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How Does Atticus Use Racial Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Racism is a theme that has run through the world during all of history. In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, the main character is a girl named Scout, growing up with her brother, Jem, and her father, Atticus, in a racist town in Alabama called Maycomb during the Great Depression and the early 1930s. Atticus is a lawyer and he has to defend a black man named Tom Robinson against the claim he raped Mayella Ewell. The Ewell family has no money or education. He loses the case because of racial prejudices, but he hurts the pride of the Ewell family. Jem and Scout are fascinated by Boo Radley, a man who lives in solitude, and even though he seems very scary to the children, he ends up saving them from the wrath of an angry Mr. Ewell. Atticus is very understanding of human nature, unprejudiced regardless of race, and he is a good father by teaching his kids important values that everyone should learn from and live by. …show more content…

He is a good lawyer, and this emotion he can perceive helps him with his job. Atticus destroyed Mr. Ewell’s reputation, even though he had little to begin with. “So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take” (Lee 218). Atticus knows that Mr. Ewell beat his daughter, and Atticus is willing to take some bullying to help out another person. Mayella has a family that doesn’t help or care for her. Atticus sees this, and he understands the Ewell’s blamed Tom Robinson for rape, because Mr. Ewell doesn’t want to get in trouble. Also, Hitler is in power, and Scout learned about him in class. Scout talks about Hitler to her father, and he responds, “‘It’s not okay to hate anybody’” (Lee 246). Atticus has good ideals, and realizes you shouldn’t hate anyone, even if they are inhuman. Atticus understands how Mayella and Tom feel, and he is able to be a good lawyer and a very caring person while understanding how to uphold your

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