In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses characterization, symbolism, and irony to express the cloud in judgment prejudice causes when examining the morals of others. Scout is able to understand more about the town folk in Maycomb County through studying her teacher’s ironic and corrupted views of life around her. Lee uses Miss Gates, Scout’s teacher, to allow Scout a chance to understand the complexity of the adult world. While teaching the class about the Holocaust, Gates expresses the injustice being done to the Jews. She teaches the children that the town does not “believe in persecuting anybody” (Lee 329) because of the U.S. democratic government. Gates then goes on to share how “there are no better people in the world than Jews” (Lee 329), and it is beyond her comprehension to know why Hitler could commit acts against them. The irony lies in her blindness to the similar oppression happening in her home town. The children are taught that Hitler is a monster for his anti semitic actions in Germany; meanwhile, African Americans are forced to face daily suppression in Maycomb County. Both groups have stereotypes that cause others to perceive them as …show more content…
Lee uses Miss Gates’s ironic views of Hitler and Tom’s trial to show how racial prejudice causes crimes against African Americans to be considered less than crimes committed against white people. A mockingbird is then used to symbolize Tom Robinson as an innocent person wrongly convicted of a crime because of his skin color. The misunderstood characterization of Arthur Radley shows how society will let prejudice guide their imaginated view on the lives of people they don't understand. All three characters provide examples of how a preconceived opinion of one person or a whole race can cause drastic misunderstandings and
Another way Scout has changed since the beginning of the book is she understands people have both good and bad qualities that coexist within them, as she becomes closer to an adult and encounters evil in the world. 20. Miss Gates’ lesson to the class about Hitler’s prosecution of Jew’s is ironic, because she herself came out of the courthouse after the trial ended and responded by telling Miss Stephanie Crawford that “it was about time that someone taught them a lesson” when referring to the blacks in the town. It reveals that most people during that time where racist and prejudice to some extent in Maycomb. An example that is similar in our current society portrayed in this chapter is how white males get paid the highest salary, but people of other races and women get paid lower salaries for
In the classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, a sympathetic, considerate African American field worker, is accused of the rape of an abused 19 year old white girl, Mayella Ewell. As the consequent trial unfolds, the reader glimpses Tom’s understanding personality despite the harsh 1930s stereotypes that cloud the trial. First, early into his testimony, Tom reveals that Mayella regularly invited him into the Ewell yard to do a few minor chores, which was usually chopping wood or toting water. Then, when Atticus, his defense attorney, asks if Tom was paid for his services, Tom replies, “No suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first time.
The book “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written by Harper lee. Throughout the book Lee uses a story to get a deeper meaning out to her audience and the world. During the where the story was set there were inequality issues and very prejudice opinions. Intertwined in the book she addresses the controversial topics like race and different forms of prejudice. There were several different forms of prejudice in this book.
In the 1940s, many that were innocent people would end up being hurt because of their difference from others. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, an African American who gets accused of a crime he didn’t commit, gets hurt because of his difference from others. The central idea of the book is that people should not hurt those who are innocent, there are several examples throughout the book that help represent this main idea such as symbolism, similes, and characters. To Kill a Mockingbird shows many examples of symbolism that supports the main idea of the book. An example of this, is the character Tom Robinson.
“Everyone wants the truth but no one wants to be honest.” In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird hypocrisy is used throughout the novel. Harper Lee uses multiple cases of hypocrisy in the novel including Scout’s teacher, Miss Gates and Mrs.Merriweather to reveal how people acted in 1935 and 1960. Miss Gates, Scout’s teacher taught her students about Hitler and the persecution of the Jews and how Germany is different from the United States. Miss Gates says,”Over here we don't believe in persecuting anybody who are prejudiced.
