Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird Research Paper

prejudice and injustice in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other. ”- Martin Luther King Jr. Prejudice is, by definition, a pre-existing bias without any proof or evidence. A distorted way of thinking that rotten the mind, alienates, and dehumanises one group or an individual.

In To Kill A Mockingbird there are many example of individuals being prejudice. People being prejudice has been around for centuries and has not exactly went away. In this essay i will being showing you examples of people being prejudiced in To Kill A Mockingbird. There are many examples but i’m only going to go over a few of them.

(Lee page 273). This quote was said by Atticus, during the time of Tom Robinson’s trial for the accusation that he raped Mayella Ewell. This quote is significant because Atticus is saying that not all people are bad, and that accusations like this should not be placed solely on one race; everyone has their flaws, and it is unfair to make such accusations based on the color of a person’s skin. Harper Lee has shown us many examples of racism that were present in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. She has shown us how challenging it was for the characters to survive in this “black versus white” society.

From getting to know someone more on a personal level instead of hearing judgements from other people. An individual is able to neutralize prejudice by understanding how a person lives and feeling empathy for them. Author, Harper Lee has demonstrated this through her Pulitzer Prize winning novel: To kill a mockingbird. Since its first publication in 1960 it has sold over 40 million copies world-wide. Harper Lee wrote this book during marches regarding the civil rights movement for racial equality between black people and white people in the United States. She wrote this as a statement to the 1960’s civil rights movement, although it as set in the 1930’s, this novel has a lot to say about fair treatment of all people no matter what social class or race.

Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird has many examples of prejudice. The prejudice presented is against people such as Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and Boo Radley. Each is discriminated against either because of the color of their skin, who they represent in court, or just how much they isolate themselves from the town. Harper Lee’s stance on racial prejudice is that it is a foolish practice, no matter who does it. Prejudice is a very large part of To Kill a Mockingbird.

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

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee contains various examples of racism and prejudice throughout the novel. The story takes place in the 1930's, a period when racism was a part of everyday life. Prejudice and racism in this book are represented by acts of hate towards others because of the color of their skin. In this novel, prejudice and racism was dominantly pointed towards blacks. Acts of racism can be discreet to the point that you can easily miss them.

Scout is only a six year old child who hasn’t yet experienced evil in the world and she soon discovers what evil is all about. In chapter 9, her father defends Tom Robinson, an African American man, and she gets to experience evil firsthand. Cecil Jacobs insults Scout’s father, “Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers.” (Lee pg. 99) Scout sees evil and prejudice. People don’t like Tom because of the color of his skin. Classmates and others were not happy and teasing her because her father defends an African American person. (Lee, 110) Tom is convicted of raping Mayella, Bob Ewell’s daughter. After all the evidence presented, it was clear Tom was being

In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, I noticed a lot of stereotyping. The characters stereotyped one another in multiple ways. The way they stereotyped one another shows how different each individual thinks about one another. Most of these stereotypes are shown negatively. This novel is shown from a child's point of view to show the difference in thinking between a child and an adult. It also shows how the child wees her society and the people in it.

Cultural norms are what make and shape a society. They are the guidelines, and or patterns, that are to be followed, in order to be considered a normal, typical, everyday citizen. As such, it does not matter if the norms are right or wrong. As long as the citizen is still a part of their society, right and wrong does not matter, as far as they are concerned. In the case of To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the cultural norm, of Maycomb County, embraces the wrong, in the form of extreme prejudice behavior. A behavior, of which, presents itself heavily while either talking, and or mentioning, the topics of religions, racism and classism.

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.

In To Kill a Mockingbird there are lots of racial, gender, and religious, discrimination. Which is shown a multiple amount of times throughout the novel.

How did prejudice happen in this world that God made? Prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. In this world, there are a lot of prejudice. Prejudice doesn´t happen suddenly but it happens from a root. Everything happens from a root and that causes to be or do something. For example, hatred comes from your feeling. Everything comes from a root and it is not possible to fix unless somebody takes an action in this world. In order to fight against prejudice, one needs to first see that the root of the problem is superiority, fear, and hatred, then work against it by staying positive, getting out of denial, and serving others.

Life is like outer space, unknown and always changing. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee writes about the segregation, hate, and prejudice in a town called Maycomb. Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of rape and doesn’t know what to expect. His attorney, Atticus Finch, an experienced, knowledgeable, and kind man, does his absolute best to defend him. However, the jury consists of all white males, most being racist and narrow-minded about the situation. Because of this, Tom Robinson is found guilty and later dies because of a mob, which displays the hatred and segregation that takes place in Maycomb.When stereotypes become embedded in the culture of a town like Maycomb, prejudice becomes more powerful than the truth, but through communication, empathy can be learned.

In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, undoubtedly there is more than one type of discrimination displayed. Before we get into that, what exactly is discrimination? Well, to discriminate means to treat someone differently based on what they believe, their age, gender, who they love, even their appearance. The forms that I will be talking about are Sexism, (Prejudice actions based on gender) Racism, (Prejudice actions based on race) classism, (Prejudice actions on those of a different social class) and discrimination on those with a disability.