Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

To Kill a Mockingbird is an important text worthy of all the recognition it received in the time following its original publication.

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee changed the way our society perceives minorities. To Kill a Mockingbird unveiled the idea of good and evil being present in the same person. Lee revealed that it’s the person’s ability to choose right from wrong, and good from evil. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about a single father raising a son and daughter in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, around the time of the Great Depression. Atticus decides to take a case that opens the eyes of the people who live in Maycomb. A result of the case was they finally see what they have been turning a blind eye to. It is human nature to make mistakes, but that does not make humans evil, it simply means as humans grow, they learn from their mistakes and they understand what they did wrong. Humans make mistakes, but as humans mature we gain a second chance to prove that they have grown and are better.

Life in 1930’s was much different than it is today. Extreme racism and prejudice was everywhere. The theme prejudice is throughout Harper Lee’s to kill a mockingbird, even where you don’t expect it. Lee shows the extreme prejudice in southern states in the 1930’s, and the prejudice that is in the most innocent of people. From subtle assumptions to blatant racism Harper Lee does an excellent job showing how powerful prejudice truly is.

No child is born racist, and the children of Maycomb County are no exception. Set in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a heart-wrenching story about growing up surrounded by poverty, ignorance, and discrimination. Lee uses Scout Finch, the six-year-old daughter of controversial lawyer Atticus Finch, to showcase the belief that innocence is crucial in a world corrupted by prejudice. When Scout wonders about the hypocrisy that goes hand in hand with intolerance, strikes up a conversation with an angry mob, and attacks anyone who insults her father, she portrays innocence.

Maycomb and our society come hand in hand and are more similar than we think. The plot of To Kill a Mockingbird establishes a profound realization that our world now, has yet to change. As much as we attempt to escape the problem of social inequality, the dilemma still remains. People are continually being treated wrongly based off of their skin color, social rank and even their professions. In the book, Maycomb somewhat symbolized the discrimination that was meant to be combated by the

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is an exceptional book portraying prejudice in the 1930’s. This book shares about the life of a kid named Scout and her adventures in Maycomb County. Throughout the book we see prejudice in the eyes of a child and how it affects Scout’s life. In the book a black man is accused of raping a white woman and Scout’s dad, Atticus, is appointed to defend the black man. Scout soon learns the public perception on this trial. Admittedly, there are some people on the side of justice, however others want a certain result because of their own prejudice. There are many themes in the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, nonetheless, I feel that prejudice is shown the most. Prejudice is a long term problem that has been affecting

Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird portrays African Americans in the south and how racism is impacting their lives in every way and the Jim Crow laws which only make them more judged. Since the Jim Crow laws are in effect, African Americans and white people became segregated and these lead to isolation and hatred between the two races. Judgement towards African American in the book is mainly being based on stereotypes and racial biases from the wrongly convicted Tom Robinson to the so called drunk Dolphus Raymond. Some characters in To Kill a Mockingbird have more of an open mind and are more acceptable such as Atticus Finch by serving as a lawyer to an African American man and others who have racial predujuces towards African Americans

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is about a family that lives in Maycomb, Alabama. The people in the family are Atticus Finch, Jem (son), Scout (daughter), and their maid Calpurnia. The novel takes a twist when Atticus, who is a lawyer, is appointed to be Tom’s(who is a black man) attorney. Atticus defends Tom against sexual assault charges, but they do not win the case against the Ewells, even though everything the Ewells said was a lie. The novel explicitly shows that there are many examples of people being prejudice against one another. The first example I chose is Racism. Racism is rather common, and it has been around since the world was created, it will still exist no matter how far into existence the world goes. The second example I chose is gender inequality. This one is harder to identify than racism, but

In the 1930’s, racism, classism, and prejudice became more evident in people’s everyday lives. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, she demonstrates this sore subject in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama. Lee presents Maycomb as a southern town, bursting with gossip and encompasses the traits of a one-sided community. Overall, Maycomb despises the African American race and refuses to treat them as equals because of their skin color. However, Lee created the main characters, Jem, Scout, and Atticus, to be different. They are shown as mature and given the viewpoints that racism and classism is wrong. Throughout the novel, Lee writes the characters to work around societies conflicts and not get caught up in racial concerns.

Although the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, took place in the 1930s, it ties closely into the Civil Rights Movement. This novel displayed the obvious superiority whites had over blacks. It took place during a time when colored people faced discrimination, prejudice, and racism. When the book was published in the 1960s, it made whites furious, resulting in a lot of controversy. Harper Lee had a goal when writing, she wanted to show the relation between actual events that happened during the civil rights and incorporate it into her own novel to show how cruel colored people were treated, specifically when whites accused blacks of doing sinful acts.

“Scout, I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time…” (227). Prejudice and discrimination are major issues that are present in the town of Maycomb; Scout and her brother Jem are young children who learn about the disturbing existence of the bigotry that they were previously unaware of in their familiar southern hometown throughout the trial of Tom Robinson, an innocent African American who is accused of rape by a white woman. To Kill a Mockingbird introduces a world that harbors prejudice against some of its very citizens and describes how discrimination was a major flaw in society and still is a flaw present day society. The author, Harper Lee develops a major theme of people should not discriminate against others solely due to prejudice on the basis of differences for it leads to consequences using dialogue between the characters, thoughts from the narrator 's perspective, and descriptions of beliefs during the time period throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird.

Even after centuries, the social issue of racism is still evident throughout society. The unequal treatment of people is a popular topic in academic writings due to the personal connection that individuals have with the harsh, judgmental world. Racism goes beyond the segregation between African Americans and white people; everyone witnesses some type of unequal treatment throughout the human race. The man-made classification system has no scientific reason behind it, sadly it is human nature at fault. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird consists of the universal problem of racism. There are many diverse aspects that are constantly analyzed throughout Lee’s novel. To Kill a Mockingbird could be viewed with the approaches of new criticism and

Harper Lee artfully wove together a coming-of-age story and a legal thriller in a way that tackles many of the important issues of growing up in the American South during the 1930s. Of the many themes encompassed in To Kill a Mockingbird, the most prevalent is prejudice. Prejudice manifested itself in the novel among races, genders, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, religions, and values. Racism, sexism, and socioeconomic elitism are the most significant examples of the theme of prejudice, which is the driving force and central message of the entire novel.

Although in To Kill a Mockingbird the foremost focus is racism against black people, there are some scenarios in which the Negroes have prejudice notions against white people. When Calpurnia brought Scout and Jem to her church they were not welcomed at first. In this quote Lula is saying white children are not welcome in the black church. In the novel Harper Lee writes,“You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here— they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?” (158). Most people would think that black people wouldn’t discriminate considering the current state of racial correspondence. Even in a place where people are presumed to be perfect people have drawbacks. Harper Lee states that,“I agreed: they

Prejudice was a very common act in the 1900’s. Harper Lee demonstrates the impact of preconception through her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch hopes to raise his children not to catch “Maycomb’s usual disease”. The “disease” Atticus is referring to is the act of prejudice. People of color were the majority who were treated unequally. However, there were a variety of attacks on the penniless as well. The disease of prejudice is an act of evil, can spread like a wildfire, but can be stopped by the noble deeds of just one individual.