To Kill A Mockingbird Social Issues

Being shy ruined my childhood. Other kids would take my stuff, knowing that their actions would be met only by tears, never retaliation. Also, adults milked my silence for all it’s worth, constantly seating between boisterous children in order to break up conversations. This was an especially strenuous time because people were completely cognizant of the lasting effects their action had on me; everyone decided to take advantage of my social incompetence. The injustice I suffered as a child reminds me of the struggles Tom Robinson faces in To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee writes of prejudice and injustice encouraging the reader to contemplate their societal position. Reading To Kill A Mockingbird forces the reader into thinking of contemporary issues, such as the identity of the modern mockingbird. Today, people judge and discriminate against Muslims. Harper Lee named this novel To Kill a Mockingbird because people knowingly prey upon the innocent; groups of mockingbirds exist in the past as well as the present.

The “other” is someone(s) who are different than me and my group. Some of the “others” in Maycomb include: Boo Radley, Miss Caroline Fisher and Walter Cunningham. Race, class, and gender play a role in establishing the “other”. Gossip and superstition play a role in figuring out who society believes are the “other”. Stereotypes also play a role in determining who is an “other” because stereotypes are undefinable attitudes that people have about other people. Fear plays a role in “otherness” because fear causes people to say and do things that they normally wouldn’t do. A quote to support this is from chapter two: “The class murmured apprehensively, should she prove to harbor her share of peculiarities indigenous to that region.”

thing during and following slavery. In the novel, a man named Bob Ewell despises black people and calls out Atticus by saying, “too proud to fight, you nigger lovin bastard?” (Lee, 291). What that quote is saying is how Bob is getting upset with atticus just because he is Tom Robinson's lawyer and Bob Ewell doesn’t like black people. Another example of racism occurs in chapter 11. This happens when the kids are walking by Mrs.Dubose’s home, and she starts yelling out racist comments about Atticus. She yells out to Jem and says, “your father is no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” (Lee, 105) She attacks their father for doing his job, but even more so attacks Jem and Scout by Yelling furiously about their father. These two ways are clearly shown in To Kill A Mockingbird and there are many other ways throughout the novel.

Anthony Storr says that, “Originality implies being bold enough to go beyond accepted norms “ Social norms imply that everyone is the same or does something the same way, to break that you need to go out of your comfort zone and be bold enough to break those norms. Although it is very common for there to be social norms in society, when someone breaks one it can be the very first step to making the world a better place.

Social norms are apart of every society in some way, shape, or form. Issues occur off these social norms when there are outcasters who don’t exactly fit in with society's expectations. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout was pressured by many relatives and neighbors to “act like a girl”. Accept, Scout wants to be her own person. She wants to play in the dirt and have fun. Although, one particular person keeps putting her down, and that is Auntie Alexandra. Alexandra tries to play a female role for Scout and tells Scout how she is suppose to act. Scout however is very similar to Juliet capulet in this way. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet was pressured by her mother to be more like other girls and to get married. Scout and Juliet,

To conclude the novel, “to Kill A Mockingbird”. Despite being published decades ago, still portray various social injustices that occur in today's society. In the novel the black community is treated unfair, as if they are worthless and inhuman. This also happens in the u.s however, not only people of the black community are being target but people of other dark skin races are as wel. Some people cannot afford a lawyer and some aren't granted a fair trial and sometime will get no trial. This happens in the court scene involving tom robinson, even though he had evidence that proved his innocence he was still found guilty all because of his skin color. But the true injustice is the fact that there are laws that are supposed to prevent this unfair judgment in courts but

The characters in, To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, often use prejudice against people of controversial issues. Many of the townspeople of Maycomb use prejudice on the families who are on the less wealthy end of the spectrum. Issues are still displayed because of the racial prejudice used against African Americans and those of other races. Lastly, gender is a clear issue in Maycomb because of women’s and girl’s rights and lack of respect towards them because they are female. All of the types of prejudice show that Maycomb has many problems all throughout the town between other families and townspeople.

