Examples Of Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there are various types of themes displayed. One of the most prominent themes highlighted in the novel is racism being kept alive through fear and ignorance. With this theme, Lee is able to portray the time period in which the characters lived in. With this portration, the readers are able to experience what life was like back when racism caused clashes between the whites and African Americans.

The setting of the book To Kill A Mockingbird has a huge role on the conflicts, outcome of the trial, and Jem and Scout’s development. The book takes place in Maycomb county Alabama, in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Since Alabama is in the south, and was before the Civil Rights Movement, most of the white residents in the town were racist. In the book, the town of Maycomb is almost like a character on its own. It is a small town that had lots of farmers who were struck hard by the Great Depression. Scout, who is the narrator of the book describes it by saying, “Maycomb was a tired old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square”(Lee 6). Scout even goes on to say, “People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything”(Lee 6). In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the conflict of racism is shown through the trial, Atticus, and Jem and Scout’s uprising in a non-racist home but in a prejudice town.

Imagine being persecuted your entire life. Having to constantly respect someone even though they were rude to you. This is what many African-Americans had to go through during the 1930’s. Racism is a major aspect in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The main character, Scout, has to deal with this problem everyday. Bob Ewell, Mr. Cunningham, and other characters are very racist, and don’t approve of Atticus defending a “Negroe”. This causes Scout to be bullied in school and even attacked by Mr. Ewell. Also, characters such as Tom Robinson are negatively affected by racism in Maycomb. Tom is killed just because of his skin color. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s use of point-of-view, irony, and symbolism help to develop

“Prejudice is a learned trait. You’re not born with it; you’re taught it,” said Charles R Swindoll (Author). Prejudice is incorporated into How to Kill a Mockingbird in many ways. Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Miss Maudie are some of the ways prejudice is shown.

Prejudice is defined as: “An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” Harper Lee explores this theme throughout To Kill A Mockingbird with various characters demonstrating or being affected by it, especially because it is set in the turbulent time of 1930s southern USA. In particular, the theme is prominent in the characters Arthur (Boo) Radley, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson. I will begin with Arthur (Boo) Radley.

Prejudice is defined as a preconceived judgement, or as an adverse opinion formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird explores many themes, one of them being prejudice. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s, an era commonly remembered for the intense racism and sexism that dominated the time. To Kill a Mockingbird centers around the mystery of Arthur Radley, also known as Boo, and the trial of a black man falsely accused and convicted of raping a white woman. The story is narrated by a young Scout Finch, who observes the events unfolding from a child’s point of view, giving us an unbiased, innocent recounting of the plot. Prejudice is a

In Harper Lee’s classic, To Kill A Mockingbird, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (Lee, 245). As To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in the 1930’s, for a white woman to accuse a man of color of committing a crime would mean that the man has been declared guilty before they are given a chance to defend themselves, leading to false convictions. Even if they were to be given the chance to try to save themselves from an unjust verdict, the juries normally consisted of white men, consequently leading to an inevitable conviction. With Tom Robinson being a black man and Mayella Ewell being a white woman, this was the reality for Tom when he was accused of raping Mayella. With this accusation, it became very clear who exactly had been infected with “Maycomb’s usual disease”(Lee, 91) especially Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father. Racism and injustice are both heavy influences in To Kill A Mockingbird as the story takes place in 1930 where many white people had racist views towards people of color, giving white people a higher status in Maycomb County, Alabama, thus giving them more power than people of color. This played a large role in one of the bigger conflicts in the story with Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson as the two men hold to different social statuses showing everyone their true colors. Throughout the novel we are presented with numerous quotes showing how Tom Robinson and Mr. Bob Ewell acted before the trial and how the trial has showed us what their true intentions are.

Discrimination among the black community has come in many different forms such as inequality in schools, homes, jobs, and healthcare. Many may wonder where the root of the problem exists. Many years ago during slavery, White people knew that they had to justify slavery and to keep the Black people in a subordinate state. Politics is the foundation that would justify the rules, laws, or amendments against Blacks. These political issues played a part in black families during the 1970’s.

The thematic implications of prejudice are seemingly endless, and with its one simple conclusion within its stories, it is no surprise to see that prejudice can sometimes, in literature develop the most important themes. One case of this would be the experiences of jem and scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper lee. In To Kill a Mockingbird the two main characters are faced with many events in which their reflections of these events show prejudice. Using all the concepts and the story of To Kill a Mockingbird I have come to the conclusion that prejudice is the one of the major themes of the story if not only.

Harper Lee in To Kill A Mockingbird shows that people fabricate stories about other people, cultures, or lifestyles that they do not understand because of their fear of the unknown. At the end of the book, Atticus reads The Gray Ghost, by Seckatary Hawkins, to Scout. To prove that she was listening, she recaps the main plot of the book. Scout talks about “Stoner’s Boy” who is rumored to have done all these horrible things. “When they finally saw him, why he hadn’t done any of those things . . . Atticus, he was real nice . . .”. Atticus replies calmly, “Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them” (281). Atticus constantly tells Scout and Jem throughout the book that people are usually good people once you get to know them, and that assuming

Prejudice is everywhere. In schools, in public, sometimes even at home. Prejudice is to judge and assume conclusions about someone based on their skin color or the fact that they are a woman. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee prejudice is shown in many different forms. The book is prejudice towards women to discrimination against blacks. Although the book took place in the 1960s and discrimination was okay for white people then, to prejudge someone based on their skin color is not the fair thing to do. Prejudice allows hasty and irrational decisions to be made.

Aunt Alexandra, Miss.Gates, and Jem Finch reveal through their actions, beliefs, and thoughts the tragedies and horrors associated with racism and prejudice.

Various Forms of Discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird In the story To Kill a Mockingbird the main protagonist’s, Jean “Scout” Louise, Atticus Finch is repeatedly called many names throughout the story. Many names in reverse racist terms like Scouts classmate Cecil Jacobs asks if Atticus was defending Tom Robinson a colored citizen accused of a crime in court. Scout told him yes he replied with your dad is a ‘nigger lover” for defending Tom. One of many types of discrimination in Maycomb county.

Prejudice is a preconception of a person based on stereotypes without reason or personal experience. When somebody hears the word prejudice, he or she may think it refers only to the racial prejudice that is generally found

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is set in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s, which is a society filled with prejudice. The story is narrated by Jean Louise Finch (Scout), a white six-year-old girl who is curious and learning about the world. When Dill, a boy that spends every summer in Maycomb, become friends with Scout and her brother, Jem, they start to be fascinated by the mysterious Boo Radley. The children portray Boo as a horrible person due to his actions when he was a teenager and the fact that he never leaves his house, which they assume is due to house arrest. Later in the novel, Scout discovers that her father, Atticus, is going to defend Tom Robinson in court, a black man who is accused of raping and assaulting