Imagine if you changed something to be better but everyone hated you while you were doing it. Then when you finally finished only some people appreciated what you did. This is what Atticus and Boo did to change people’s perspective and Macomb's perspective. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee shows us that Atticus and Boo Radley are teachers by changing people's lives by helping them see different points of view.
The Ewells are the least respected people in the community, but they still manage to be ranked above blacks. Atticus told Scout, “The Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day’s work in his recollection” (Lee 30). Their father Bob, is an alcoholic and abuses Mayella. There have been multiple instances where the judge had to keep them under control. Tom Robinson on the other hand, is a man with dignity and speaks to everyone properly, including the Ewells. The judge had a troubling time trying to sentence Tom because he had every evidence and characteristics of a person that would be proven innocent. He was calm when being questioned, as Mayella was panicking when being placed under the spotlight. Mayella and Bob’s stories were never consistent and made them look suspicious. Unfortunately, the judge sentenced Tom to death although he knew for sure that he convicted an innocent man. Justice was overshadowed by racism, and the judge’s hypocrisy was to blame for
Every person young or old, is labelled with either a positive or negative stereotype. Stereotypes affect one’s social life, emotions, and how one interacts with the community. In the 1940’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, there are many stereotypes that are destructive and can prevent individual growth. The three stereotypes that will be focused on are, people who supposedly do bad things are evil and scary, people should not judge others by their actions, and black people are treated poorly based on their skin tone.
Even though Some people, like Aunt Alexandra thinks Atticus is raising scout wrong because she doesn't like to wear girly clothes. Atticus acts like a teacher to his children, he teaches them wondrous things. Atticus punishes his kids when the deserve it. Jem and Scout are shown to be respectful and treat people the same.
fortunate”(292). Although he is white, Atticus demonstrates how one can understand someone, regardless of color. Instead of just being Tom Robinson’s lawyer, Atticus chooses to defend this man;however, since it is made known that Atticus is doing so, the town of Maycomb reacts with negativity. For example, he is insulted numerous times by the people of Maycomb.” Your father’s no better than the n****** and trash he works for”(Lee 135). African-americans are thought of lowly because of their color ,and in this commentary, made by Miss Dubose, Atticus is thought of at a lower level because he is defending Tom Robinson. Even Mrs. Merriweather insults Atticus in his own home at one of the missionary tea gatherings. “I tell you there are some
Discrimination is shown throughout To Kill A Mockingbird in numerous ways. Racism and prejudice are shown when the jury makes the ruling to convict Tom Robinson as guilty, despite all of the evidence to prove his innocence; Scout is known for being a tomboy. The lessons about discrimination that Scout learns throughout the novel are applicable to all types of prejudice,
Race used to affect every aspect of life, especially for people of color, from the
In society, people would usually associate with others who are the most similar to them since they tend to feel more comfortable around them. For instance, in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, is a story of Mayella Ewell who is a poor, white woman living in a racist environment during the 1930s. Some people will say that Mayella isn’t sincerely powerful and others might disagree. On the contrary, Mayella doesn’t have much capability when it comes down to her low financial status and her gender; however, her race is what makes her highly powerful.
A pivotal moment of the history of the United States is the segregation of blacks. Although they were both provided with race-containing facilities, blacks were still not equal to whites. This is because of the Plessy v. Ferguson case and separate but equal laws. It came to the Supreme Court when it was said that the 13th and 14th Amendments were violated; the court enacted upon the separate but equal laws after the trial to isolate blacks from whites. The Plessy v. Ferguson trial and separate but equal laws was unfair towards black citizens due to the discriminatory social standards set against them.
Bob Ewell barely had a shred of respect for anyone, and that is all he got in return. Everyone in Maycomb knew he was a man of no dignity, a man who lived in the town dump, without a care for his children. Atticus explains more about the Ewell’s to Scout, “It’s against the law, all right, and it’s certainly bad, but when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains. I don’t know any landowner around here who be grudges those children’s game their father can hit” (Lee 41). Despite living in the dump and having no job to support his children, he does not think once about them
Many people have been ridiculed because of their skin color. They have been given unfair trials throughout American history. Tom Robinson was accused of raping and beating a white woman. Everyone knew that she was lying, but the jury still came to the conclusion that Mr. Robinson was guilty because he was African American. The murder of Emmett Till was a demonstration that whites who committed the worst crime possible would be given a lenient trial because the victim was an African American. The trial of “The Scottsboro boys” was the worst. Everyone knew that the two girls were lying and one of them even confessed that she lied on the stand but the jury still found the defendants guilty. It is not just African Americans
According to the book To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, I believe Tom Robinson is innocent. The crime that Tom Robinson is getting charged for is that he had raped Mayella Ewell. There are many reasons of why I believe Tom Robinson is not guilty. For instance, Tom Robinson’s left arm was not strong enough nor working, so he didn’t have the strength to do what Mr. Ewell and Mayella said he did.
Mayella is being coerced into living a lonely and secluded lifestyle, ultimately causing her to crave any and all attention given to her. When Tom began to help Mayella with her everyday chores, it made her feel as if she was in the spotlight. During Mr. Finch’s cross-examination of Mayella, he broaches the subject of her social life, and when he asks her who her friends are, she replies in questioning manner and has no knowledge of the term “friends” (183). Additionally, Bob Ewell’s selfishness drove him to do whatever it takes to leave the lowest class of citizen in Maycomb. However, instead of working for this goal, Bob Ewell took the easy way out, and accused a black man of raping his daughter. In doing so, the upper class white citizens of Maycomb would endorse Bob and his case against Tom Robinson. However, even when Bob accomplished his goal of joining the higher social class in Maycomb, he eventually returned to his usual self. A local citizen and daughter of Atticus Finch, Scout Finch, said “He was the only man I have ever heard of that was fired from the WPA for laziness. I suppose his brief burst of fame brought a briefer burst of industry” (248). His attempts to throw an innocent black man in jail succeeded, however, he ultimately still failed as a
The fictional story, To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee includes an evil character, Bob Ewell. The story takes place in Maycomb, a southern town in Alabama in the 1930s. The Ewell family is among the poorest in Maycomb, and is low on Maycomb’s social hierarchy. The family name is not very reputable. Bob Ewell is a drunken father of the family. In the part two of the book, Tom Robinson, a black man is accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. The social norm of this time was to respect whites, and treat blacks differing. Therefore, it was a sin for Tom to disrespect Mayella. Atticus Finch, a lawyer and respected white man fought for Tom and bravely tried as his lawyer. On trial, there was evidence that Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father beat, and raped her. Bob committed unrightful actions to his daughter,
The way people handle moral dilemmas are often different. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee show various moral dilemmas and how different characters deal with it. Scout chose to be different in handling with her moral dilemma and change for the better while Mayella does not change and does wrong. In an odd way two different women (Miss Maudie and Calprina) show great moral choices in this novel. Both Atticus and Bob Ewell are different people and in their moral dilemmas. As you can see in this novel, there are so many different characters and deal with their moral dilemmas differently