In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a man named Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Until Tom was placed in front of a judge, he had been forced to be held in the Maycomb jail. While he remained there, an angry and ignorant mob went to jail to kill Tom. Ignorance is the absence of knowledge on a subject, which is like how the mob lacked knowledge on how being black does not cause Tom to be guilty. The mob is not the only instance in which ignorance is used; it occurs regularly in Maycomb. One instance in which a civilian of Maycomb was ignorant is when Scout stated, "A Negro would not pass the Radley Place at night; he would cut across to the sidewalk opposite and whistle as he walked" (Lee 11). This line shows that the townsfolk
U3EA2 The“Queen of the Tomboys” grew up during the Jim Crow era; seeing justice unsatisfied in the Scottsboro trial at the tender age of five. Her father is a lawyer who was given a case to defend two African Americans in court, but he was unsuccessful due to racial norms in their home of Monroeville, Alabama. Many years Years later she was known by her peers as an individualist at the University of Alabama. While staying there she started by studying law but; first studying law and then then switched ing majors to become the aspiring writer known as Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird (TKM). In Chapter 9 of said novel, Lee’s young character Scout confronts a classmate who had “announced in
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the angry mob in chapter 15 is fueled by an absurd amount of ignorance and righteousness. Ignorance is the lack of knowledge or information and righteousness is the right of being morally right or justifiable. The angry mob’s ignorance is driven by racism and prejudice. The men believe that they are right and that they are protecting their community, but nobody sits and questions who is really right in the situation. People believe Tom Robinson committed a serious crime because he is black.
Harper Lee is the author of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird which has prevalent themes of tolerance and hypocrisy. The novel realistically portrays how innocence in children may shift due to being exposed and influenced by the ideas of the adults to whom they have given their trust. Not only does this factor into what they think as adults, but they are also guided by their own innocence in their attempts to not let it be corrupted. These children are doing their best to maintain their innocence while being taught the importance of empathy and tolerance, even in the many faces of hypocrisy. The reader is able to feel empathy for many scenarios in the book involving social expectations based on trivial and grievous judgments.
TKM Essay In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, characters Scout, Jem and Dill proceed to uncover Maycomb's hypocrisies like racial and prejudices against people or action. There are many hypocrisies in their society such as racism and complaining about others but still at their house. But the hypocrisies of Maycomb are very blatant to the children but not to the adults who engage in them who seem not to care. Scout and the kids are able to see the hypocrisies since they are taught not to be biased to anyone, so they understand the actions of what other people do.
All due to the fact that the people in Maycomb, the fictional town in which the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird live, are so used to discriminating against Black people that none of them think to question their beliefs, choosing to stay ignorant. A prime example of this is before Tom Robinson’s trial all of Maycomb was rooting against him, hoping that he would be ruled guilty, but no one even considered that he may be innocent. Everyone assumed that since he was Black he must have committed the crime, not taking a minute to learn the facts, or lack thereof, and decide without prejudice whether or not he deserves to be in jail. Even during the trial when all the information was released and every testimony was given, the jury still decided to rule Tom guilty simply because to them, even if it was clear as day that Tom Robinson was innocent, there was no way a Black man had done nothing wrong. Despite Atticus’s attempt to defend Tom in the best possible way he could by stating, “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.
To Kill a Mockingbird, a classic tale with a meaning deeper than the simple story of childhood shenanigans, remains a staple in many classes throughout the US. The people of the town consistently express their racist values, and how there prejudice clearly divides white and black people. Beyond that, the contrast between knowing and not knowing consistently appears throughout the story. There are many different types of ‘not knowing,’ ranging from innocence to ignorance. The people of Maycomb are ignorant when it comes to race, and the Finch children are innocent and do not know what’s really involved with the case taken up by their father.
To Kill a Mockingbird claims that the problem of ignorance causes the death of not only Tom Robinson, but the death of childhood, gender roles, and the innocence of the kids. The idea of ignorance killed Tom Robinson. Even before the trial began, he was guilty. The fact that he was a black man in Alabama in the early 1900s proves that.
Ignorance versus knowledge is a recurring theme throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. People in this time tend to jump to conclusions based on race, rather than seeking out the truth. In this particular situation in the book, the jury is provided with all the information necessary in order to clearly see the correct verdict. However, despite the knowledge provided they chose to act purely on ignorance.
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.
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” In Martin Luther King Jr. quote he explains that ignorance and stupidity and dangerous. Another identical event expressed in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird which is set in Maycomb County,Alabama during the Great Depression. The story is narrated by Scout Finch who learns about the ignorance at her hometown when a black man is accused of rape. In the novel Harper Lee uses external conflict to demonstrate that racism is a result of ignorance.
Tai Le Ms.Stewart English 1/ Period 2 January 8, 2018 The Misconceptions In To Kill A Mockingbird Misconceptions shows how easy it is for our judgements and perceptions to be misguided. People are quick to spread what they think is true, shrouding the truth in false informations. A misconception is a wrong belief or view, and it was shown a lot in Harper Lee’s
Everyone has a story with a lesson; this is Scout Finch’s story. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout, Jem, and Atticus experience countless situations where they are forced to grow. It is mainly focused on people maturing and on what being ignorant can do for one and others around them. With so much misunderstanding, the weight is on their shoulders to see clearly. In this novel, there are numerous examples that the only way to understand a person is by looking at things from their viewpoint.
Kid’s make mistakes. Helping a child solve a problem instead of harsh punishment is making a child suffer for having a problem. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a young girl named Scout is faced with punishment after beating an immature boy named Francis for making rude remarks about Scout’s father, Atticus Finch. Atticus is a lawyer; he is supposed to support and defend a helpless black man in a case. In the 1930’s this was unacceptable, so in their small town in Maycomb Alabama, the Finch family received many disputing and hostile comments for Atticus’s actions in court.
Can someone who does bad things still be considered a good person? "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." (Philosopher Aristotle). It is believed that someone who does bad things cannot be considered a good person.
Hypocrisy is easy to ignore. One does not want to come to terms that they’re indulging in such, as it can feel like one is lying to oneself—ignoring one’s so-called “personal morals.” It has been said that only the newest and freshest minds can recognize true hypocrisy, or feelings that adults don’t want to admit to. An example of hypocrisy in To Kill a Mockingbird is when the protagonist, Jean Louise “Scout”, points out how her teacher participates in the common act of hypocrisy.