The first part of To Kill A Mockingbird introduces the Finch family and their daily lives. The father in the family is an attorney whose only care is the moral rights of others. His views aren't biased or prejudice, he only sees humans who deserve as much respect as they should. He gets a case of a black man being accused of rape towards a white woman. He explains to Scout as this, “..but there’s been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn’t be defending this man (Lee 75).” Ever since Atticus has been appointed to the Tom Robinson case, most of the conservative white people in Maycomb County found it a little dishonoring since the defendant was an African American. "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win," Atticus said (Lee

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.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a riveting classic novel takes place in Maycomb County around the 1930s during the Great Depression. In the novel, Atticus Finch is a single father to Jem and Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout. One of the main characters, Atticus, is a white defense lawyer who is defending a black man named Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white girl. Through everything, Atticus chooses to continue defending Tom despite the ridicule and torment he and his children received. At times Atticus struggles with the words and actions of others, especially when his own family calls him and his children “nigger lovers” (Lee 94) but he is certain he is doing the right thing. Atticus is aware that he must defend Tom

The idea of history and a persons role in society was a big factor for people of this time. To gain respect and acceptance in society you had to uphold these perseptions or become a social outcast. Aunt Alexandra knew the damage a bad perception can do to a family. She felt it was her duety to make sure this didn’t happen to her family. This idea was something Aunt Alexandra tried to impress upon Scout. Scout on the other hand was not reseptive to the ideas. She though of these gender roles and family status as a nucince. Scout had been pushed into the idea that being a girl was something to be ashamed of. Therefor, when Aunt Alexandra wanted to come in and force her into being a girl it was met with resistance. For this reason Scout had a

In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, that was written in 1960, the racial issues are a big part of the story. In the Tom Robinson case, the racial issue is what makes Atticus think he will lose the case. Tom is a black man accused of raping a white woman. In this time, a white man’s word was more trusted than a black man’s. The jury for the case was made of all white men so they would be against Tom. Also, it was a white woman which made the case worse. Blacks were looked down upon and did not have a say in the government. Atticus tries his best to defend Tom because he knows he can’t do anything due to the racial issues.

Harper Lee used this cultural issue in her book in several ways. The first is Jem, Scout and friend Dill meet Dolphus Raymond and learn that he has several biracial children. Mr. Raymond is a white man that distances himself from other white men and hangs around blacks. He cannot marry his black partner because it is illegal. He gives Scout, Jem and Dill his view about how most whites treat blacks. ‘"Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they're people, too,"’ (Lee 201). During these times the Supreme Court passed a “separate but equal” law however the two races were not treated the same. Blacks were treated as less than human. Tom Robinson was a black man accused of raping an impoverished white

In the 1960’s, an extremely large amount of men were falsely, or wrongly convicted of crimes, one of these crimes being rape. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, portrays the topic of rape in a saddening and sickening manner. This novel is told from a old Scout, who is a part of the Finch family, which goes through life’s obstacles while helping anyone and everyone they can to their best ability. While doing so, the father of the family is brought into a switched around rape case with a not-so happy ending. There are three main themes that make up the book, which are race, social class, and innocence.

Shyness ruined my childhood. Other kids would take my stuff, knowing that their actions would be met only by tears, never retaliation. Adults milked my silence for all it was worth, forcing me to sit between boisterous children in order to break up conversations. This was a strenuous time because people were completely cognizant of the lasting effects their action had on me, everyone took advantage of my social weakness. The injustice I suffered as a child reminds me of the struggles Tom Robinson faces to To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee writes of prejudice and injustice moving the reader to contemplate their societal position. Reading To Kill A Mockingbird forces the reader to think contemporary issues, such as, who is the modern mockingbird? Today, people judge, discriminate against, and harm the mockingbirds, Muslims, without hesitation. Harper Lee named this novel To Kill a Mockingbird because people knowingly prey upon the innocent, groups of mockingbirds exist in the past as well as the present.