Social Psychological Theories On The Film Of Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

There was no room at the public hitching rail for another animal, mules and wagons were parked under every available tree. The courthouse square was covered with picnic parties sitting on newspapers.” (Lee, 160). The Ewells, Negroes and the defendant, Tom, represent the lower classes, the trial made it clear that when a black man’s word is against a white, the white, no matter the social status, always wins. Atticus understands the fact that winning the trial is very slim to none and he explains that you just can’t give up “They’ve done it before and they’ll keep doing it again and when they do it-seems that only children weep.” (Lee, 213). Despite the man Tom is, the jury must accuse someone of the crime and choose the easiest man to blame, Tom Robinson.

The Tom Robinson case in the book was a very tough trial. They accused Tom for raping a white woman. Atticus was the one defending Tom. He knew the trial would be unfair with the Jim Crow laws in place. The laws were a racial system in the southern states and border states. The judge and the jury convicted

Atticus is appointed to defend a black man named Tom Robinson who has been accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. She is a member of the Ewell family, who is looked down upon by Maycomb society and referred to as "white trash." Atticus knows that Tom has almost no chance because he is black and will be tried by an all white jury. Nevertheless, he wants to help him reveal the truth.

There are many racism problems in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus is a lawyer in the racist state of Alabama and he is trying to defend a man by the name of Tom Robinson after he got accused for raping a white woman. Atticus knows that nobody is going to believe Tom’s side of the story because he is black in the racist state of Alabama. Through Atticus’s morals the reader learns that he feels obligated to help this

Jem and Scout, throughout “To Kill A Mockingbird,” learn to consider things from other people’s perspectives. Atticus, Jem and Scout’s father, says “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” (Lee 39). They learn this through experiences with their neighbor Boo Radley as they mature beyond their years. At the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout make fun of Boo and assume that all of the rumors going around about him are true. However, later on in the story the children grow an admiration for Boo and learn to understand him. As they matured, Jem and Scout naturally learned many life lessons of appreciation, respect, and courage

Atticus is a man with morals. When he sees a person, white or black in need of justice he is always there to help, no matter the cost. In Maycomb County when a black man is on trial he is automatically seen as guilty. When Atticus was chosen to defend Tom Robinson many of the people in the community took it upon themselves to pay him a visit. It was understood by everyone that Tom had no chance and some of the men in the county went to Atticus to see if he would drop the case. Atticus knows though that Tom is innocent and deserves to have a fair trial. “Link, that boy might go to the chair, but he’s not going until the truth’s told” (Lee 146) . Atticus demands justice no matter who it is or what they’ve been accused of. He understands what needs to be done to give those who have been wrongly accused an honest hearing.

American popular culture has always supported white and defamed the African Americans. With the help of caricatures and images problem of stereotypes has been expressed in Ethnic Notions. Through this movie it can be seen that American popular culture is easily accepted by the people without any hesitation and opposition and become ignorant about the suffering of the poor African Americans. It can be clearly said Americans are responsible for promoting the stereotype against African American by easily accepting them.

Tom Robinson’s role in this book shows a lot of prejudice. He is a black man convicted of raping a white women. This book is set in the 1930s, during this time period the Jim Crow Laws were still in place and racism was big. ‘You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?’ Mr. Gilmer seemed ready to rise to the ceiling” (Lee, pg 197). Tom Robinson is talking about how he felt sorry for Miss Mayella, who is white. Mr Gilmer gets very upset stating that a nigger should not feel sorry for a white woman. "There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads -- they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the fact of life.” (Lee, pg.220) Atticus is talking to the kids about how Tom Robinson will get the death sentence because of the color of his skin and how the jury looks at him. He talks about there is no court in Alabama that would’ve gave him something less. Basically it was Tom against a town full of white folks. Tom is a big symbol of prejudice in the book.

redujice is not something we are born with; it is something that we grow to learn from who and what surrounds us, things that help to form our identity. Prejudice is an integral theme in Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird. Prejudice is evident throughout the novel, not just in the appalling racism but also through, prejudice against different sexual orientations, gender constructs and feminism. Society had certain constructs that had to be met. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee breaks the bounds to overcome barriers, and challenge social constructs.

