To Kill A Mockingbird Prejudice Quotes

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.

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” (Lee 149).

Hatred has been around for many years in the hearts of man. For example, even Cane and Able had hatred against each other. But hatred had spread to other people for several reasons, for jealousy, racism and even for being different. Harper Lee expressed much hatred in To Kill a Mockingbird. The era of the 1930’s in the Deep South was where the novel took place. Maycomb County, Alabama was a place of white supremacy. Scout witnessed the problems of racism and hatred of the Maycomb people. In To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee uses Scout’s perspective and Atticus’s experience to express the true hatred and discrimination in a racist community.

Many of the characters have parallel personalities which can be a reasoning behind their strong intertextual link and some of the main ideas were the same in two texts. Both deal with racism and discrimination in small country towns and both explore the distant relation between law and justice. Prejudice being the main coinciding theme, as well as showing signs of irony and hypocrisy, both are written in the same narrative voice, in a childlike tone. For most part, Lee makes sure Scout gives the readers the events from her childhood perspective as she understood them at the time, rather than imposing a commentary from the older perspective of her when she is telling the story, which makes the narrative perspective naïve. Perkins engages the audience with a warm-hearted and pure character Charlie, who likes to learn new lessons in life. As he is older naturally, he has more experiences in life and is able to pick up the discrimination obscured around him. This is shown through the fact that at first, the protagonist Charlie realises that Jasper is not what society deems him as “a thief, a liar, a thug, a truant. He’s lazy and unreliable. Jasper Jones is the example of where poor aptitude and attitude will lead”. Through the use of the protagonists the theme is presented in a way that allows the reader to realise the harsh reality, yet it is still demonstrated in an approachable and relatable way, further enhanced by the first-person narration of the texts. The discrimination

Alexandra maintains the stereotypical concept of what is the white southern feministic racist. All of the attributes sort of melt together and perpetuate one another. She retains her feministic way by getting Calpurnia, the black helper, to do all of her physical labor for her. An example of this behavior is present in the scene in which Alexandra arrives at the Finches’ house and commands Calpurnia to take her suitcase and her belongings upstairs so she can retain the feministic southern air about her. The prejudice attitude she has is also being passed down through the family. In one scene Scout beats up her annoying cousin for calling Atticus a “nigger-lover”. The only thing Alexandra does is getting on to scout for fighting and telling her it is unladylike to fight (Richards).

In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout narrates the novel by telling the story of how Jem broke his arm. Atticus Finch is the father of two kids, Jem and Scout, who always get into trouble and are the most mischievous and nosy kids around. Atticus is a lawyer who is in a case defending a black man named Tom Robinson, who is harmless and innocent, while the kids are always tormenting and bothering the innocent Boo Radley. Because they are innocent and harmless, but treated with suspicion, both Boo and Tom exemplify the symbol of the mockingbird in this novel. Tom Robinson is represented by a mockingbird in this story by always being innocent and never harming, but always being tormented.

testing his respect, courage, and mental strength to their fullest extent. Atticus is widowed and is forced to raise his two kids, Scout and Jem, with the help of Calpurnia, the maid of the household. Atticus chooses to take the court case of Mr.Tom Robinson, a colored man, in Maycomb County. Maycomb happens to be a very prejudice town set during the Great Depression. He takes this case knowing that most of the towns people will resent him for it. This is where Atticus has to choose between what he thinks is right and what others will think of him throughout different situations in the book.

The Great Depression was a catastrophic time in America. The norms were strict, and Jim Crow laws were in effect. In the scene, where Scout is reflecting back on Tom’s death, the theme of racism is portrayed through the external conflict of the town’s extreme racism. This scene is significant to the novel because Scout goes into detail on the town’s prejudice and ignorant point of view. This chapter in the book puts the town to great shame when Scout says, “To Maycomb, Tom’s death was typical” (Lee 322).

Racism is defined as, prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. Racism is very prevalent today as well as in the 1930’s. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird,by Harper Lee, Lee shows that race should not define your thoughts and your actions. Even though this book is based in a white supremacist town, a few characters break the social norms in order to show the level of the supremacy and the prejudice in Maycomb.

Racism in the novel To kill a Mockingbird affects the events in the novel by the kids going to Calpurnia’s church, Jem going to Cal’s home, and Tom Robinson’s guilty verdict. It’s a indignity that racism had such a powerful consequence on things in this time period, as well as today. Calpurnia decides to take Jem and Scout to church. Assuming that Cal is colored her church would be to because whites and blacks didn’t do anything together.

“ Racism is man’s gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason,” said Abraham Joshua Heschel, scholar and philosopher. This quote from Abraham means that racism and hatred aren’t doing anything but hurting us in the end by causing wars, arguments, and hurt feelings. Hatred can be seen in everyday life and in every single person on Earth, but can’t be stopped because you can’t change people’s feelings. Hatred is also shown in To Kill a Mockingbird, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The Merchant of Venice, and in the Holocaust.

Scout is not the only character having to rise above stereotypes. Her father, Atticus, must do so as well. Atticus, a white man, is asked to be a lawyer for Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell.. After carefully examining evidence, Atticus realizes that Tom Robinson is 100% innocent. Therefore, Atticus goes to court, where he stands up for a black man in front of a white jury. Atticus gives sure proof arguments and evidence to prove that Robinson is innocent. Unfortunately, after a long recess, Robinson is found guilty of rape. Because Atticus stood up for the truth, and went against his own race, he is stereotyped as a traitor and a blacks lover by the Ewells.. It is truly unfortunate that both Atticus and his

To the distress of Maycomb’s racist white community, Atticus agrees to defend a black man named Tom Robinson, who has been accused by Bob Ewell for raping his white daughter Mayella. Because of Atticus decision, Jem and Scout are being mocked and looked at by other children. Calpurnia, the Finches black cook, takes them to a black church, where they don’t have to be embarrassed for their father’s decision. Atticus

One of the recurring themes throughout history is the fear-based contempt shown by many people towards those who look and act differently than the norm. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee explores the dark side of human nature through the interaction of its characters. All of the virtuous characters in the novel are challenged by some form of prejudice which they have to overcome. Some of the main forms of prejudice shown are prejudice to someone who looks different, towards someone who he/she only knows little about, and finally towards someone who is defending someone who you may not like for some reason.

The character of Atticus Finch represents a good model of a professional lawyer. He defends a black man, Tom Robinson who is accused of raping a white young girl. Atticus believes from the very beginning that he is to lose his case. However, he withstands people's insults to himself and his children for the sake of the colour-blind law he aims to achieve. Atticus has chosen to defend his morals and his belief of justice regardless to the ethnic associations of Tom Robinson’s case. Unlike other characters in the novel, Atticus perceives the Negros as equal human beings who have the right to enjoy justice and social respect. He always defends his cook Calpurnia against his sister Alexandra's reservations and he asserts to her that Calpurnia is a significant member in the Finch family. This is show in: