Tristan Hanna. Mrs.Jenkins. English 1. 21 February2017.

Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch is the main character in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and is the narrator of the story. She starts the novel at the age of six, and over the course of the novel, grows to be nine. Racism affects Scout throughout the story mainly because of her father, Atticus Finch, being involved with defending a black man in court that was accused of raping a white woman. Scout also resides in a small Alabama town called Maycomb. This also leads to much prejudice throughout the book.

Mockingbirds do not do anything but to make music for everyone to enjoy. In a society where people tend to discriminate another; mockingbirds represent the innocent ones who are being victimizes upon. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, emphasizes the fact that lives are not always equal and also to remind people that it is a sin to accuse someone of a crime based on personal opinion. Everyone likes to gossip, and everyone likes to spread rumors for their own entertainment. For this reason, the town of Maycomb insists to degrade Atticus Finch because he chooses to defend Tom Robinson, an African American worker. Atticus symbolizes a mockingbird in multiple ways, including taking the blame for teaching his child, being a disgrace when trying to defend Tom, having difficulties, discipline Scout and Jem, and constantly

Everyone is brought into this world as innocent and pure. But events that follow a person in life can change their perspective on the world, and make them start to question if the things they have learned about human nature are true. This scenario can be used to describe the life of young Jean Louise Finch (Scout) in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This riveting novel takes place in the time era of the 1930s when the Great Depression was demolishing lives, and racial discrimination was high. Told through the eyes of Jean Louise, readers learn about Jean’s father Atticus Finch.

It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird “shoot all the bluejays you want, but it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”. This quote is said by Atticus who is a lawyer that defends an innocent black man for being accused of raping a white women. To kill a mockingbird is set in the 1930s in Maycomb alabama where there was prejudices. This story is not just about racism but implies a deeper meaning, the mockingbird has a strong message and holds an important metaphorical meaning. The mockingbird is portrayed as a innocent fragile songbird that symbolizes innocence but is killed by men. Tom Robinson symbolizes an innocent fragile songbird because he does no harm to society, his voice is ignored by almost everyone, and he gets shot and killed just like an innocent fragile songbird.

Being at the top of the social hierarchy has been a must for every American of past generations, but can lead to fatal damages for some trying to obtain that goal and a cause to ruin people’s lives. In a remarkably triumphant story on compassion, Harper Lee explored the horrors of racial prejudice in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Set in the 1930’s, the poor town of Maycomb, Alabama has been hit by the depression hard, which created a vast, complex social pyramid, with distinct families and lifestyles. At the Finch household, composed of a little nine year old girl, Scout, a twelve year old boy Jem, and their father Atticus, proceed through a whirlwind of events throughout the next few years. Atticus, a lawyer who is a hardworking, honest man at the top of the social hierarchy of Maycomb, has to defend a colored man by the name of Tom Robinson. This happened to be very unusual for the time period, as the family has to transcend through the struggles in a racial prejudice town and learn the raw nature of the worst in humans, thus trying to overcome these events through compassion. The author utilizes metaphor, characterization, and mood to describe the situation of Maycomb, it soon then becomes very clear that the dangers of ruining innocence can lead to a vast road of horrors and evils.

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee 93).

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the sleepy, southern Maycomb, Alabama. A small town in the grips of 1930’s depression, To Kill a Mockingbird spans a period of three years following young Scout Finch and her family through their experiences with racism and prejudice. Jim Crow laws were a series of ordinances the prevented equal treatment of African-Americans. Beginning with the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and remaining in effect until the Civil rights movement of the 1950s, Jim Crow laws governed where colored people could live, work, eat, enter and exit a building, and use public services. “Jim Crow laws grew from theories of white supremacy and were a reaction to Reconstruction,” explained Andrew Costly of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, “In the depression-racked 1890s, racism appealed to whites who feared losing their jobs to blacks.” Ensuring that freed slaves remained weak and inferior, Jim Crow laws revoked black freedom’s and crippled their rights. And while not explicitly stated, evidence of Jim Crow Laws appears methodically throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Strongly influenced by elements of racism, the story paints a vivid picture of life in the era of Jim Crow, for both colored and white.