He had announced in the schoolyard that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers. I denied it, but I told Jem” The Jim Crow Laws have unwritten laws that says that black people are always wrong when convicted.Even children who are in 1st grade understand that the Jim Crow Laws doesn’t affect them and that black people are not human.Atticus, being the intelligent man he is, tries to persuade the juries to show that Tom Robinson is not guilty.“The only thing we’ve got is a black man’s word against the Ewells’. The evidence boils down to you-did--I-didn’t. The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells”Even though Tom Robinson is a good man, the Ewells are still white and Tom is still African American. The unwritten Jim Crow Law always brought the black man is guilty of anything he did when convicted.Atticus becomes an influential person to the black community for helping out a black man while he himself is white. Even without the Jim Crow Laws problems would be the

Firstly, Tom Robinson is just one character that is prejudged in the novel. He is accused of raping a white girl named Mayella and it is a problem to the jury that a black man is trying to defend himself in court. Atticus realizes how Tom is being treated unfairly and that it is uncommon for African Americans and white people to associate with each other. During Atticus’s speech, Mayella is accused of lying in her testimony when “she kissed a black man [which is] something that in our society is unspeakable” (Lee 272). The black man who Atticus refers to is Tom. He is ridiculed and judged by several people in the book and he gets all this

In Harper Lee’s historical fiction novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus shows the children that Maycomb is prejudice, teaches them courage, and the children show maturity. Scout and Jem are children of Atticus who's assigned to defend Tom Robinson is his case and throughout this case Scout’s summer neighbor and friend, Dill, Jem, Atticus, and Scout exuberate of these themes in their actions .Prejudice is when one pre-judges another based on their race, gender, age, or sexuality which one don’t understand and one hates the unknown of another. Courage is doing something without the fear of being judged or fearing the unknown. Maturity is learning lessons and applying them to oneself where one start to display adult characteristics. These

Mr. Ewell knew he could get away with this lie because he was a white man and Mr. Robinson was a black man: “I seen that black n**ger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella!” (231). Mr. Ewell can insult Tom Robinson and make up blatant lies yet people still believe him. He can take advantage of a fellow human being and get away with it just because of race. Atticus recognizes that Mr. Ewell only won the case because of his white privilege and lets his children know this. “"There's nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who'll take advantage of a Negro's ignorance” (296). Atticus knows Mr. Ewell is not of great intelligence but he’s smart enough to know that because of institutionalized racism he can get away with perjury. Mr. Ewell’s character communicates the message that racial bias can be more powerful than justice.

Every movie has their own villain, but “To Kill a Mockingbird” creates a new perspective. As the movie begins, Bob Ewell is revealed to be a ruthless and drunken man. In the first scene Bob appears in, the camera catches certain aspects of his evil motives. The director plays no music in order for the watcher to carefully hear the antagonizing words of Bob Ewell. He clearly shows the watcher that Bob is the adversary of the movie. The positioning of the camera consists of close, crooked angles to represent his “crooked” views. Bob Ewell’s voice sounds rough and unclear, emphasizing his spiteful intentions.

The moment where Tom Robinson is found guilty, is not only heartbreaking for Scout and Atticus who believed in his innocence, but it is also heartbreaking for the audience who wants the best for our protagonist. The filmmakers beautifully manipulate the audience’s emotions, we feel anger at the white jury who cannot see pass their prejudices and Bob Ewell the one who should be convicted, but we also feel sympathy and pity for Tom Robinson and for Scout who experiences the real world for what it was at the time. These emotions are crucial to the representation of the theme of racism. Due to the historical feelings of America in the 1960s, the film needed to show the cruelty and use strong emotions, but also logic in order to reach the hearts of those who encouraged segregation.