To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis

The intriguing novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is written by the prestigious author Harper Lee. Lee has utilised the lifestyle and attitudes towards ‘African-Americans" in the 1930's to create a novel which presents the reader with Lee's attitudes and values. The dominant reading of the novel is focused on the issues of racial prejudice, but there are also a number of other alternative and oppositional readings. Examples of this are the Marxist and feminist readings which can be applied to the text.

Prejudice is one of the world’s greatest struggles. It does not only hold society back, but is harmful to the people who do good .In Harper Lee’s book To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem live through and witness prejudice and racism in the small town of Maycomb. They see someone wrongly accused of a crime because of his race. Scout and Jem also witness and take part in prejudice against a man no one knows anything about. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee uses characterization to show the negative effects of prejudice and racism.

Discrimination, it has been part of human nature for a long time, especially relevant subject in literature such as To Kill a Mockingbird. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character of Scout Finch was exposed to different types of discrimination as she grows up. Discrimination affected the lives of characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird because of society’s prejudicial views of race, gender, and class.

Mockingbirds will only sing their hearts, not cause any damage or give their lives to pleasing others. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird great examples are shown of different types of mockingbirds. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Arthur (Boo) Radley are great examples of representing a mockingbird.

Growing up is a difficult task, especially when the town around you doesn’t offer to help you understand what’s going on around you. Using many examples of the loss of childhood innocence, Harper Lee shows us that a corrupted society leads to growing up faster and one’s childhood is stripped away. Through Jem, the eldest of the Finch children, and Scout, the youngest, the readers see how a trial in 1930 Alabama takes a toll of young minds. In Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she implies that growing up leads to loss of innocence, especially in troubling times.

Prejudice is seen throughout the world in many forms even after the Civil Rights Movement. To Kill a Mockingbird shows the extreme prejudice that African Americans were faced with at that time period. This book shows prejudice through character interactions.

In Harper Lee’s novel, the author shares many prejudices and different stereotyping that used to happen in that time period. These different prejudices include racial stereotyping, segregation, and slavery that used to be a reality years ago. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee shows how people were treated, and also explains that Atticus, the lawyer for Tom Robinson, despite being verbally attacked by other members of the community stood up for him even though he knew people would think poorly of him.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows prejudice through racism, social status, and sexism throughout the book. Lee shows many examples throughout the book. She narrates the book through a young girl's eyes so we can see how all of this looks to the younger people in this world and how they understand it. Things from our eye is very different from how younger or older people see it.

In the riveting coming-of-age novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee projects the idea of acceptance of all people, through the eyes of a child. Harper Lee combats the prejudice of social standing when she proves that some of the poorest people have the best of character traits. While racism of African Americans is first and foremost in this novel, the acceptance of white people into the African American community shows racism can be beaten from both point of views. Finally, the disabilities that Arthur Radley portrays, is forgotten, when his actions help him soar above the bigotry of the people of Maycomb County. The most obvious topic is the overt racism based on a person's skin color, however, Harper Lee takes us beneath the skin to show that discrimination occurs in other ways.

For hundreds of years, people have committed genocides and holocausts due to their single minded views, they did not understand other people who were from different races and social classes. Taking place in Alabama during the 1930s Scout, Jem, and their father, Atticus, go through and experience how the world really is. The 2 children spent their time imagining Boo Radley as a foul being that lives in his house and never shows himself in public. This all changes when Atticus takes up the case of Tom Robinson and Scout and Jem realize there are far worse issues in the world than Boo Radley. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author clearly shows that many people in the town are prejudice. It is repeatedly shown that the most common form of prejudice is in the form of racism. It is also shown that Miss Gates recognizes prejudice feelings in different societies yet still does not follow through by recognizing her own prejudice actions. Aunt Alexandra has prejudice ideas about how that ladies should act like ladies and stay to their social class. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee clearly showed the effects of prejudice ideas on others.

“No change can come if those who are impacted the most by discrimination are not willing to stand up for themselves” -Zainab Salbi. Discrimination is a powerful issue with far reaching consequences. Discrimination is a worldwide problem that society still struggles with today. In Harper Lee’s historical fictional novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird, discrimination is evident as different people experience various forms of it. The story is set in Maycomb, Alabama, during the 1930’s and is told from the viewpoint of Scout, a young girl who is a tomboy.

Many people struggle with overcoming prejudice and other themes that have been in society since early times. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there are many themes that correspond to events still happening today. One of these is discrimination, which still affects many people now almost as much as back then. It has gotten better, but has not completely disappeared from society today. Some of the losing battles you will find in To Kill a Mockingbird are discrimination within Maycomb, the trial, and changing people’s views.

In today’s society, men and women all around the world experience prejudice. What is prejudice? Prejudice is a judgement made before being fully aware of the facts of a specific situation. In many cases, prejudice is being unethical and showing a biased opinion toward a person’s race, age, disability, ethnicity, and etc… In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee purposely characterizes the idea of prejudice as a common topic that is responsible for social injustice and racial inequality. Lee illustrates the ways of prejudice by having situations that may have occurred in past history. She carefully distinguishes the idea of prejudice and explains to the reader by telling both sides, the victim and the person using prejudice.

Discrimination can be generalized as unequal treatment or consideration of an individual based on the category to which that person belongs to or certain characteristics; rather than basing on their individual merit or assessing their circumstances, stereotypical assumptions are made. Discrimination can occur to anyone, but is prevalent in groups such as race, social class, and gender; throughout American history, the discrimination of these groups was commonplace and a widely accepted behaviour. The reality of these are told through Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird which depicts the childhood of a girl in 1930’s America who experiences first hand discrimination and observes prejudice towards others in her community. Within the town,

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