The Forms of Prejudjudice in Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson, Hairspray

Society has progressed throughout the 21st century with prejudice still being a major issue. Despite all measures taken to avoid it, people constantly find reasons to hate. Prejudice comes in different forms, prejudice against gender, race, skin colour or class. Prejudice impacts society greatly because of the emotion it invokes as seen in To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is about a Maycomb family that grows up during racist times and must overcome difficulties together in their prejudiced world. In To Kill a Mockingbird, three types of prejudice are displayed that affect the character’s actions and emotions, sexism, racism and social inequality.

My definition of prejudice is to have an opinion on something that is unfair and that is made before you can make a real assumption. In the novel, "I Heard The Owl Call My Name", there were many examples of people being prejudiced against the Indians, but there was also prejudice against Mark. Three major examples stood out to me, including getting special permission to move a dead body, when the Indians were finally allowed to buy liquor, and when Mark brought the Indian boys to the city and warned them about racism.

What makes a person who they are is a difficult dilemma. Mark Twain's novel, "Pudd'nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins" is a critical analysis of how nature and nurture can cultivate emotions and free will, which in turn affects the life of individuals. "Twain's faltering sense of direction began about slavery, moral decay, and deceptive realities (Kaplan 314). The debate of `nature versus nurture' has been one of the most intriguing scientific and cultural issues for most of the twentieth century, in determining the behavioral aspects of human beings. The changes in environment, society, education, political influences, family values and morals

It has been thoroughly thought over what current topic or issue that people experience in most environments today, at both a micro and macro level that would be able to be examined and have come to the decision of looking at the most widely discussed subject, prejudice. All people are affected by prejudice in one way or another and it can impact on people's lives depending on what form it has taken. Also to be able to acknowledge that all people can be prejudices and see this is the first step to overcoming it.. The question that has been decided upon is that of “What types of prejudice do we see commonly today and how do they affect an individual at a micro and macro level?”

Introduction Prejudice refers to the judgements towards a person because of their race, social class, age, disability or sexual orientation. (Cherry, “What is Prejudice?”) Prejudice was, and still is, to a large extent experienced by people all over the world. It is a theme that is presented in so many works of literature in a plethora of different ways. One of the most prominent ways in which prejudice is explored is through the use of characters that perhaps are a different nationality or have a different orientation to the majority of the other characters in the works. Two texts, in which the theme is presented in an admirable way , are ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, and ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey. Through the use of the

Prejudice is everywhere. It may be because of skin color, religion, or even someone’s fashion sense. No one fits into this idealistic world perfectly. In Of Mice and Men, there are several different levels of prejudice shown, all contributing to the failure of the American dream. The main types of prejudice shown in this novel are racial, sexual and social prejudice.

Prejudice should not exist in this world. But unfortunately, it does and it always will somehow. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is an inspiring book and brings out hard truths about how the world used to be, about the great depression, and in some aspects how it still is today. It follows a girl named Scout and her family through three years of her childhood. Her father, Atticus Finch, took on a very big challenge to defend a negro for raping a girl. The book sort of revolves around this event. Prejudice is in many different forms of discrimination. Throughout the book it is demonstrated by race, class, and gender.

Imagine living in barracks, starved, then gassed because of your religion. Getting accused of raping someone because of your skin tone, then getting put in prison. Or getting spat upon because you’re a Jew. All of these things occurred at some point in history, and we are shown what this is like through novels, plays and book such as; “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”, “The Merchant of Venice”, and real world occurrences such as the Holocaust. Today I will be talking to you about the ways that prejudice is portrayed in all four of the novels, plays and historic time marks.

Mark Twain had written two very similar novels that are based on the ideas of racism, or prejudice against certain races,(in this case, Afro-American during his lifetime. These two novels, Huckleberry Finn and Pudd'nhead Wilson, depict a very satirical yet realistic view of the way society behaves and how people in general live and grow in different social systems or positions. Huck Finn depicts a strong basis on racism and society, where as Pudd'nhead Wilson illustrates how slavery and racism are portrayed in his society.

Being prejudged sets limits that can destroy a person due to being told their expectations, regardless of how high or low they are. In the novels To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men prejudice either judge a character into who they are in the book or makes it so that they will never find a way out of what others think of a typical person of their type.

Prejudice means an opinion that is not based on reasoning or actual experience. In To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, prejudice is portrayed in many ways. For example, when the townspeople of Maycomb hear that Scout Finch’s dad, Atticus, is defending a black man in a court case, the kids in school began to hector Scout for his Dad’s actions. “This order, given by me to Cecil Jacobs was the beginning of a rather thin time for Jem and me.” (Lee, pg 99) says Scout after the long school day. “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an’ that nigger oughta hang from the water-tank!” (Lee, pg 102) said, Cecil, after Scout confronted him about it the next day. This is an example of prejudice because even though the trial hasn’t begun yet, people are already against Tom Robinson. By looking at his dark skin color, the townspeople already believe that he is guilty. Even after Atticus Finch brought in evidence and strong arguments that Bob Ewell was really the one who had done harm to Mayella Ewell. But the all-white jury still believed that Tom was responsible for Mayella’s abuse. “Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with…” (Lee, pg 292).

Prejudice is defined as a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, examples of prejudice can be observed throughout. This can be seen through the characters, setting, conflicts, and other aspects of the novel. The author, Harper Lee, argues that prejudice often affects how people view others.

Prejudice is a bias that people make about others without really knowing the facts about that person. These biases create false judgements, usually based on a person’s race or religion, which are not always true. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” author Harper Lee introduces to the reader the outsider character of Miss Caroline, who is used to prove the lesson that people should not assume things about other people without truly knowing them.

My definition of prejudice is to have an opinion on something that is unfair and that is made before you can make a realistic assumption. In the novel, "I Heard The Owl Call My Name", there were many examples of prejudice against the Indians, but there was also prejudice against Mark, the white Vicar. Three major examples of prejudice stood out to me, including getting special permission to move a dead body, when the Indians were finally allowed to buy liquor, and when Mrs. Hudson assumed that her granddaughter would not be able to survive in the white world.

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible. (Maya Angelou) By definition prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Prejudice to others is hate, judgement, and evil. The effects of prejudice are shown in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the play The Merchant of Venice, and the tragedy known as the Holocaust. Prejudice affected all people differently, but one thing is true for all; prejudice is crippling and disables those who experience it from being who they truly are and doing as they please.