To Kill A Mockingbird

How does racism affect a story? As a kid in the 1930s, Harper Lee grew up when there was hardly any equality for African Americans. Harper Lee’s only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is heavily based off of prejudice and racism from her childhood. In her book, she writes about racial discrimination through the eyes of a six year-old girl, named Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, during the Great Depression. Her and her family are deeply tied into racism and prejudice involved throughout this story. Racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is ever apparent as the story is located in a small southern town in Alabama; it is reflected upon three of the main characters: Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, Jem Finch and their father, Atticus Finch.

There were also different problems in the 1900’s such as Discrimination and prejudice. Prejudice in this novel is expressed or presented by disgust and misinterpretation because of the difference of people skin color. People of different skin color were the majorities that were treated unjustly. Throughout this period in America, the southern states, black people had to exercise and use separate bathrooms from whites, as well as drinking fountains, section in restaurants, and even go to separate schools. Furthermore, a great deal of the discrimination was aimed towards black people; there were abundance of explanation towards poor families by individuals that have the riches. Discrimination is rampant when groups’ of people that are different are called names.

Introduction Prejudice refers to the judgements towards a person because of their race, social class, age, disability or sexual orientation. (Cherry, “What is Prejudice?”) Prejudice was, and still is, to a large extent experienced by people all over the world. It is a theme that is presented in so many works of literature in a plethora of different ways. One of the most prominent ways in which prejudice is explored is through the use of characters that perhaps are a different nationality or have a different orientation to the majority of the other characters in the works. Two texts, in which the theme is presented in an admirable way , are ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, and ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey. Through the use of the

Prejudice, like evil, lurks in everyone, whether it is visible or hidden beneath the surface of a calm, clear pool. It is the cause of an invisible line, a separation, between people. Often that line is unreal, created in the minds of people, but requires conformity and rejects individuals. Prejudice is explored in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a captivating novel that revolves around the experiences of two children, Jem and Scout, who witness prejudice and hatred in an unfair conviction of a black man, but also morality and courage through their father and other characters. At the same time, their childhood innocence and unawareness of underlying evil fall away, leaving them to face the realities of maturity and adulthood. As the children grow up, the veil of childhood leaves them, revealing the evil and prejudices hidden under the exterior of their neighbors, and discover the harmful consequences of sexism, social hierarchy, and racism.

Discrimination and prejudice were very common acts in the early and middle 1900’s. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck prejudice is displayed by the acts of hate towards someone’s color of skin. People of color were the majority, that were treated unfairly. During this time in the southern states, black people had to use separate drinking fountains, bathrooms, churches, and even go to separate schools. Even though much of discrimination was driven towards blacks, there were plenty of accounts towards poor families by those that had money.

There are many signs of prejudice towards people, what people believe or just think of one another, or problems around the town Maycomb Alabama such as racism towards Tom Robinson. In my essay I’ll be explaining the prejudice towards the characters in the novel and how it affects the character in the novel. I’ll be talking about three different types of prejudice. The first one is believing in something that may or may not be true. The second source of prejudice is judging some by the color of

While lecturing Scout, Aunt Alexandra portrays, “‘The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem. Besides, there’s a drinking streak in that family a mile wide. Finch women aren’t interested in that sort of people’” (Lee 300). Aunt Alexandra has the temerity to discriminate against the lower classes of Maycomb by telling Scout that she isn’t allowed to play with Walter Cunningham, a poor farmer boy. Scout enjoys Walter’s company and wants to be nice to him because of all of the things his family has done for the Finch’s, but the boy isn’t as well mannered, smart, or as associated as Scout. Aunt Alexandra doesn’t allow Scout to tarnish the Finch namesake or her position within the society. Family name, authority, and respect within the community are all important aspects in Alexandra’s daily life. She realizes that by fraternizing with someone of lower status in the community, their family may be thought less of. Without even realizing that her commentary is hurtful, Alexandra disgraces the Cunninghams and discriminates against the farmers and poorer folk of Maycomb by not allowing Scout to be friends with

“Cry about the simple hell other people give other people- without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people too. ”(269) Prejudice is a strong word as well as a nasty act. It is shown throughout the Maycomb County in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Prejudice shows us just how it affects the different groups of people in this novel.

The first major example of prejudice in the book was when the RCMP officer came to take away the body of a dead Indian boy. He yelled at the chief for moving the body, because the rules were that once someone dies, you need permission to move the body. The chief only moved the body to make sure the boy was dead. Also, the RCMP officer had taken his time getting to the village and even brought his girlfriend along, saying to her that it would not take long. This shows prejudice because if the child was white, the officer might have responded faster and shown more respect for the death of the young boy.

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.

It is, indeed, important to consider the other issues of bias that exist in the narrative. These other biases are social and religious. In the near beginning of the novel, Scout disparages Walter Cunningham, implying that he is not on the same social level with her. When she criticizes his use of molasses on his food, Calpurnia scolds her for being rude; defensively, Scout retorts, “He ain't company, Cal, he just a Cunningham.” (33) Because of how the Cunningham was one of the lower classes, farmers, Scout doesn't see Walter as a guest.

Racial discrimination and prejudice is shown all throughout the book. For example, the African Americans go to a different church than the whites. First Purchase, the church, was bought by free

The American author and poet Maya Angelou once said, ¨Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.¨ Angelou conveys the true atrocity of prejudice with this statement, revealing it as an enemy of humanity. Harper Lee, another author of Angelou's period, also discusses prejudice in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee masterfully touches on such a difficult topic in her novel by displaying multiple events to readers, as well as the effects they have on the characters, through the eyes of a young girl named Scout Finch. Some instances of prejudice and discrimination present in the novel are Maycomb´s treatment of Arthur ¨Boo¨ Radley, Aunt Alexandra´s perception of Walter Cunningham, and the manner in which Tom Robinson's trial was handled.

In life, age puts our understanding into perspective. As individuals mature, they often come to see their lives with greater vision and insight. There are a variety of fictional and nonfictional stories of these occurrences, especially in coming-of age novels. Many coming-of-age novels describe the transition from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to adulthood. Many of these novels have profound underlying themes such as war, prejudice/discrimination, poverty, mental illness, or relationship formation/dissolution. In this paper, there will be three sections: summary, analysis of the main character’s development; moral and cognitive, and whether the novel would have differed if the main