(Lee, pg. 260) This shows how Tom can be called a mockingbird because he says that he didn’t want to hurt anyone which means that he only wanted to be nice and not do anything harmful, just like how a Mockingbird only sings and never does anything bad to

As the United States “progresses” in economic, educational and technological advancements we still are fighting for racial equality. With more than 50 years since the brown vs. board of education case there is still incidents like Ferguson, Baton Rouge, and Phiando Castile where many questions are still unanswered. However, Harper Lee dealt with these same problems in 1960 when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee created an emotionally confronting story. Lee writes through the eyes of “Scout” a lawyer’s daughter in a small sleepy town of Maycomb in Alabama during the great depression. Throughout the book “Scout” learns coming of age lessons from Atticus and her own experiences. But when Atticus takes on a case defending a black man (Tom Robinson) convicted for rapping a white woman (Mayella Ewell) and is found guilty. “Scout” her brother Jem begin to understand the effects of the prejudices in society. Therefore, Lee applies the literary concepts of diction and tone to revel the truth that prejudices in society negatively affect the way people treat each other in To Kill a Mocking Bird.

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee,

During the Great Depression, racism was a common practice in the southern states of the US. Negros and those who opposed the intolerance were often discriminated by the rest of the bias and ignorant society, who believed in white supremacy and superiority over the other races. Maycomb, a racist town, exemplify this discrimination, imperiously judging others they view as being dissimilar from themselves. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, the author, weaves a brilliant story of prejudice, discrimination, and racism shown through the novel’s several characters and events, producing a mirror reflection of America’s racist society in the 1930’s.

According to the Oxford dictionary, 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. Everyday racism and injustice towards African Americans is depicted in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Tate Taylor’s movie adaptation of the book, The Help. During the Jim Crow era, where it was legal to have separate accommodations by color, To Kill a Mockingbird portrays Bob Ewell’s hatred of African Americans, but also his impecunious lifestyle. During the same era, in Jackson, Mississippi, The Help reflects on Hilly Holbrook’s extravagant, elite socialite status and also her more evil qualities,

Throughout The Great Depression, many were affected by the loss of their jobs which had worsened the already bleak economic situation for African Americans. During this time racism was prevalent and seemingly normal in the eyes of young children such as Jean Louise Finch (Scout) from To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee portrays the perspective of young Scout as she experiences the depression and hardships throughout the county. Being the daughter of a lawyer and experiencing the development of racism in Maycomb County, Atticus tells Scout that you can’t understand someone without looking from their perspective. At first Scout does not understand the meaning of Atticus’s words, but little by little as Scout matures, she gets a better comprehension.

The Great American novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Lee Harper, Is a prime example of racism in an early 20th century atmosphere. The book, based in the small fictional Alabama town of Maycomb in the 1930’s, discusses the majority of different discrimination one might have felt being of a different skin tone in a small town. The classic is narrated through the youthful eyes

Presumably to bolster their arguments, Harper Lee depicts her story in a small southern town in the 1930’s where racism ran rampant. Through Atticus Finch, Harper Lee is able to extract vital arguments as to why equality among races is morally acceptable. Similar to his liberal views on male to female equality, Atticus Finch is beyond his years in accepting African Americans, even announcing that he “does his best to love everybody” (Lee 108) and that “whenever a white man [cheats] a black man… that white man is trash” (Lee 220); however, the rest of the town does not comply. Jem and Jean both experienced first hand effects of Atticus’s broad-mindedness - they were tormented at school, by neighbors, and even by their own cousin who was told that Atticus was a disgrace to the family. Mrs. Dubose, for example, went on a malicious tirade and declared that Atticus was “No better than the niggers and trash he works for” (Lee 102).