Theme Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Racism is both an ideology and a system of domination. To be racist is not just a misuse of derogatory slurs and whatnot. Only certain communities have the power and the privilege to be racist. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird racism was one of the most recurring themes. Communities as well as specific characters were impacted by racism. Tom Robinson, Calpurnia, Bob Ewell and Dolphus Raymond were characters that suffered from Racism.

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.

In this essay, both texts, “To kill a Mockingbird” and “The Help”, will be looked at in depth, and the range of literary devices and techniques used in order to portray the theme of racism will be analyzed. The emotional attachment between protagonists, and the positive perspectives shared by characters portray the overall theme of racism and how this is oppressive for all people involved.

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

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 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.

Race and gender have been the two most controversial topics in the media recently. After reading Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, its very obvious that todays society & the society in the early 1930’s share many similarities. These similarities may not be to the same degree that they were back then, but they are still present and plaguing our generation, and will continue to plague the generation after us. The book is based in Maycomb, Alabama between 1933 & 1935. Traits of Race and gender inequality were displayed throughout the novel and match some conflict situations in the media today.

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

Racism is as hot a topic now as it appeared in the 1930’s, but what defines racism? According to dictionary.com, racism is hatred or intolerance of another race or other races. In other words, racism is the discrimination against a different race because one thinks of their race as superior. Harper Lee provides readers with a glimpse of racism in her book To Kill A Mockingbird. Set in the 1930’s, Lee’s book displays a time where segregation became prevalent in America. Though Maycomb itself did not seem to have segregation laws, the people still acted racist towards Negroes. This act of racism appears in Maycomb’s court, allegedly safe communities, and people’s attitudes toward those who interact with Negroes.

Social inequality with race mostly affects people who don’t deserve it. To Kill A Mockingbird is a book written by Harper Lee based on the depression era. The story is told from the perspective of a girl named Scout. This story describes the ugliness of race, murder, injustice, prejudice, and gender. One of the themes of To Kill A Mockingbird is racism. Racism was a very large part of society in the south during the Depression era. Whites were considered better than African Americans were, and most white people accepted the fact that their society was that way. Many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird were affected by racial discrimination, including Calpurnia, Scout, Jem, Atticus and Tom Robinson and his family. Throughout the book, racism is illustrated through, communities, households and the legal system.

To kill a Mockingbird must be taught in high schools so teenagers are exposed to important themes and ideas like racial injustices and parenting roles that are still relevant today.

This essay will be covering the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Specifically, it will be talking about a certain theme that shows up quite a bit throughout the book. The theme that will be discussed is racism. Racism shows up quite a bit throughout the book in many different ways.

Have you ever read a book and wondered what the deeper meaning behind it could mean? Well so have I along with many others but this is my essay so this will be my thoughts and recollections towards what it could be. During the book To Kill A Mocking Bird it talks a lot about racism, it’s based off in a time when racism was very popular. During this time period people saw no problem in harming or abolishing human rights towards the black race. This entire book shows how cruel and ignorant people are towards people of another ethnicity. The narrator scout, pretty much runs the reader through the complications and ignorance of living in the early 1900’s. She shows the way people see and view others, how difference is derived from fear, and how

To Kill a Mockingbird shows how fear and racism are often powerful than reason and intelligence. There are many themes such as gender and age but the major theme is racism. Racism comes in different ways and forms like when it comes from whites, African-Americans, or the non-racist people.