Part of the human nature consists of racial judgment towards others. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, presents themes of gender bias, justice, and social class. But one of the main focuses in the book is racism. Most of the people in Maycomb County show racial judgments, opinions, and comments against African American people, as well as white people. Jem and Scout learn the power of racism and what it does to people, as they experience certain situations.
Respect is a hand, calling out, waving, waiting to be picked on to express its views on a topic. People look up to it, and, consequently, admire its nobility and intelligence. The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set during the time of the Great Depression and the Jim Crow laws, when black people and white people did not have the same rights as each other. The book is told from the point of view of Scout, a young girl, and the story is a reminiscence of her childhood. Her father, Atticus, is appointed as the lawyer for the trial of a man named Tom Robinson.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that show the life of a southern state od Alabama during the “black racism” time period, where majority of the people had the mentality that (quote) with the exception of a few. To chosen to portray it from the eyes of Scout Finch, from a child’s point of view. Living in Maycomb, in the midst of a conservative society of the 1930’s and 20’s Southern America Scout Finch is an extra ordinary child.
Introduction • As Atticus once said, “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal” (Lee, 274). • Prejudice should not be present in court to ensure everyone is given an equal chance. • However, this failed to occur in the case of Leo Frank. The jury was unable to rise above social prejudice and see the case with an open mind.
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.
In the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, the author writes about what happens in the small southern town of Maycomb, in Alabama. Lee uses the influence of belief in traditions such as roles and family bonds to show that they are causes of conflict. Throughout the book, roles such as gender, age, race, and family confines characters to act, look, and even speak certain ways, causing internal, external, and family conflicts. This theme that different types of roles and family bonds are the root of conflict is developed through the use of physical setting, anti stereotype, and historical setting
To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age story, through the eyes of Scout, a young girl living in Maycomb County, Alabama. Scout is raised in an odd time in American history when racism and prejudice were routine. Scout was surrounded by people that forced to learn many crucial life lessons and help her mature into a respectable lady. List points Firstly, Atticus taught Scout many important lessons, but most importantly, not to be prejudice, and treat everybody equally. This was extremely important in Scout’s growth as a person because at the time many people were blinded by racism.
After Atticus loses his trial, Jem notices that the Maycomb County justice system is broken and it needs help, “Then it all goes back to the jury, then. We oughta do away with juries. ”(294) This shows that Jem now understands that people are racist in everything and racism needs to be fought. On top of realizing that the justice system is in shambles, Jem realized that Tom Robinson’s case was very good at showing that.
By listing how “some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity than others” and how “some people are born gifted”(Lee 233), Atticus proves to the jury they are not equal to Tom Robinson. He doesn’t want the jurors to convict Tom based on their fear that black men will gain more power. He alludes to their fear of blacks becoming more powerful to reassure this one case isn’t going to change anything. Atticus reassures the men they are only equal because the law reads in “courts all men are created equal”(Lee 233). By establishing this with the jurors, he explains in their court system a black man is equal to a white man and a poor man is equal to a rich man.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a masterful novel that dives into the life of Scout as a child. In the novel, Lee goes into much depth about Scout’s life so that the reader can always keep up with what is happening. When a book is converted into a movie, many things often change no matter what book it is. This remains true for To Kill a Mockingbird between the book and the film. The film is a wonderful work but there were still many things cut out that were in the book. Overall, the film and book share many similarities but there are also many differences between the two
Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard-’...’Now don’t be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man,”’ on page 279 paragraphs 6-7. Harper Lee then continues on page 282 paragraphs 2-3 to write, “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson…’Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty.’” Then, on page 285 paragraph10 it says, “‘They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it-seems that only children weep.’” This all comes together to prove that the children, Jem especially, saw how the verdict should have been and then goes on to suggest that if the jury had been made up of kids the verdict would have been much faster and would have been right because the children would not have been blinded by public opinion. So, the irony of Jem believing Tom Robinson would be free and the belief everyone else had including Atticus that the jury would convict Tom Robinson, shows that adults have come to believe that justice no longer matters, while hypocritically teaching their children that it
During the jury voting, Jem could not believe his eyes, “ Judge Taylor was polling the jury: 'Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty...' I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each "guilty" was a separate stab between them” (278). Watching Atticus try cases for years, he knows in court that justice prevails. He thought for sure that Tom was free, the evidence was crystal clear. He could not see what reasosn the jury had for a guilty verdict, but when the verdict came out as guilty, he was mad because he knew it was a racist verdict from the jury.
Some feel that our courts are safe and true, others would say our courts have various flaws and don’t always fulfill the truth. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is the father to two young children, Scout and Jem, and works as a lawyer as a single father in their small southern town in Alabama during the thirties. Atticus gets handed a case when he has to defend a black man over a white woman. Through the use of racism and symbolism, Atticus’s claim that “out courts are the great levelers, and in our court’s all men are created equal,” is proved to be unsuitable.
Harper Lee and Empathy in “To Kill A Mockingbird” By Tanaka Rwodzi In Harper Lee’s critically acclaimed magnum opus “To Kill A Mockingbird;” Lee emphasizes her view on the importance of empathy through how she depicts empathy in regards to the characters Scout, Tom Robinson, and Atticus. “To Kill A Mockingbird” is a novel shown from the view of Scout, a young girl living in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s, and her and her brothers escapades; mainly their captivation over an elusive local resident who doesn’t leave his house, and the drawn-out process of a court case against a black man, Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of rape. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee emphasizes the importance of empathy to her through how she
This behaviour is deemed as natural, and few people question the roles put in place, this is truly terrifying so we are lead to wonder if what we accept as normal is perhaps corrupt instead. Race is the dominant cause of inequality in To Kill A Mockingbird, thus Maycomb’s views on race heavily influence every aspect of life. Although racial inequality is clearly illustrated in the in the injustice, prejudice, discrimination and antagonism surrounding the Tom Robinson trial, it is also shown more subtly throughout the novel. In Chapter 25 Atticus Finch is quoted disclosing that the corrupt justice system is a direct cause of a racist society. “In our courts, when it 's a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee, 295).