How Does Harper Lee Use Racial Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the classical 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee depicts the social and racial inequality in southern American society during the 1930’s. Residing in Maycomb County, Atticus Finch and his two children, Scout and Jem, gain appreciation for tolerance as they encounter diverse characters such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Told from Scout’s perspective of their adventures, Jem and Scout explore the prejudicial flaws of their community. The portrayal of a catalyst and prophet matches the personality of Jeremy “Jem” Atticus Finch; serving as the brother and friend of his sister Scout, Jem’s once innocent and naive world view is exposed to the less savory aspects of southern culture when his father takes on a case defending an African American man accused of rape. As the dehumanizing factors of institutionalized and widespread racial discrimination and prejudice become evident, Jem learns that empathy and human understanding are crucial in realizing full human potential.

To Kill a Mockingbird was a novel written by Harper Lee in a time when racism against black people is huge. Harper Lee shows the influences of racism and social inequality through the relationships of her characters such as Tom Robinson, the Ewells, the Cunningham, Boo Radley. In the novel, many different forms of inequality are captured. Firstly, there is racism against all the blacks in Maycomb society by white people, no matter rich or poor. The culture portrayed in the novel is full filled with prejudice against black people and people even referred the kind, gentleman Tom Robinson to the word ‘nigger’.

Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” presents readers with many life lessons. The book is set at a very controversial time period around the World War II era. The time period is one which is simply black against white. The book is narrated by a tom-boy, Scout, growing up in her early ages of life. Her father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer, who defends a black man named Tom Robinson, who is being treated unfairly in court.

Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ shows the trial of Tom Robinson, an innocent black man through the eyes of the young, eight year old narrator by the name of Scout Finch. Atticus, her father and Tom’s lawyer, goes against society’s expectations and beliefs as he valiantly defends both Tom and his own ideology. Lee uses characters like Mrs Dubose, Miss Maudie, Atticus and their actions to show the audience that courage is not just “a man with a gun in his hand.” (pg.149) A sampling of each characters actions throughout the novel will be analysed with relations to the recurring theme of personal, social, and moral courage.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a story revolving around Atticus Finch and his kid’s Jem and Scout, narrated by a much older Scout. This story was written 1960 but was set in the 1930’s. Since it took place in such a time, The story had a lot of racial inequality and prejudice during that time. The story was fictional but took after the real life occurrences of Harper Lee.

To Kill a Mockingbird is an important text worthy of all the recognition it received in the time following its original publication. A prime piece of fine American literature based in a period of extreme racial segregation and inequality. Set in a southern town of Maycomb Alabama during the depression, Lee follows three years of the life of eight-year-old Scout (Jean Louise) Finch and her older brother Jem (Jeremy) Finch as their father is, for three years, a fundamental figure in a case that had punctured the town as a result of the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man. As the years commence/continue, Scout and Jem, alongside the audience grow increasingly aware of prejudice throughout society as they learn the importance of perspective and being courageous when faced with adversity. By illustrating the influence of prejudice on society, Harper Lee challenges the perspectives of society, criticizing the nature of humankind to stereotype and be prejudice towards one another and in doing so, she successfully convinces the author to look beyond the facade society creates and locate the humanity that is concealed within everybody.

Dan Novak Mr. Yeager English 9H 27 December The Bold Deeds of Atticus Finch From the stone ages to modern times now racism is still a continuous fire burning in society. To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee is a novel that has many similarities and symbols to our current government and laws. Atticus finch representing Tom Robinson, an African-American character that is wrongly accused of, imprisoned, and later killed for supposedly raping Mayella Ewell, helps make clear the problems in our society and how racism comes into play.

Set in the 1930s in northern Alabama where slavery was at its peak, the book To Kill A Mockingbird is narrated in Scout’s point of view. Through Scout’s eyes, Harper Lee illustrates examples of racism and social inequality and these reveal what it was like for the blacks during that period in America. The racist rationales and social inequality in Maycomb county are, according to the characters, something that is reasonable. Throughout this book, Harper Lee criticises mainly racism and how unjust human beings can be. The readers are able to see how the blacks and the whites were treated differently and how they avoided inter-racial interactions.

Option 2 Literary Analysis To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel set during the 1930s in a small town in Southern Alabama called Maycomb. The story is told through the narrator, Scout, a young girl who lives with her father, a lawyer, and her older brother Jem. As a child, Scout is portrayed as a stubborn and obnoxious little girl who loves to read, play with her brother Jem, and fantasize about her mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. However, her life gets turned upside down when Scout’s father agrees to do something that is deemed unacceptable in the south; he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a white girl. Instantly, Atticus and his family go from being respected and beloved by their town, to being

To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, was written during a time of history in which civil rights activity was rampant. Lee does an amazing job of portraying racism as it was then, in the 1930s, and still, in ways, similar to the times of today; such as police violence, attacks on immigrants, increasing poverty levels, homelessness, and ISIS terrorism. America’s growth and development of civil liberties and rights transpired during the last half of the 20th century. At such a rapid pace that one could say the birth of a new nation came as a result of the many protests held during that time and the legislation passed. Lee set the story during the Great Depression, using a child as the narrator, Scout.