudes that cause people to ‘act like sheep” and conform while also expressing the need for individuality. It also brings into question the way the judicial system should be beyond reproach no matter what man is on trial, whether they be white or black. In a similar manner it also shows changing attitudes in regards to racism over time and in turn establish a conflicting perspective between the reader and characters of the novel.

“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

In the third chapter of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus proclaims that “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (P. 39). By including this statement Lee presents to us the idea of empathy and that, in the words of author Madeleine L’Engle in her book A Wrinkle in Time, ‘people are more than just the way they look’. Applying this concept to some of Lee’s characters in the book can teach us invaluable

Alexandra starts to get mad at Scout after her decision to invite Walter over for dinner. They argue about it, but in the end Aunt Alexandra wins and Scouts anger for her grows even more. “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem…” (Page 300) This quote is said by Aunt Alexandra which shows her plan to make Scout more ladylike by telling her to be with boys that are more sophisticated then Walter.

In Harper Lee’s novel, the author shares many prejudices and different stereotyping that used to happen in that time period. These different prejudices include racial stereotyping, segregation, and slavery that used to be a reality years ago. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee shows how people were treated, and also explains that Atticus, the lawyer for Tom Robinson, despite being verbally attacked by other members of the community stood up for him even though he knew people would think poorly of him.

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.

While lecturing Scout, Aunt Alexandra portrays, “‘The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem. Besides, there’s a drinking streak in that family a mile wide. Finch women aren’t interested in that sort of people’” (Lee 300). Aunt Alexandra has the temerity to discriminate against the lower classes of Maycomb by telling Scout that she isn’t allowed to play with Walter Cunningham, a poor farmer boy. Scout enjoys Walter’s company and wants to be nice to him because of all of the things his family has done for the Finch’s, but the boy isn’t as well mannered, smart, or as associated as Scout. Aunt Alexandra doesn’t allow Scout to tarnish the Finch namesake or her position within the society. Family name, authority, and respect within the community are all important aspects in Alexandra’s daily life. She realizes that by fraternizing with someone of lower status in the community, their family may be thought less of. Without even realizing that her commentary is hurtful, Alexandra disgraces the Cunninghams and discriminates against the farmers and poorer folk of Maycomb by not allowing Scout to be friends with

In the riveting coming-of-age novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee projects the idea of acceptance of all people, through the eyes of a child. Harper Lee combats the prejudice of social standing when she proves that some of the poorest people have the best of character traits. While racism of African Americans is first and foremost in this novel, the acceptance of white people into the African American community shows racism can be beaten from both point of views. Finally, the disabilities that Arthur Radley portrays, is forgotten, when his actions help him soar above the bigotry of the people of Maycomb County. The most obvious topic is the overt racism based on a person's skin color, however, Harper Lee takes us beneath the skin to show that discrimination occurs in other ways.

All around the globe, billions of people ignore their own self-worth for the purpose of pleasing society’s biased outlooks. To survive in this corrupted, prejudiced world, individuals frequently succumb to the judgment of others. They would rather disregard their own priceless and valuable opinions for mere approvals from the greater population. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author, Harper Lee, wrote a timeless piece that shines light on the discriminatory behaviors of mankind during the Depression Era in 1933, when racism was widely accepted and executed. The story was set in Maycomb County, a district residing in southern Alabama. One of the main characters, Atticus, willingly decides to rebel against society’s system by utilizing