Lee uses the symbols of the mockingbird and snowman to provide a deeper insight into the recurring theme of discrimination. When Atticus tells Scout she can “shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em,” but reminds her that “it's a sin to kill a mockingbird," it is his way of explaining discrimination to her. Mockingbirds are a symbol of innocence, they do nothing but make music. This represents the case of Tom Robinson. Lee shows the reader that Tom is innocent, but the jury judged him based not on the evidence presented, but the colour of his skin.
The Portrayal of ‘Relative Justice’ in To Kill a Mockingbird The correlation of justice and prejudice dwell as a perpetuating conflict in the United States. Case in point is racism, which is deeply analyzed on the 1960 Pulitzer-awarded novel, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee focalizes this novel upon the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man charged by the rape of a white girl, Mayella Ewell. Racial prejudice is thoroughly presented in the novel, but what originally transpired as discrimination evolves into an inferno of injustice, particularly in the debasement and death of one of the ‘Mockingbirds,’ the impoverishment of his family, and the humiliation of his race.
The Maycomb Community in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird influence Scout to learn about the hard realities of life. An important theme from this novel is the change from how people see good and evil throughout the years. Everyone in the world should have the right to live in an anti racist society. The world would be a more enjoyable place, if children were not forced to grow up in an environment with social prejudice. The reader should recall that Scout is forced to live like this, but she doesn’t recognise what the real world is like because she is a child.
Tom Robinson is persecuted for being black in To Kill A Mockingbird. It was normal for people to do this in the time period. In particular, Tom is singled out an object of transgression by Bob Ewell as well as a mob of people who try to lynch him. Not only are people hated because of their race in the text, but some are also judged based on gender roles and social class.
What are the major ethical dilemmas (laws of life) of To Kill a Mockingbird? How do different characters resolve these dilemmas? Ethical dilemmas are what wound Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, (1960) together. Alongside morals, ethical issues play a huge role in character development and they add to the plot and storyline.
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses allusions to help the reader to understand the setting, and irony to show character and develop theme. Prejudice, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, is described as the “simple hell people give other people without even thinking”, and the novel powerfully portrays examples of racial and social prejudice. Body Paragraph #1: Harper Lee uses allusions to help the reader better understand the setting to better understand the book and it’s many themes. A part of a quote from chapter one states, “disturbance between the North and South”. This refers to the Civil War in 1861-1865, which gives the reader an estimated time period of which the book took place in, also relating to the segregation.
Bob Marley, a famous singer once said, “Prejudice is a chain, it can hold you. If you prejudice, you can 't move, you keep prejudice for years. You’ll never get nowhere with that.” Prejudice is shown in our everyday society and their are many reason on why prejudice is shown. In Harper Lee’s
Throughout the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird Lee guides the reader to reflect on the life lesson of the need to empathize with others’ situations before making judgments in order to prevent racial prejudice from happening. In addition, the issue of dehumanization is addressed once society in Maycomb chooses to believe the words of a white man over the words of a black man in trial. Their outlook in standing in a higher position as white hinders them from acknowledging the truth within the words of a man with colored skin. It is demonstrated that it is important for people to ascertain the cause of an individual’s motives before making a judgement because the lack of communication causes society to believe that their assumptions are correct. This creates problems for themselves and
the Tom Robinson example of being a mockingbird, Boo Radley also symbolizes a mockingbird. He was also wrongfully accused of things he did not do, like eat cats and poison pecans and growl and drool. The author, Harper Lee's social commentary is about how racism impacted Tom's life, as well as other black people's and how it impacted the results of his trial. The disgust that white people felt when they thought of a black man talking or being in the presence of a white women was appauling. It was a social taboo.
One of the most controversial social issues in the world today that has continued to affect millions of people is racism. This concept can be defined as the discrimination of others based on their racial background; the belief that one race is superior to the other (Patten, 2016). Racism can also be based on different ethnic backgrounds, cultural values, and physical appearances. Throughout the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, the theme of racism is evident through the trial of Tom Robinson. Harper Lee’s themes of prejudice towards African Americans are still present today due to unfair trial convictions and racial wage gaps, despite the fact that there is workplace protection against racism.