Examples Of Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

How is the racial problem of the southern states of USA in the 1930s portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Prejudice has plagued the United States of America for decades, and still plays an important role in the lives of everyday people today. Moreover, it can be in the form of racism, sexism, classism, or one of many other countless methods of presumption towards others. Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, chooses to illustrate the prejudice of Maycomb County through the use of characters’ actions and dialogue.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the mockingbird symbolizes innocence and purity,and as Miss Maudie says, “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird”. Scout and Jem Finch live with their father, Atticus (who is a lawyer), and cook, Calpurnia, in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. When Atticus takes up a case about a black man, Tom Robinson, raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, he proves that Mayella was the one raping Tom, humiliating her father, Bob Ewell. Tom Robinson is later shot seventeen times before his appeal, and Bob Ewell is stabbed by Boo Radley because he was trying to kill Jem and Scout as revenge for Atticus disproving him in court and showing how he abused Mayella. Throughout the story, Lee uses the mockingbird to symbolize the theme of the loss of innocence by way of the characters Tom Robinson, Jem Finch, and Boo

The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written in 1960 by Harper Lee in the point of view of a young innocent girl named Scout. One of the main messages that Lee has (need a new word than – indicated or set out) is racism, it plays an important role which strongly impacts many character’s lives unfairly and changes the relationship between two. Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” shows that it is wrong to hurt someone who does no harm to you, for example, black people are innocent but no way did they have as many rights as white people did. Black people lived hard lives because society was judgemental, irrational and most importantly, racist. As Scout and Jem grow older they learn to cope, take responsibility and are introduced to new aspects of life, one of which is racism. People of the town including children refer to black people as “Niggers”, and raised to think of black people as lower class individuals.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story about Jem and Scout growing up to learn the reality of the world. Along with their friend Dill, the three of them become engaged with the idea of catching a glimpse at their neighbor, Boo Radley, whom they have never seen before. Meanwhile, their father, Atticus Finch, is involved in Tom Robinson’s court case where Tom is accused of raping a white woman. The children get involved in the case, in which Tom Robinson ends up convicted guilty. Tom later gets shot while attempting to escape from prison. Bob Ewell tries to kill Jem and Scout one night until Boo Radley steps in to save them, killing Bob Ewell. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird symbolizes the innocence that has been broken by evil.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the mockingbird is an important metaphor and symbol. A mockingbird is a long-tailed thrush like songbird with grayish plumage, found mainly in tropical America and is noted for its mimicry of the calls and songs of other birds. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus tells Jem and Scout that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because mockingbirds don’t cause any harm. "Atticus said to Jem one day, 'I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.’ That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird has a recurring theme of prejudice. Throughout the novel the narrator Scout Finch, Arthur “Boo” Radley and colored people are faced with prejudice. Prejudice is an assumption about someone based solely on what they believe is true or on what they were told or taught. Scout experiences prejudice because of her age, Boo because he is seldom seen and colored people because of the color of their skin.

Prejudice is preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. According to Oxford Dictionary.

Mockingbirds are a symbol of innocence, because they don’t harm anyone and only create music for people to enjoy. A central idea in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, or to harm the innocent. The book is set in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s, narrated by the main character Jean Louise “Scout” Finch as an adult, looking back on her childhood. Many characters in the book can be represented by the mockingbird, facing racism, injustice, or prejudice despite their innocence. However, the most innocent mockingbird in the novel is Arthur “Boo” Radley because he is gentle and kind, giving gifts to Scout and her brother Jem, saving the children when they were attacked by Bob Ewell, and was ostracized

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us”. Miss Maudie, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, is telling Scout that it is never ok to kill a mockingbird because they do not do any harm to anyone, and they are kind and are a symbol of goodness. Harper Lee uses the mockingbird to symbolize the characters, Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell.

Prejudice is the intellectual or moral bias of a race and/or group of people based upon strict opinions. It is treating someone harshly based upon a person’s overall opinion on that race. Prejudice is usually based upon stereotypes of the victimized group that others may attach to them, being true or untrue. Prejudice has been seen throughout the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee whether it was against the African-American population or perpetrated against white folks in Maycomb by blacks. Prejudice is seen throughout the novel to be wrong as certain characters in the novel are shown to be against their group's stereotypes, whether it is blacks such as Tom Robinson or n white folks such as Atticus Finch or Dolphus Raymond. Prejudice is a prevalent theme in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee which is illustrated by the characters of Atticus Finch, Dolphus Raymond and by the

To Kill a Mockingbird is an book about two kids who live in a racial town and how a black man is accused of rape. The book takes place in Maycomb County, a town that discriminates black people. Harper Lee is the author of the book and petitioned it to be a love story. A mockingbird is a bird that doesn’t cause mischief, but only sings peacefully. In this case, it is whom in the book that never causes conflict with others, but only treats others with respect and courtesy.

Throughout life, society creates stereotypes and misinterpret people. This often has severe impacts on the person’s life and their interactions with outside world. Similarly, Harper Lee connects people in her novel to an innocent songbird: the mockingbird, a symbol that she uses a numerous amount of times to connect between the title and the main theme.Throughout the novel, the mockingbird represents two things: an innocent creature that perishes by acts of evil and a symbol of innocence and purity that does no harm while spreading joy and happiness. Mayella Ewell, Tom Robinson, and Arthur Boo Radley identify as mockingbirds - pure, innocent characters that face injuries through contact with evil. By analyzing the struggle of these individuals throughout Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader observes that the prejudiced society hurts the mockingbirds; this is important because the author demonstrates it is a sin to harm an innocent being.

"You can shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but just remember it is a sin to kill a mockingbird." -Atticus Finch

In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County.The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.