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To Kill a Mockingbird: the Theme of Prejudice Essay

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To Kill A Mockingbird: The Theme of Prejudice The theme of prejudice in To Kill A Mockingbird is much more than just a case of black and white. The entire novel is about prejudice in it's many forms, the most prominent case of prejudice is the racism and hate between the blacks and whites. The whole town of Maycomb is based on stereotypes of it's inhabitants, that are passed down from generation to generation. Rumors run rampid and very little truth is usually in them. "So Jem received most of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford, a neighbor scold, she said she knew the whole thing. According to Miss Stephanie, Boo was sitting in the livingroom cutting some items from The Maycomb Tribune to paste in his …show more content…

"Scout, you aren't old enough to understand some things yet, but there's been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn't do much about defending this man. It's a peculiar case- it won't come to trial until summer session. John Taylor was kind enough to give us a postponement..." "If you shouldn't be defendin' him, then why are you doin' it?" "For a number of reasons," said Atticus. "The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again." (Chapter 9, page 75) I think Harper Lee did an excellent job of portraying a small town and gave a convincing sense of community and the way small towns are. The prejudice in Maycomb was your typical kind which was based on ignorance. The meaning of prejudice is Pre-Judge, which is when you pass judgement on something or someone without having a good reason, therefore almost all prejudice is based on ignorance. Racism is much the same because your passing judgement on the color of the person's skin and not the person themselves. In the story To Kill a Mocking Bird the prejudice was part of the town because everyone was judged by their last name or where they come from or their background. "I rose graciously on Walter's behalf: "Ah-Miss Caroline?" "What is it, Jean Louise?" "Miss Caroline, he's a Cunningham." I sat

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