The Impact of Prejudice in Harper Lee's Novel, To Kill a Mockingbird

Prejudice is the “injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights,” according to Merriam Webster. In simpler terms, prejudice is being judged regarding one’s religion, race, personality, physical appearance, etc. Unfortunately, everyone has given or received some form of prejudice. Prejudice also exists in the government, when cases and trials are solved. This can be shown through Reginald Rose’s novel, Twelve Angry Men.

First off, in the book, prejudice is shown through the trial. The trial shows the race part of prejudice because Tom is found guilty because of his skin color. “Judge Taylor was polling the jury: Guilty... guilty…..guilty” (Lee 282). Tom Robinson is a black man living in Maycomb, Alabama. He is found guilty for raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. During the trial, Atticus Finch is trying to help Tom Robinson live his life, and be found not guilty. Tom Robinson is, unfortunately, found guilty. The color of his skin determines this decision of the jury. In this time period, black men and women were treated differently than white men or women. There were many facts that were shown in the trial that pointed away from Tom, like when Atticus said

In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, the black man falsely convicted of rape, had absolutely no chance of a fair trial. There is proof of this in the time period in which it occurred as well as evidence from the novel itself. Tom Robinson had an unfair trial because it was his word against the Ewell’s, a white, trashy family.

The case of Tom Robinson was a case on whether he would be guilty for rape or not. Tom Robinson had the defendant, Atticus, with their opponents, the Ewells. Throughout the case you are able to see many different cases where Atticus made it obvious that Tom did nothing wrong and it would have been obvious that Bob Ewell would have been a likely suspect to commit the crime of rape against her daughter, Mayella. The trial showed that the justice system has flaws and doesn’t represent justice, people only make choices based on their racist views.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Andy Harper The justice system has a powerful bias against Tom Robinson which was proven when ample evidence was provided proving his innocence still landed him in prison whilst boo had all evidence proving his guilt gets ruled innocent, this demonstrating the racial bias treatment of blacks in the 1930’s.

Why did a poor black man lose a court case because he’s black? Why are girls told they have to sit and be pretty? Why does it matter if you are wealthy or poor? We are all people, aren’t we? The answer is prejudice. Harper Lee gives many examples, race, class, and gender, in her fascinating book To Kill a Mockingbird. In the town of Maycomb a white man takes a case about a black man (Tom) raping a white girl, but at court, everyone knows Tom shouldn’t be found guilty. But tom is found guilty. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place during the Great Depression. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, prejudice is shown as a good and bad thing. Prejudice is shown through race, class, and gender.

In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, prejudice is tested in many different ways by many different characters. The main plot line is a black man named Tom is took to trial and tested for something that he didn’t do. Atticus is the lawyer who tries to defend him and change the ways of Maycomb County. Along the way he teaches people many lessons which makes him a great character.

Imagine that you are a Negro who is accused of a crime that you did not commit. You have one of the best lawyers to defend you, but the whole outside community is against you. Since you did not commit the crime you are accused of, you believe that you will not be accused wrongfully, but you soon find out that the all white jury is unjust and biased against you. Tom Robinson, a character in To Kill a Mockingbird, witnesses this situation when he is wrongfully accused of raping a white woman and ultimately dies due to loss of hope. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee reveals that society does not effectively protect the innocent through the ignorance and racial prejudice present during the court trial and in daily lives.

For instance, take Tom Robinson. He was an average hard working southern black man, except he was crippled. Mayella Ewell accused him of raping her and was sentenced to court for trial. Tom was wrongly convicted of a crime even though there was “not...one iota of medical evidence”(203). This displays how people on the jury at the time convicted Tom of a crime they knew he didn’t commit and the only reason he wasn’t a free man was because he was black. Some people might think that the jury was not racist when convicting Tom and did so of their own collective opinion on the case. But when you consider that there was not one black man on the jury and that Mayella Ewell’s story didn’t match up with the Sheriff’s and Tom’s, you can infer that she was lying about it the whole time to cover up her guilt of “tempt[ing] a Negro”(203). Similarly, after Tom was convicted and sentenced to prison, he was shot soon afterward. We see how the Maycomb community thinks that “Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future”(240). This is a clear example of discrimination on blacks in the book, they even use a racial slur to describe Tom running away which further proves the point. As a result of the examples above, we see multiple times how people in Mockingbird discriminate based on whether the color of your skin is darker than

Tom Robinson was put into simple hell with his trial, and even ended up being killed when escaping jail. In result of the time period, and the old time ways of Maycomb County, Tom would have never been proven innocent. Just because of the racal prejudice found in Maycomb County.

Prejudice determines an idea or opinion that is incorrect as it is not factual. When the white society looked down on the African community, the whites were being prejudice. During Tom Robinson’s trial, the judge knew that Tom was guilty and Bob was lying, however the judge declared that Tom was the culprit just because he was ‘African’ and always blamed on. Tom Robinson quotes “Yes, suh. I felt sorry for he, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em-” causes friction between the people in the court because for an African-American to feel racially sorry towards a white person makes the order messed up. After Tom’s case was confirmed as still convicted, Tom was sent to another gaol, but on the drive he ran out of the vehicle escaping for his life. Tom knew that either way he was going to be killed so while he ran, he got shot seventeen times. This depicts that the whites were always strong and powerful amongst the African-American. Mr Finch claims that “...the evil assumption - that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral

Guilty or not, Tom Robinson could not win his trail strictly because of his race. The society where Atticus, his children, and the townspeople lived was filled with prejudice. Because of the prejudice and racism, from the beginning his case was a lost cause. In the end, Tom Robinson was found guilty. Prejudice and maturation are two of the most dominant themes in the novel. Jem, Scout, and Dill are un-prejudiced but not yet fully mature, but the townspeople are the complete opposite. They are mature adults that are blinded by prejudice. Atticus, along with a few others, possess the better of both traits; specifically, the gift of wise maturity and the ignorance of prejudice. These differences create different views of Tom Robinson’s trial and its outcome.

The theme of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird could be don’t judge a book by it’s cover because there is a lot of judgement between gender and race. “And so a quiet humble negro had a unmitigated temerity to feel sorry for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people's( Lee 273). By in the court them stating this against Tom shows that the racism is going to have a lot to do with who is going to win the case because of the skin color. As the judge is talking he is not thinking along with the jury. The jury isn’t thinking about if Tom actually did the crime they just thought he did it because of the color of his skin. “Well you won’t get very far until you start to wear dresses more often”(Lee 308). This goes along with

In "To Kill a Mockingbird", Harper Lee highlights racial profiling and how people's perceptions change their actions towards others, which continues to be an issue in today's society. One racial issue we see during "To Kill a Mockingbird" is social injustice in the court system, shown through the Tom Robinson trial. For example, Jem doesn't quite understand the unfortunate, but true state of the injustice in the courts, so Atticus explains to him, "Tom Robinson's a colored man, Jem. No jury on this part of the world's going to say we think you're guilty, but not very, on a charge like that." (Lee 294). This quote highlights the racial injustice experienced for many in the courts, especially

Have you ever seen a black man get bullied by a white man? In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, a black man, faces accusations of crimes that he did not commit to a group of white folks. Atticus, Tom’s attorney, goes through a difficult trial to defend him against the Ewells to prove his innocence. The Ewells are characterized as being prejudice towards people’s race predominantly the black people in Maycomb. Prejudice can be defined as having hatred toward a person for their race, culture, or religion for no particular reason. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays prejudice in society through his depictions of racial injustice, social inequality, and gender discrimination.