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 To Kill a Mockingbird, the author shows why prejudice is shown and the effects of it. The novel takes place in Alabama in the 1930s, and it is narrated by a young girl who is a tomboy. She lives with her older brother and a father who is a lawyer. The father 's name is Atticus and he is a lawyer who decides to defend a black man who is falsely accused of rape. As the two kids grow up surrounded in an environment based on prejudice and misunderstandings, …show more content…
Atticus then tells Jem that if the jury was made up of him and eleven other boys, like Jem, then Tom Robinson would be a free man today. He then says,"There 's something in our world that makes men lose their heads --they couldn 't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it 's a white man 's word against a black man 's, the white man always wins. They 're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (295). This is implying the prejudicial ways of Maycomb and how their views on the different races. When Atticus says, "There 's something in our world that makes men lose their heads --they couldn 't be fair if they tried, he implies how the white men can’t give a fair case to others. Since the jury is made out of all white farmers everyone expected them to convict Tom since it was a white man 's word against a blacks. The town shows prejudice to the blacks again by showing that they are superior so they have the power to say what is right. When Atticus says, “In our courts, when it 's a white man 's word against a black man 's, the white man always wins, he implies how again the whites are superior and their word will always be taken higher than a blacks. This quote shows the prejudicial ways of Maycomb through racial inequality. The final characters
For the closing statement of Atticus was moving speech that could not determine the fate of Tom Robinson’s verdict. Atticus used artistic proofs, anaphora, and multiple other persuasive tools to connect with his audience and to prove to the jury that Tom Robinson was innocent. Even with the substantial evidence against the Ewell’s testimony the prejudice and racism that was being shown to the black community in Maycomb overcame the truth. In Atticus’s closing statement he attempted to create people of all races equal in the court
If you were Negro, you were either a slave, a crime committer, or just trash. Being white was the best thing back then. No one wants to get to know the Negroes of Maycomb so they assume many things about them. In trial, Atticus tries to explain Negroes are like us with this statement, “....have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court...confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption--the evil assumption--that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…” (Lee 273).
(100), here, Atticus knows even if everyone knows Tom is innocent and Tom’s opponent is white trash and ignorant, everyone understand that he will suffer racial discrimination and will be labelled guilty no matter the proof. Racial segregation will be the main factor as to why no one will choose a black man’s side over a white’s. No matter how much evidence there is, the mindset on blacks in Maycomb is nearly impossible to discard. “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (276), it is no surprise when Tom tries to escape the prison and dies doing so, because everyone knew there was no hope for him once a white accuses him.
They were talking if a Negro is going against a white person in a Jury the white person always win no matter who they are. In their conversation Atticus said “ In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always win. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.” (220). This relates to Racial Inequality because when a white person is going against an another white person one of the person should or must be guilty.
"The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying resentments right into a jury box. " By seeing Tom through the lense of their own ignorance, resentments, prejudices, and opinions, Tom faced a trial in which he could not win, no matter how strongly the evidence proved his innocence. The inherent racism of Maycomb's society prevented the existence of a fair trial for any person whose skin was not
Therefore, some people pissed to Atticus. The people, who live in Maycomb, say such ugly things about Atticus Finch, a white man, for defending Tom Robinson in court, because Atticus believe Tom and he tried to defend Tom seriously. Long time ago, many people believed that black men is not good, polite, and NOT believable, so they were treated like slaves. Now in real life, people who believe idea of racism by skin color are less than before. However, some people
Innocence is a time in one’s life of carefreeness and peace. In youth, children have yet to experience the harsh realities of life, and when they do, it is often hard to cope with. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays Maycomb’s prejudiced ways through an unfair trial of an innocent man, and through the treatment of certain members of the community. The young narrator, Scout, and her older brother, Jem, experience growth and learn compassion when the trial exacerbates Maycomb’s intense intolerance. In this novel, Lee uses the characterization of the Finch children to demonstrate that innocent children who have been exposed to their community’s prejudice, often have trouble adjusting, but need a mentor figure to help them mature.
This quote is a perfect example of Tom Robinson, a black man who the people of Maycomb inappropriately label as a criminal and therefore act prejudiced against. Tom can be likened to a mockingbird in the sense that he too is innocent. Furthermore, it is a criminal offense to kill a mockingbird because everyone knows they are harmless creatures that do no wrong. Unfortunately for Tom, this precedent does not apply to black men in Maycomb even once they are proven innocent. This is seen during Tom Robinson’s trial just before Judge Taylor announces if he is guilty of asssuluting and raping Mayella Ewell.
Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird famously said in his closing arguments: "You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some negro men are not to be trusted around women- black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and no particular race of men." (pg 232) What Atticus is trying to convey is a foreign concept to most people in Maycomb county. Atticus is trying to convey a point of equality and no prejudice in a world of social inequality which, as one can imagine, didn 't go over so well.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells a story of racial prejudice during the Depression and how it is combated. The main development in the novel is that a Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, has been appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young white woman named Mayella. Many people in the town of Maycomb, particularly people involved with the case of Tom, have a negative attitude towards African Americans. Prejudice was a terrible issue in the South during the Depression, but Atticus Finch shows that racial injustice can be combated in two main ways, each having different levels of effectiveness.
Atticus fears that "There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins” (Page 224) Atticus confirmed that Maycomb won’t have a just system due to white men’s words to black men. This would only make Maycomb welcoming to white people and unwelcoming for black people. Maycomb is unwelcoming and unjust for the prejudice view for black
How did prejudice happen in this world that God made? Prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. In this world, there are a lot of prejudice. Prejudice doesn´t happen suddenly but it happens from a root. Everything happens from a root and that causes to be or do something.
Atticus Finch, the best lawyer in Maycomb, was sitting nervously in his chair as he waited for the town Judge to arrive in court. Tom Robinson, Atticus client, was in court for raping a white women. Which he didn’t do. Tom looked over to Atticus in a deep, scared voice “we won 't win. Look at the way everyones looking at me.
Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.
This behaviour is deemed as natural, and few people question the roles put in place, this is truly terrifying so we are lead to wonder if what we accept as normal is perhaps corrupt instead. Race is the dominant cause of inequality in To Kill A Mockingbird, thus Maycomb’s views on race heavily influence every aspect of life. Although racial inequality is clearly illustrated in the in the injustice, prejudice, discrimination and antagonism surrounding the Tom Robinson trial, it is also shown more subtly throughout the novel. In Chapter 25 Atticus Finch is quoted disclosing that the corrupt justice system is a direct cause of a racist society. “In our courts, when it 's a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee, 295).