In society, it is automatically assumed that people want justice, equality, and stride for freedom. Despite that, when a group of people are put together; they turn into a stack of dominos. Although they do not realize it when someone of the higher social class creates a certain stigma against a person or group the rest will eventually follow through despite personally knowing them. It is the act of bias and influence that hinder the sight of many. "Bigotry or prejudice in any form is more than a problem; it is deep-seated evil within our society" (..) It is in Harper Lee’s “How To Kill A Mockingbird.” that the issue of Prejudice is shown throughout the novel. It is apparent in the novel which exhibits the unethical idea of individuals, particularly …show more content…
In fact, Boo Radley was a harmless man who only did things for the greater good “insert good acts here” (...) In ways, Boo Radley symbolizes a Mockingbird as “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us.” (Lee 103) Furthermore, because all Boo Radley ever did were good acts, he genuinely never should have been discriminated against as he was a misunderstood …show more content…
One day Boo Radley was cutting the newspaper with scissors, and when his father passed "Boo drove the scissors into his parent 's leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activity"(Lee 11). Ever since then Boo Radley separates himself from the general population of Maycomb and remains inside his home throughout the day so no one ever sees him. Unfortunately, If Boo goes outside, he will be unjustifiably seen as a stranger due to his absence and rumors spread, therefore Boo remains in his home since he realizes that his general public will continue to ridicule him. Subsequent to being confined for such a long period of time, Boo is developmentally challenged. Boo has lost his essential social and communication skills and can not survive outside of his home, this is the consequence of continually being ridiculed and can damage somebody’s self-esteem. In addition, Atticus Finch is another victim of prejudice in the novel. After being chosen to defend Tom Robinson, the town folk starts to exhibit prejudice towards him. The town folk trust that Atticus will not present a legitimate defense for Tom because of his skin color, but Atticus full heartedly intends to do so because he believes in equal rights and condones in prejudice or racism. In addition, Atticus Finch is also the victim of
‘Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you’”(Lee 76). This quote yet again shows that Boo Radley has nothing but good intentions. He acts with kindness despite the fact that the children he is helping are the same ones who have attempted to torment him many times. He is often seen as a scary man and one that does not abide by the way Maycomb functions
In this essay i'm going to be talking about a few chapters in to kill a mockingbird.the chapters I will cover chapters 18-22. In these chapters I will be talking about the times when prejudice was shown. In the first paragraph prejudice was shown when jem and scout concluded things about their father, that weren't true. In the second paragraph the jury showed prejudice when they picked one race over another. Jem and Scout thought their father was boring
Final Essay Outline: Thesis Statement/opening paragraph: In the story To Kill A Mockingbird, discrimination and the act of being prejudice is common among the main characters, on both the receiving and serving end. Certain characters, like Scout and Jeremy Finch, Bob Ewell, and the town folk truly create the main problem and set the theme of the story. For example, when Bob Ewell accuses Atticus Finch of being an african-american lover, because he is defending Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, according to Bob. Boo Radley is accused of being dead by Scout, Jem and Dill.
Even in a society that, overall, is diverse, people with similar ideas and experiences tend to congregate in small groups, where they are comfortable. It is much easier to remain in homogenous groups, among those who understand each other. When different groups combine, many different life experiences and points of view will be present and will potentially clash. Misunderstanding is bound to occur in some form when individuals of different backgrounds interact. When misunderstandings occur, people tend to respond with violence, fear, or stereotyping.
Atticus Finch is treated poorly for the choices he made because he wanted to help other people. Despite the racism in the town, Atticus defended Tom Robinson, a Black man accused of raping a White women in the segregated south. “She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man.
Lee uses Miss Gates’s ironic views of Hitler and Tom’s trial to show how racial prejudice causes crimes against African Americans to be considered less than crimes committed against white people. A mockingbird is then used to symbolize Tom Robinson as an innocent person wrongly convicted of a crime because of his skin color. The misunderstood characterization of Arthur Radley shows how society will let prejudice guide their imaginated view on the lives of people they don't understand. All three characters provide examples of how a preconceived opinion of one person or a whole race can cause drastic misunderstandings and
Literature can be analyzed with many different critical lenses. While analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, one may use a critical lens to recognize the different ideas throughout the novel. Harper Lee’s novel demonstrates her perspective on intolerance and discrimination within the early twentieth century. Firstly, intolerance of people who are different is very prevalent within the novel.
Despite overwhelming evidence of Tom's innocence, including the compelling testimony of Atticus Finch, Scout's father and the defense attorney, Tom is convicted based solely on his race. This starkly illuminates the deeply ingrained racial bias and prejudice that prevailed in the justice system of that time, where black individuals were automatically presumed guilty solely based on the color of their skin. Tom's tragic fate underscores the harsh reality of racial discrimination, where African Americans were denied basic rights and treated as inferior to white people merely due to their race.
In the 1930s, if a black man was on trial there was a ample chance he would be convicted even if evidence proved he was innocent. Throughout history humans being prejudice and bias have affected the lives of thousands of people; some ending with favorable outcomes while others weren’t so fortunate. Within the book To Kill a Mockingbird the readers learn that prejudice and bias people outnumber the understanding and kind. One decision or in this case twelve decisions decide the fate for an unfortunate man. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee reveals that people often follow their biases and prejudices rather than the truth.
The root of any discrimination is dehumanization, no large group of people can sincerely hate or cause pain to a group of people based off of race, color, sexuality, gender, religion or any other separating factor without dehumanizing them. Every single time in history where people in power have taken advantage of a specific group of people, they have had to dehumanize them. There is no debate about that. Harper Lee not only uses To Kill a Mockingbird as a direct protest against the Jim Crow Laws, but she also protests the reason people allowed themselves to sleep at night.
Prejudice leads to many consequences. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee shows us how the evils of prejudice impact on the lives of innocent people such as Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson. Atticus Finch, the most famous lawyer in Maycomb County, is a highly respected and honoured individual in the community who becomes a victim of prejudice. Atticus, a white man is defending Tom Robinson, a black man.
After witnessing Jem, Scout, and Dill acting out his rumored “life story”, I infer that it must have been very weird and uncomfortable for Boo to be so close to “his children” when they were the ones who supposedly made fun of him. Emotionally he is struggling because he is overwhelmed by the fact that he is always a hot topic of the town, and the trio acting his story out didn’t make him feel any better. In the poem “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou the last stanza is written “The caged bird sings/ with a fearful trill/ of things unknown/ but longed for still/and his tune is heard/ on the distant hill/ for the caged bird/sings of freedom.” Boo Radley
Boo Radley represents one of the “mockingbirds” in the book, and a mockingbird is someone that is pure and innocence in the world. He is a good person that is hurt by the evil of mankind. In a lot of ways, Boo Radley might have have wanted to stay shut up in his house after seeing some of the awful acts that the townspeople have committed. But after seeing the Finch kids being attacked by Bob Ewell he had no choice but to leave the comfort of his own home that he has been enclosed in for so long to come out and save them. All though it would have been easier for this man to stay in his house rather than leave and then be drug into court, he did what he knew would be right and rescued the
Essay 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.
Social prejudice is shown throughout Harper Lee’s award winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee powerfully analyses the theme social prejudice, and its effect on people. Such as how the Social prejudice is discrimination based on your status in society. An example of social prejudice would be the Radley family, which consists of Boo Radley, Nathan Radley and Arthur Radley. As they haven’t been out of their house in years people are lead to believe the rumours.