Theme Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird is an important book that has continued to teach people about race and prejudice for over 50 years. Harper Lee’s message is the harsh reality of how prejudice is built into society and is one of the most important messages of the 20th and 21st centuries. This book teaches us to stand up to prejudice and spread more love. It teaches us to look at things from another person's point of view and to be accepting of those who are different from us. Even to this day we face issues involving prejudice such as police brutality, the achievement gap, homophobia, and equal

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.

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

Imagine a world where evil and unjust actions are based on the color of skin; a world where some don’t even realize that they are prejudicing. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, these themes are present. People and how they commit evil, hypocritical, and unjust acts. We see these themes and great issues through the point of view of a child; the vigorous, youthful, elementary-aged Scout. Through this character Harper Lee shows the innocence of children, and what they go through in our inequitable world.

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.

“Finally, Atticus displayed the principle of nonviolence, years before Martin Luther King Jr., when he refused to respond violently after the racist Maycomb spat in his face”(“The Redemption”). This demonstrates how Atticus displayed to Bob Ewell that he was the bigger person because after the trial Bob Ewell spat in Atticus’s face because Atticus accused Bob of raping his daughter Mayella which could have been true. The reason Bob Ewell spat in Atticus’s face was not because he was defending a black man in court, but because Bob Ewell felt as though Atticus was trying to embarrass him in front of everyone in the court. Shortly after court was over Bob Ewell spat in Atticus’s face Atticus did not spit back nor did he react violently back to what Bob Ewell did. Atticus said he would rather take all of the physical harm if it means Bob won’t hurt anyone else.

“...If you can stand in Bob Ewells shoes a minute, I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback , his kind always does … He had to take it out on somebody… You understand?” The kids realized just because somebody did something to hurt you doesn’t mean you have to do something to hurt them. When you are hurt by somebody you should move on and just let it go which Atticus was trying to teach Jem and Scout.

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.

Following the final verdict in the Robinson case, Bob Ewell does pulls two stunts to show his disapproval with the trial’s outcome. At first, Bob is seen spitting in Atticus’s face and threatening him. After being informed of Bob’s actions, Scout appears to be afraid of what could happen to her, Jem, and Atticus. Lee uses Scout’s fear or what is to come and Atticus’s reassurances of their safety to foreshadow to the end result of the novel. Bob Ewell, out of anger toward Atticus, attacked Jem and Scout. He was angry because, even though he won against Tom and Atticus, he still lost; the town knew about him abusing his own daughter, and him falsely accusing an African American man to hide the abuse. This is facial discrimination because Bob Ewell assumed, unfortunately correctly, that a black man would never win in a case against a white man. Scout was affected due to the fact that she

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that aims to change the reader’s perspective on life. Harper Lee presents controversial issues and ideas through the innocent eyes of a child. Throughout the novel, you are assaulted by the evils in the narrator’s society; chiefly racism and prejudice. With events such as the unjust trial and the revelation of people’s true identities, the reader is forced to see the faults in the public’s opinion. As the child grows up and learns more about the adults in her town, she sees that many of them are deliberately blind to the real problems and truths in society, and she must choose on her own what is right or wrong, true or false. Harper Lee expertly shows the struggles involved in seeking the truth about society,

Williams 1* Jordan Williams Dr. Donald Florence English 511 23 February 2015 Atticus Finch and the White Savior Trope Harper Lee’s classic bildungsroman novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a staple in many high school curricula. It is an excellent and informative read, but not for the reasons most White educators believe. This story was ultimately written by, for, and about White people.

There are everlasting messages that people throughout history have identified with, because they have been faced with the worlds continual problems. In well known literary works, these timeless problems and messages are addressed. To Kill a Mockingbird confronts the issue of racism. The overall message of the book is how every person, regardless of race religion or sex, deserves to be treated

" by doing this he shows the kids that you can’t run away or ignore a problem. Atticus does not just show a great tolerance to other people but to the kids too. The kids get into a lot of trouble like getting in fights sneaking the courthouse and bugging the Radleys. By atticus showing tolerance towards the kids it shows that he is a caring father who want them to learn from their own mistakes. Atticus shows so much tolerance towards the town during the trial when they call his a “nigger lover” or spitting in his face her takes all of it very

It is commonly acknowledged that Literature is the reflection of the society. It is indeed true that literature reflects the attitude and perception of the society where it is written. Literature mirrors the vices of the society with an intention to make the society realize its mistakes and make amendments. The vast literature, produced from time to time, bears evidence to the fact that man is prone to discrimination. Treating a person or particular group of people differently, especially in a worse way from the way in which you treat other people, because of their sexuality, skin, and class has, been core theme of the Harper lee’s master piece To Kill a Mocking Bird. The novel is told from Scout’s perspective; through Scout, we witness the social construction of race, class, and gender. The novel continues to be taught in classrooms due to its illustration