Theme Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Bob Ewell tries to stab Scout and breaks Jem’s arm, but Boo Radley arrives just in time to stab Ewell with his own knife and kill him. Heck Tate thinks that hushing up the incident would be the best decision for Boo Radley, and Scout finally understands Atticus’s advice about not shooting a mockingbird. Boo was only trying to protect the Finches, and forcing him out into the open would be harmful to him. Here, Boo Radley is a symbolic mockingbird. She explains to Atticus, “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin‘ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”(370). Scout has finally understood Atticus’s advice about not harming the innocent and vulnerable, and Boo Radley directly helped her to realize

Prejudice, in the 1930s, was an extremely relevant issue regarding the racism that was present throughout society – particularly in the south of the United States, which is where the novel To Kill A Mockingbird is set. Through the course of the novel, Harper Lee conveys the idea of prejudice to the reader in a variety of forms – mostly by use of symbolism. The most powerful examples of this symbolism are the use of the term ‘mockingbird’ - which is used to symbolise someone who does no wrong in the world, Boo Radley – who is a symbol of how communities and individuals can promote and maintain prejudice, and lastly the Snowman created by Jem – which

Throughout the novel the community of Maycomb has heard rumors about a man named Boo Radley. An example of this is in chapter one. “ As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parents leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.” This quote supports my thesis because Boo’s father says that Boo will not go to an asylum and the sheriff (Heck Tate) didn’t have the guts to lock him up with the negroes. This shows that informal justice can be good because Boo Radley has never come outside of the house since his incident. In my opinion Boo Radley is a good person, and his dad saved him, just like any father would do for

While many examples of unjust acts exist through the book, the treatment of Boo Radley, more than any other example, clearly shows intolerance and unfair judgement. Even though they know little about Mr. Radley, the people of Maycomb harshly criticize and gossip about him. “The more we told Dill about the Radleys, the more he wanted to know, the longer he would stand hugging the light-pole on the corner, the more he would wonder” (Chapter 1). After hearing much gossip about Boo, in their innocence, the kids assume all they hear as the truth, and the community does not realize the unfair judgement and

Mr. Edwin, your reader response is outstanding and marvelous. It is what I think about the situation. As you have mentioned the decision which Atticus and Sheriff Tate took was against the law and it is a big crime to hide the truth of a murder case. But in their situation the murderer was Radley Boo, who was assumed to be a terrible person and everyone from the town consider him as a horrible person, who can harm anyone because it been a very long time the Maycomb people have not seen him as he did not come from his house. One day when Bob Ewell was trying to kill Atticus’s children then he came out from his house and save the lives of Jem and Scout which is definitely a very great effort from him. Still knowing the truth of Bob’s murder,

After Heck Tate and Atticus decide that it’s a good idea to hide the fact that Boo killed Bob Ewell, Scout argues with saying, "to tell about this would be like killing a mockingbird. " If a mockingbird does no harm to anyone, or the world, then persecuting Boo Radley would be no different than killing a

Prejudice is a belief of someone without actual knowledge or experience. In the 1930s, racism and prejudice was very extreme in the US, and black people were treated as second-class citizens. In 1960, Harper Lee published the novel To Kill a Mockingbird and it explored issues of racism based on color and prejudice in the 1930s. Justice was not served in the Tom Robinson trial because of racism. Directed by society’s expectations, the white society was to remain the dominant class in Maycomb County.

A consistent theme throughout the book is that perspective is everything. Atticus Finch even tells them this by saying, “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.” As Scout is walking Boo Radley back to his home after the attack, it dawns on her that Boo is not a monster, but simply a man with no desire to interact with the outside world. She realizes that as she went about her everyday life fooling around on the Radley property, walking to school, and playing games, Boo was observing all of this from his own perspective. The events also teach the children innocence is not to be destroyed as Atticus illustrates when he tells Scout and Jem it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because “they do nothing but make pretty music for everyone” to enjoy. Out of fear of tarnishing his own reputation, Bob Ewell forces his daughter to falsely accuse a black man of raping her. The man was innocent, yet the jury convicts him as guilty and sentences him to execution. As if that were not enough, Bob Ewell tries to kill Scout and Jem, two innocent kids, merely because their father defended the innocent black man in court. Boo’s innocence becomes evident to Scout the moment the identity of their rescuer is revealed as Boo, himself. She finally identifies Boo Radley as the mockingbird he always

Heck Tate knows that Boo Radley did in fact kill Bob Ewell, but wants to keep Boo out of the limelight because he knows it will destroy him and his shy ways. What Heck Tate does to protect Boo is to report this as an accident telling the public that Bob Ewell stumbled, fell, and stabbed himself to death. His explanation is that Bob, “Stabbed himself through that soft stuff between his ribs. His whole weight drove it in” (367). His efforts to mask Bob’s death shows how much he actually cares for Boo and appreciates what he has done. No matter how much Atticus fights with him about it, he was not persuaded and made his decision final, Bob Ewell stabbed himself to death.

