In the fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the book is based off of her real life experiences and paints an image of what life looked like back in the 1930s. The setting of the scene begins in the south of a small town named Maycomb, Alabama. The novel presents numerous examples of racial prejudice towards African Americans, and it presents how helpless they are. In the novel, Harper Lee portrays a character named Atticus Finch as a hero. Atticus, who is a white man, intelligent lawyer, and the father of two, is asked to represent a black man named Tom Robinson in court, who was accused of raping a white women. During this particular time of Atticus’s life he receives animosity from the people of Maycomb. Although it was difficult …show more content…
Atticus is asked to defend an African American man named Tom Robinson who is accused of raping a white woman. While Atticus knows it’d be impossible to win he is willing to fight to the end knowing Tom is innocent. During all of this ordeal, Atticus is up against his white folks, who disguises him. Atticus is not the only one who is affected, but his kids too, “Which, gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson’s skin, a lie i do not have to point out to you. You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral… Butt this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing.”(Lee, 273) Atticus knows the truth and explains how race shouldn’t be accounted to anything. While everyone in the courtroom realize Tom isn’t guilty, due to the color of Tom’s skin it is near impossible for the jury of white men to ensure Tom is not …show more content…
Atticus teaches his kids young to respect every human being and not to assume the reputation of a human before standing in their shoes, “If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around it.” (Lee, 39) Atticus explains to his daughter Scout after a long day at school, and absurd day, she shouldn’t conclude a story of a person’s life because of the situations they might be going
In the classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee takes on the malignant impact of racism, a deeply rooted problem, from a different perspective and teaches readers what it truly means to be a good person as she brings to life one of the most virtuous characters in American literature-Atticus Finch. Told through the eyes of a young child, readers learn about the heavy prejudice embedded in the people of Maycomb County and the loss of innocence that is brought upon the kids as a racial conflict spurs a series of significant events in their quiet town. Taken place during the early years of the Great Depression, Maycomb must face its biggest problem-racism. Atticus Finch is the lawyer who defends this case and ultimately brings a
The melting pot is a failed value of american society, broken by racial segregation. Race-related discrimination hit especially hard in the south during the 1930s. Coloured people were considered insignificant to their privileged peers and nearly all whites accepted this unfair treatment. Published in 1960, Harper Lee’s american novel To Kill a Mockingbird implements bigotry through the use of the metaphor and symbolism regarding mockingbirds ; a bird representing innocence. Throughout the plot, characters such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley reveal themselves to be mockingbirds as they are victimized by the town of Maycomb despite their harmless nature.
It’s an awful feeling knowing that no matter how hard you work, you’ll never earn as much money as your white counterpart. Sadly, this has been the case for hundreds of years for African Americans living in the United States. To Kill a Mockingbird reveals the everyday struggles that African Americans endured during the 1930’s. Many of the events in the novel were based on the author, Harper Lee’s life. Just like Atticus, Lee’s father was also a lawyer.
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Witch Hunt by Marc Aronson, prejudice is rampant. It has many forms, it can be easily seen, but yet it is rarely noticed. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus hopes that he “can get Jem and Scout through [the trial] without bitterness, and without catching Maycomb’s usual disease [racial prejudice],” similar to the Salem Witch Trials and that “Tituba’s appearance and heritage probably were not what influenced the girls [to accuse people of witchcraft and act strangely], the fact that she was Indian was enough.” Atticus explains that during the trial of Tom Robinson, racial prejudice is going to become very apparent to Jem and Scout. He doesn't want his children to go down a path of biased views of people
"The book to read is not the one that thinks for you, but the one that makes you think. " Stated by Harper Lee. Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird has attracted controversy since it's publishing due to the difficult subjects that are approached in the novel. The novel uses many of its characters as symbols of specific conflicts present during the time of its publishing, such as those of classism, prejudice, discrimination, and racism.
'To Kill a Mockingbird' reflects the prejudice attitudes which are often influenced through the domination of injustices and intolerance within society, which is further reinforced during the 1930s and the period of the Great Depression. Lee conveys racial prejudice through the narrative voice of Scout and the characteristics of Atticus, exemplifying that societies prejudice and intolerances reflect the disfigurement of the justice system. During the novel, Scouts naivety and innocent voice whilst overlooking the trial, showcases the vast amount of courage Atticus withholds through his willingness to defend Tom Robinson. "I'm simply defending a Negro- his names Tom Robinson" The use of "simply", demonstrates Atticus's moral character despite
As said by Atticus,” I don’t know but they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it-seems that only children weep.” (213). Because Tom is judged guilty Atticus believes that the justice system is sometimes unfair and unethical, to colored people and it may continue that way for a long time.
Atticus defends Tom Robinson in court, who was being accused of raping a white woman. Tom Robinson was innocent of the crime, but the verdict was guilty. Atticus doesn’t care about if Tom is black or white, he was just trying defend the man on trial who was wrongly accused. Atticus believes that innocence is “a truth” that “applies to the human race and to no particular race of men” ( 273.) This describes his eagerness to protect Tom, because of his unfair accusation.
You can never judge a person until you look at things from their point of view. In the book to kill a mockingbird the author Harper Lee, emphasises on how you never understand a person until you walk around in their skin. The author also emphasises on how race does not affect how a person should be treated. One of the main characters, Atticus is a lawyer, he is defending a black man accused of rape. He is treated poorly because he is a white man however he is defending a black man, Atticus sees everyone as the same race.
Atticus Finch is very courageous and this is evident when he stands up for what he believes in despite the prejudice of other people in Maycomb. Since he goes against the status quo, he gets discriminated against. Other people criticize his actions behind his back, and
Atticus knows that this case is going to be difficult to defend because Tom is black. During the Great Depression, white people viewed black people as worthless and futile. On the contrary, Atticus believed that all men should be treated equally no matter their race. He knew it was the moral thing to do even if it means “‘a Finch [going] against his raising’” to ensure that Tom gets an equal opportunity as a white man (55).
When Atticus is told by his superior to take the case of the accused rapist, Tom Robinson, it doesn’t take both the black and white community
As demonstrated at Tom's trial where things don't always work out this way. Tom is convicted even when the evidence seems to point to him being innocent. Atticus tries to attempt to explain to Jem that prejudices can sometimes distort people’s thinking so that they can't think rationally. “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells a story of racial prejudice during the Depression and how it is combated. The main development in the novel is that a Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, has been appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young white woman named Mayella. Many people in the town of Maycomb, particularly people involved with the case of Tom, have a negative attitude towards African Americans. Prejudice was a terrible issue in the South during the Depression, but Atticus Finch shows that racial injustice can be combated in two main ways, each having different levels of effectiveness.
Atticus Finch was a lawyer that had to be exploitive if he wanted to win cases. When he gave a closing argument for the case of Tom Robinson, he had to find a way to persuade his audience. Instead of making his speech specifically about Tom Robinson, Atticus stated that some people of a race may lie, but that is true for all humans, no matter what the color of their skin is. Atticus said that, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” (Lee, 30). He believed that you shouldn’t judge someone’s actions until