Theme Of Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

The literary classic To Kill a Mockingbird is the well known story of Jean Louise Finch as she grows up in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. The book follows the trial of Tom Robinson, an african american male accused of sexual assault by a woman named Mayella Ewell. Mayella Ewell is a young poverty-stricken woman who is mainly controlled by her father. In a town divided by gender, race, and class, Mayella does not have a large amount of power over her own life as well as other’s.

Discrimination, it has been part of human nature for a long time, especially relevant subject in literature such as To Kill a Mockingbird. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character of Scout Finch was exposed to different types of discrimination as she grows up. Discrimination affected the lives of characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird because of society’s prejudicial views of race, gender, and class.

In the story “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the main character Scout realizes the town she lives in is full of bias and prejudice toward negros. Scout, the only daughter of lawyer Atticus Finch, is faced with the activism that follows this prejudice when her father decides to defend a negro, Tom Robinson, in the court of law. She is constantly harassed and tormented by the residence of their small town, Maycom. What Lee is trying to show through these events is that people are always going to have prejudices, and sometimes these prejudices come from the people you least expect it form. In the story, neighbors, friends, and family all show their prejudices about the defendant Tom Robinson to Scout, who finally realize the world isn’t perfect but is, in fact, full of flaws and prejudices.

The setting of the book To Kill A Mockingbird has a huge role on the conflicts, outcome of the trial, and Jem and Scout’s development. The book takes place in Maycomb county Alabama, in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Since Alabama is in the south, and was before the Civil Rights Movement, most of the white residents in the town were racist. In the book, the town of Maycomb is almost like a character on its own. It is a small town that had lots of farmers who were struck hard by the Great Depression. Scout, who is the narrator of the book describes it by saying, “Maycomb was a tired old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square”(Lee 6). Scout even goes on to say, “People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything”(Lee 6). In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the conflict of racism is shown through the trial, Atticus, and Jem and Scout’s uprising in a non-racist home but in a prejudice town.

“But now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He’s ruining’ the family, that’s what he’s doing’.” (Lee 110). The power of hatred is one so strong, that it imprisons the Finches and African Americans of Maycomb County. In Alabama of 1920 to 1930, segregation is an established action of the Southerners, it’s a lifestyle. The slurs passed from the mouths of white Southerners and ending with the shooting of a black man, the ways of Maycomb County are ones seen as either shocking or common in today’s eyes. To Kill A Mockingbird is an eminent novel by Harper Lee that illustrates the aspects of discrimination and prejudice, tolerance and courage during a time in America where racial inequality

People judge others all the time. Just because someone does not get paid as much means they do not try hard enough, and someone who has a different skin color is automatically a bad person. These thoughts are called prejudice. People have thoughts like these everyday, every hour, every minute, every second, this does not mean it is right. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the people of Maycomb have these thoughts against people like Tom Robinson or Walter Cunningham. But there are some strong characters that go against all the discrimination against these people.Harper lee conveys that a person's income or race does not make them less of a person through the words, thoughts, and actions of Calpurnia, Dill, and Atticus.

Discrimination and stereotypes are still involved in today's ever-growing society. People are judged by their race, gender, and, wealth; people are expected to act a certain way because of these things. In To Kill A Mockingbird it tells the readers about a small town, Maycomb, that faces many challenges because of how individuals are judged and treated. If someone were African American he/she would thought to be less of a person and were treated as if they were trash. If someone were to be a woman they were thought to be weak, emotional, and dramatic. If someone were poor he/she were thought to be dirty, rude and were treated like trash. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses stereotypes related to racism, gender, and wealth to teach her audience about how individuals were treated during the Great Depression.

Discrimination is prejudicial treatment towards different kinds of people based on any differentiating criteria, such as their race, behavior, or sex. Throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, various forms of discrimination are shown. Racism is an obvious form that is shown in the story with characters such as Tom Robinson and Calpurnia being the targets. However, there are also signs of prejudice and sexism in the story with characters such as Boo Radley and Scout Finch.. The forms of discrimination shown in To Kill a Mockingbird are racism, prejudice, and sexism

Lastly, a black man named Tom Robinson is also destroyed by racism. Tom Robinson is falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell who is a young white women. In the novel he is accused of raping Ewella simply due to his skin colour. Mayella’s abusive father, Bob Ewell uses Tom’s ignorance as an advantage, he proclaims that Tom Robinson is the guy who sexually assaults his daughter. Atticus decides to defend Tom Robinson because he believes that he is innocent. As he provides strong evidences that proves that Tom is innocent. At the trial, Atticus closes his argument with an outstanding closing statement that expresses his feelings towards the white jury’s view. He declares “ ‘(…) The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption--the evil assumption--that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber.’ ”(Lee 273) Atticus speech illustrates what the mind set of the people in Macomb is.

I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The previous chapters talk about Atticus taking a black man’s case. The rumor was that a black man named Tom Robinson raped Mr. Ewell’s oldest daughter, Mayella. Everybody from Maycomb county knows for a fact that a negro has not nor will ever win a case. On the other hand, Tom said that Mayela told him to come into her house and then all of a sudden kissed him; however, who is going to believe him. Atticus is trying to walk in Mr. Robinson’s shoes. Mr. Finch does not care what color Mr. Robinson is, all that matters is that he is an innocent man who is loyal to others. In this journal I will be characterizing Tom Robinson and evaluating the reasons why Mayella Ewell lied in court.

"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks."(lee 304) said Scout, to what Jem replied "that's what I thought too...when I was you age. If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to devise each other?"(304). Discrimination and prejudice is illustrated in the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Throughout the novel discrimination is shown in two different categories, racism and stereotypes.

Thirty-seven percent of the United States population is minorities, and the white majority will be gone by 2043 according to NBC News. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, shows how destructive racism/prejudice can be to a society. A black man named Tom Robinson is accused of rapeing a white girl named Mayella during a period of time where there was a lot of prejudice towards blacks. Tom is being defended by anti-racism lawyer Atticus Finch. The case is looking like it’s impossible for Tom to lose, but then the racism in the town of Maycomb says otherwise.

Throughout history, discrimination has made an impact on society and affected people’s behavior. Taking place in a small Alabama county during the 1930’s, Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird largely describes how discrimination and hatred was a huge problem in society told in a young girl named Scout’s point of view. Throughout the story, she learns about the negative effects on colored people with discrimination and racism going on. The effects of discrimination and racism throughout the story resulted in erroneous behavior by others.

Skin color is an attribute we are unable to alter or erase. Discrimination of race and appearance has been a recurring issue throughout history. In 2016, 71 percent of blacks said they have encountered “racial discrimination” or “unfair treatment” (Pews Research Center 6). Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the plot revolves around Tom Robinson, a crippled African American accused for a crime he did not commit. Because of his ethnicity, he is ruled as guilty under white supremacy, though no evidence leads him to be at fault.

Earlier in the novel, Scout relates that Atticus views the Ewell family as “the disgrace of Maycomb” (33). However, as the Ewells are a white family, they are having a higher social status. During the trial, it is declared that Mayella seduces Tom Robinson, and her father, Bob Ewell, thought that his daughter would shift her warm feelings for a black man. In addition, Bob Ewell’s reaction to his daughter kissing to Tom Robinson displays the fear of miscegenation. Atticus, however, strives for justice. Atticus explains the ugly truth to Jem and Scout: “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (251-252). Atticus shows disgust with white people taking advantage of a black person’s ignorance” (252). Tom Robinson is facing a trial and the death sentence because he is black. Furthermore, Atticus makes it clear to his children that racism exists and tells Scout and Jem: 'In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always