Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Prejudice is an inevitable aspect of society that has affected people in negative lights. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout demonstrates her growth in understanding social issues that occur in the typical American society of Maycomb, where discrimination occurs towards both the lower-income population and racial minority. Calpurnia acts like a parental figure to inspire Scout of the invisible yet existing prejudice towards the economically disadvantaged people. When Jem invites Walter Cunningham to dine at his house, Scout disappoints Calpurnia by disrespecting Walter at the dinner table. Due to the sense of responsibility in the family, Calpurnia calls her out to educate her that, “‘[no] matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this

Calpurnia wants Scout to offer hospitality to Walter thus to show respect to him and treat him as an equal figure. Racial identity is a major factor of discriminations in the Maycomb society as well. Despite Calpurnia, Atticus also positively affects Scout on her views of prejudice. Since Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, an African-American falsely accused of raping a white woman, scandals are spread in the town and Scout is ignorant of the reason why her father defends an African-American. As a response, Atticus says the reason is if he does not step up and defend Tom Robinson, he is not able to “‘hold [his] head up in town… represent this country in the legislature… [and] even tell [Scout] or Jem not to do something again… simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally’” (100). He defends in an unwinnable case since he is not willing to be a hypocrite and follow the majority of the society. Instead, Atticus shows his daughter that justice should be pursued under the inequity of the