Theme Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

The story of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a classic part of American Literature that explores the different aspects of prejudice and integration. There are multiple scenes in both the novel and movie that show this separation between races, because these actions were common at this time in the 1930’s. Some examples of segregation in the story include the separated courtroom, the housekeeper Calpurnia in the back of the car, and the outcome of Tom Robinson’s case. One example of segregation is the separation in the courtroom. During Tom Robinson’s trial, the courtroom was very clearly divided between whites and blacks. The white community all sat down below in front of the judge and jury, and the black community had to all sit together in the balcony. Additionally, the black people had to wait for all of the whites to enter the courtroom before they could go upstairs.

Although the seating is set up like this, the children sit up in the balcony with the black community. They came into the courtroom late and found that there were no more seats downstairs, so they ended up sitting with the black people. Symbolically, this shows how the Finch family saw everyone as equals, no matter the color of their skin. From a young age, they understood how important it was to ignore the segregation rules, and to treat black people with the same respect and fairness as white people. Another example of segregation in To Kill a Mockingbird is Calpurnia’s seating in Atticus’ car.