Theme Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Racism is something that most people would claim they do not believe in or support; however, as clearly shown in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, racism is a disease that spreads through a region and worsens as time goes on. Racism is an issue that is still prevalent in the American society today, and Harper Lee’s timeless novel continues to teach the lesson that one needs to look beyond the color of another man’s skin and see them for who they truly are. Mr. Raymond’s conversation with Dill after Tom Robinson’s testimony initially shows that racism is better comprehended with age. He says, “Let him get a little older and he won’t get sick and cry… Cry about the hell white people give to colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people too” (Lee, 1960, p. 269). Here, it becomes clear that children can be naive to racism and the evil in the world, but as they continue to grow up in an area that feels so strongly about white supremacy, they become immune to the injustice and prejudice. Further, Mr. Raymond’s words allow the reader to better understand the severity of the racism in Maycomb and the entirety of the country. It also unveils a crucial theme in the novel, namely that one must consider a person of color to be no different from oneself, as all humans are equal. Additionally, racism is repeatedly referred to as a disease in the novel, which is explained when Atticus is talking to Uncle Jack about the trial and he says “‘... I hope and pray I can get

During the 1930’s depression, there was a great divide between black and white America. There were many communities and groups who had been exposed to the same treatment and persecution as the Negroes in To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee has used a small town setting, such as that in To Kill a Mockingbird, to illustrate America’s views on white supremacy and the inferiority of the black race. The author has illustrated view that are expressed world-wide through her characters in Maycomb county.

Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there are various types of themes displayed. One of the most prominent themes highlighted in the novel is racism being kept alive through fear and ignorance. With this theme, Lee is able to portray the time period in which the characters lived in. With this portration, the readers are able to experience what life was like back when racism caused clashes between the whites and African Americans.

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

Racism has the power to change anybody’s life. Jem Finch is a young teen character from To Kill a Mockingbird who longed for the warm summer days when he could just play on the lawn and not care about the future. However, as the novel progresses, it becomes clear that he cannot just play around when he knows what is going on around him and what is happening to the black community of Maycomb, Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a success in the world of literature. Set in the 1930’s down south where racism was rampant, Harper Lee shows us the challenges of growing up in a community of inequality through the characters Jem and Scout Finch. Jem is older than Scout by 3 years so he understands how serious the nature of racism is and

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.

There are many themes shown throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird. The author, Harper Lee made the novel take place in the 1930s and in a fictional town called Maycomb County in Alabama. The narrator was a young girl in the novel names Scout Finch. Throughout the book Scout, her older brother Jem, and her best friend Dill discover new things and become more mature. Then towards the end of the book Atticus, the father of Jem and Scout, agrees to defend a black man named Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white girl. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, racial intolerance and courage are two of the many themes demonstrated throughout the novel.

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.

It has been said that history always repeats itself. One can even go so far as to say that, in essence, history never changes. To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel from 1960, yet the themes that are present within its pages correlate with many aspects of modern society; the theme of prejudice having a strong tie to the present day. Throughout the novel the reader is exposed to many forms of discrimination through the eyes of the young girl, Scout. Not only is prejudice presented in the form of social divide, but also in the form of sexism and racism. When one looks at modern society, there is no amount of denial that can eliminate the fact that even in the twenty first century prejudice still exists, despite efforts to eradicate

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.

Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird is known to be one of a kind when it comes to its depiction of inequality as a result of racial injustice during the 1900s. Throughout the book, readers journey through the everyday life of 6-year old protagonist Jean-Louise Finch or “Scout” in Maycomb of the deep South. When her father attorney Atticus Finch, takes the case of a convicted black man Tom Robinson, the entire town of racist Alabamians turns up to watch the show of yet another black being punished, guilty or not. However, soon enough, readers can deduce that Robinson is falsely accused even though the majority of the population think otherwise. It should be noted that although the concept of racism is thoroughly interrogated throughout

names’s Tom Robinson”. Discuss the effects of racism on Maycomb citizens such as Tom and Helen Robinson,