Theme Of Racial Intolerance In To Kill A Mockingbird

To KIll a Mockingbird, a novel written by Harper Lee, is set in a small fictional town of Maycomb Alabama in the 1930’s. The story emphasizes the horrors of prejudiced and its impact on a small southern community. In this novel, Harper Lee introduces the reader to many themes, one of them being that courage is doing what’s right even when the odds of succeeding are poor.

Intolerance is the unwillingness to accept views, beliefs, or behavior that differ from one's own. In To Kill A Mockingbird, the society of Maycomb, Alabama is very intolerant, as is Scout in the beginning of the novel. Towards the end, however as Scout grows, she starts to view the world differently and become more accepting of people's lives that differ from hers. Scout develops as a character from an innocent, intolerant little girl to a more knowledgeable and understanding human being.

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.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a book written by Nelle Harper Lee. It’s set in a fictional town in Alabama called Maycomb during the Great Depression. This story follows The Finch family (Scout, Jem and Atticus) during a case that Atticus takes on. Mayella Ewell and her father accuse a man of rape. Since this man, Tom Robinson, is african-american all the occupants of maycomb assume he is guilty. Eventually,

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.

Imagine being persecuted your entire life. Having to constantly respect someone even though they were rude to you. This is what many African-Americans had to go through during the 1930’s. Racism is a major aspect in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The main character, Scout, has to deal with this problem everyday. Bob Ewell, Mr. Cunningham, and other characters are very racist, and don’t approve of Atticus defending a “Negroe”. This causes Scout to be bullied in school and even attacked by Mr. Ewell. Also, characters such as Tom Robinson are negatively affected by racism in Maycomb. Tom is killed just because of his skin color. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s use of point-of-view, irony, and symbolism help to develop

Prejudice is defined as: “An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” Harper Lee explores this theme throughout To Kill A Mockingbird with various characters demonstrating or being affected by it, especially because it is set in the turbulent time of 1930s southern USA. In particular, the theme is prominent in the characters Arthur (Boo) Radley, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson. I will begin with Arthur (Boo) Radley.

Decades ago, in the 1930s, people of color were not treated fairly. Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird took place in the 1930s in the fictional place of Macomb County, Alabama. It was narrated through a young girl named Scout Finch. Throughout the novel, Scout, her older brother, Jem, and their good friend Dill discover realities of society. Scout and Jem’s father, Atticus, was appointed to be the attorney of a black man. Because of the time period, the case was almost hopeless, but Atticus fought anyway. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird displays universal themes such as racial intolerance and innocence of youth.

In Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, one of the most prominent themes used in the novel is the action of intolerance and the affect it has on all people. The theme of intolerance is fully explored in the case of Tom Robinson and the underlying racism shown in the treatment of him. Intolerance is met by all three main characters, Scout, Atticus and Jem but is experience by many of the other supporting characters. There was no one kind of intolerant person; they all came from different background, which is testimony to the point of the book ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of views.’ This quote shows that you have no idea why a person does what they do until you experience things from their

Prejudice is defined as a preconceived judgement, or as an adverse opinion formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird explores many themes, one of them being prejudice. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s, an era commonly remembered for the intense racism and sexism that dominated the time. To Kill a Mockingbird centers around the mystery of Arthur Radley, also known as Boo, and the trial of a black man falsely accused and convicted of raping a white woman. The story is narrated by a young Scout Finch, who observes the events unfolding from a child’s point of view, giving us an unbiased, innocent recounting of the plot. Prejudice is a

In the beginning of the book, the children are afraid of Boo Radley and believe that he does many terrible

In Harper Lee’s classic, To Kill A Mockingbird, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (Lee, 245). As To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in the 1930’s, for a white woman to accuse a man of color of committing a crime would mean that the man has been declared guilty before they are given a chance to defend themselves, leading to false convictions. Even if they were to be given the chance to try to save themselves from an unjust verdict, the juries normally consisted of white men, consequently leading to an inevitable conviction. With Tom Robinson being a black man and Mayella Ewell being a white woman, this was the reality for Tom when he was accused of raping Mayella. With this accusation, it became very clear who exactly had been infected with “Maycomb’s usual disease”(Lee, 91) especially Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father. Racism and injustice are both heavy influences in To Kill A Mockingbird as the story takes place in 1930 where many white people had racist views towards people of color, giving white people a higher status in Maycomb County, Alabama, thus giving them more power than people of color. This played a large role in one of the bigger conflicts in the story with Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson as the two men hold to different social statuses showing everyone their true colors. Throughout the novel we are presented with numerous quotes showing how Tom Robinson and Mr. Bob Ewell acted before the trial and how the trial has showed us what their true intentions are.

Living in 2017, many people believe America is free of racism and prejudice. That it is past the years of wrongfully convicting African-American men and past an unfair judicial system. People believe equality for all is really happening. Yet, studies show that innocent black men are seven times more likely to be convicted of murder than innocent white people. Another study shows that even though black people represent only 13% of the US population they represent 47% of 1,900 exonerations from 1989 to mid-October of 2016. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee shows us that racism and fear are often more powerful than justice and morality. Three characters who understand this injustice include Atticus Finch, Bob Ewell, and Tom

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, many minor themes are present such as gender and age. However, the largest and therefore major theme of the book is racism. All of the events and themes in the book had only one purpose, to support the theme of racism.

The theme of a novel is also known as the main idea of the story or the lesson that the author is trying to teach the readers. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the theme that pursuing one’s beliefs often comes along with many hardships is developed through Atticus Finch. Atticus is a lawyer in Maycomb county and a father to his two children, Jem and Scout. In the 1930s, when the book takes place, it was a strong period of racism in the south. Unlike the rest of the people in this time period, Atticus goes against the common practice of racism and does what he knows is right. Following what he believes is the civil thing to do is a very admirable act; however, throughout the novel this decision will cause Atticus to face numerous conflicts.