Essay Comparing To Kill A Mockingbird And The Help

‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’ Says Atticus Finch, one of the main characters in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. The messages in ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘The Help’ are presented differently but are still quite similar. In both books, importance is placed on being able to view things from other people’s perspectives in order to fully understand. The two leading characters in both books, Scout and Skeeter, make a journey which leads them to new perspectives and understandings. Their journeys both involve them facing obstacles in which they learn about oppression and the black person’s point of view. Their exploration is contrasted with the two character’s Atticus and Aibileen, who both

Maycomb is suffering from a lot of prejudice, and many of the people in Maycomb are, in fact racist. When Tom gets poorly accused for raping and beating a white woman and immediately goes to court. Considering the fact that he is black, he has an unfair disadvantage; people will be judging him on his race, not his alleged actions. The book takes place in the 1930s, but there is still racism around today. During Tom’s trial, the jury and the court are basing their decisions off of what Tom looks like; his skin color and not on what his actions were. Tom’s case eventually came to a decision on whether he was guilty or not. Despite all the evidence that showed he was innocent, he was still found guilty. Lately in the media, there have been a lot of news stories about police officers who claim to be “taking advantage of their badge” by shooting or arresting innocent people, most people that the police have claimed to arrest for no reason are black. Most people in society, ours and Maycomb, seem to be okay with this because they seem them as a threat; ad idea they’re basing off of