Prejudice is everywhere. In schools, in public, sometimes even at home. Prejudice is to judge and assume conclusions about someone based on their skin color or the fact that they are a woman. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee prejudice is shown in many different forms. The book is prejudice towards women to discrimination against blacks. Although the book took place in the 1960s and discrimination was okay for white people then, to prejudge someone based on their skin color is not the fair thing to do. Prejudice allows hasty and irrational decisions to be made.

Scout realizes fairness is not always justice. Scout states “Yes sir I understand… Mr. Tate was right… it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird” (Lee 370). After Atticus embarrassing Bob Ewell and after Ewell threatening Atticus when the kids left the pageant they had a suspenseful and near death encounter Bob Ewell attacked them and Arthur “Boo” Radley saved Scout & Jem but, Arthur killed Bob Ewell and Mr. Tate & Atticus don’t want Boo to go to jail, trial, or his privacy to be gone so they Mr. Tate said “Bob Ewell fell on his knife. He killed himself” (Lee366).

Next, the conflict present throughout the novel shows that the prejudice is a mutual issue. To begin with, Lula’s disapproval of Calpurnia bringing Scout and Jem to their church shows the man versus man conflict present. “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here” (Lee 136). This shows Lula’s disapproval of bringing white children into a predominantly black church. It also proves that the prejudice is a mutual issue. Meaning, African Americans were not the only ones discriminated against, white people witnessed it as well. This notion demonstrated the false idea that people of different races and ethnic backgrounds should not interact with each other. Furthermore, the plot intensified when Atticus responded to a racist statement

Ewell attempts to stab Scout and Jem, but an unsuspected hero comes and saves them. Boo Radley courageously swoops in and helps the children when Mr. Ewell attempts to stab Scout, but fails when Jem rips him to the ground, but is hurt in the action. Boo Radley then carries Jem home “the man was carrying Jem. Jem’s arm was dangling crazily in front of him. Light from our front door framed Atticus for an instant; he ran down the steps, and together, he and the man took Jem inside” (Lee 223). Atticus and Heck Tate then defend Boo Radley for the murder of Mr. Ewell: “I never heard tell that it's against the law for a citizen to do his utmost to prevent a crime from being committed, which is exactly what he did” (Lee 234). This quote from Heck Tate shows that they support Boo Radley and will protect him even though Mr. Ewell is dead.

She started to understand the meaning of "to kill a mockingbird." At first Scout couldn't comprehend what Atticus meant when he said, "It was a sin to kill a mockingbird." As the novel progressed, Scout begun to realize how people contributed to the community without harming others. For example when Boo Radley (the shy neighbor who never went outside) killed Bob Ewell to save Jem and Scout, the sheriff of Maycomb County tried to cover it up. Heck Tate, who was the sheriff, believed that "...taking the one man who's done you and this town a great service an' draggin' him with his shy ways into the limelight" (279) was a sin. Tate reasoned that Boo would have hated being praised a hero by the townspeople because he was so shy. Because she had a child-like innocence and believed that racism is wrong, she could have been the perfect role model for people of all

Bob Ewell is a wretched, two-faced, conniving most unworthy person to have the gift of life in all of Alabama. He drinks a lot, does not bother to work, and he just collects welfare checks and spends them on alcohol. Harper Lee wrote, “a little bantam cock of a man . . . A shock of wispy new-washed hair stood up from his forehead; his nose was thin, pointed, and shiny; he had no chin to speak of—it seemed to be part of his crepey neck”(Lee 227) Harper describes Bob Ewell as a apathetic, tipsy, Neanderthal that can’t keep a job to save his skin. During Tom Robinson’s trial Bob Ewell tried to say that he beat his daughter Mayella and then raped her; when in in reality Bob Ewell is the one who beat Mayella. Another reason Bob Ewell is terrible person is at the end of the story when he tried to kill Scout and Jem. Harper Lee had wrote, “What is it, Heck? Said Atticus. Mr. Tate found his neck and rubbed it. Bob Ewell’s lyin’ on the ground under that tree down yonder with a kitchen knife stuck up under his ribs. He’s dead, Mr. Finch. (Lee 357). Mr. Ewell had aimed to kill Scout and Jem but Mr. Author James Radley, more commonly known as Boo Radley, saved their lives. Mr. Ewell was mad at Atticus because he knew that it wasn’t Tom who beat Mayella and raped her, so Bob Ewell saw that he could get back at Atticus by taking the lives if the two most important people in the world to him. Bob Ewell illustrates the dark side of