To Kill A Mockingbird Racist Language Analysis

The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written in 1960 by Harper Lee in the point of view of a young innocent girl named Scout. One of the main messages that Lee has (need a new word than – indicated or set out) is racism, it plays an important role which strongly impacts many character’s lives unfairly and changes the relationship between two. Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” shows that it is wrong to hurt someone who does no harm to you, for example, black people are innocent but no way did they have as many rights as white people did. Black people lived hard lives because society was judgemental, irrational and most importantly, racist. As Scout and Jem grow older they learn to cope, take responsibility and are introduced to new aspects of life, one of which is racism.

Throughout Go Set A Watchman, Scout exhibits an ambitious and driven personality in comparison to her lack of social graces and naive character in To Kill A Mockingbird. Scout in Go Set A Watchman does what she deems is the right thing to do, even if society doesn’t view it as so. Scout displays this when she visits Calpurnia, her former nanny. During Scout’s visit home from New York, she gets word that Calpurnia’s son, Zeebo, has been accused of striking and murdering a white man while driving.

‘Because—he—is¬—trash, that’s why you can’t play with him. I’ll not have you around him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows-wat.’”(301). Aunt Alexandra hasn’t even met Walter Cunningham yet but is already judging him. She knows that he is a lower “social class” than the Finches and thinks that Walter will be a bad influence on Scout so she forbids Scout from playing with him.

Negroes do not like it in any book or play whatsoever, be the book or play ever so sympathetic in its treatment of the basic problems of the race.” If true, how is Huckleberry Finn an exception? There are many accounts and complaints of white students acquiring foul racist behavior within Huckleberry Finn. One is the case of students racially abusing an African American child’s father after they have learned the novel.

During the book and the movie, whites were trying to get rid blacks like they were nothing. As Atticus states “Mayella has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with. In other words, Mayella is trying to get rid of Tom so it doesn’t make her remember her guilt. Atticus explains that anyone who has a relation with a black in the society is segregated like a black, and because Mayella is already poor, she cannot afford to be more lowered in the society. So she’s trying to get rid of Tom.

Dunny feels at fault for the accident and betraying Mrs. Dempster by not telling her, who threw the snowball. All three works contain betrayal by their friends, such as Ralph telling the group Piggy’s nickname, or when Macduff did not attend scone. In Fifth Business, Dunny is betrayed by Percy with the snowball incident which is physical betrayal towards Mrs. Dempster. Ralph calling Piggy by the name and Macduff not attending scone are examples of emotional and verbal betrayal. In Lord of the Flies, Macbeth and Fifth Business friends betray each other.

The short story that we read by ZZ Packer, entitled “Brownies” discusses racism from the perspective of young African American girls who belong to a Girl Scout troop. The African American troop is separate from the Caucasian troop just like they are in society. The separation has created hatred and dislike by the girls. The African American girls used derogatory words “Wet Chihuahuas” and “Caucasian Chihuahuas and one of them accused the Caucasian troop of using the word “nigger”. This segregation impacted not only the children but also the adults.

A white person was considered to have greater taste and quality, which influenced the assumption that all blacks were immoral beings and not trusted to be around white women. Scout demonstrated a difference in social status between the Cunningham’s and the Finches when she reacted to Walter Cunningham pouring dark syrup over his meat and vegetables. Scout’s brother Jem explained the class division of Maycomb by categorizing the four types of people in the town’s society. In relations to the Jim Crow laws, the people who were ranked from highest to lowest of respect were the Ordinary, Poor, live off the government, and finally at the bottom of degradation were black people. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Maycomb considered the black people to be unsuccessful, African-American, and least respectable as Jem stated, “There’s four kinds of folks in the world.

It isn’t his fault that he is black, but his education shouldn’t be held back from him because of the color of his skin. In To Kill A Mockingbird, it talks about how racial issues affect who you are accepted by. In the book it talks about mixed race kids. It states“‘They don’t belong anywhere. Colored folks won’t have ‘em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ’em

The children at first see him as this scary monster, but after showing them kindness the kids see him as kind hearted, and gentle. Much like a mockingbird; from that they learned just like a book, you can’t judge someone by what you hear, or see. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee gives readers a chance to see how racism in the deep south turned into injustice and leads to the killing of innocent minorities. By a young age many were taught that killing was very bad, and that the killing of the innocent is worst, but other than that this lesson can not be taught. However, the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee captures readers into this 1930’s town that moves you to realize how harsh racism was and how if affects the lives of many innocent people.

Lee doesn’t leave the readers to play the guessing game this time on whether he will walk free or be found guilty. This is racist and discriminatory Maycomb, Alabama. The reader is already told he will not walk free. Scout, like the reader, learns that despite every piece of evidence rendering the raping of Ms. Mayella Ewell an impossible happenstance, life is simply just never

Clearly, this was the human response to discrimination, as they are now fearful of interfacing with whites due to the immense segregation between the two races. The whole scenario of To Kill A Mockingbird integrates the advantages of a white citizen’s living conditions and the unfairness felt by the colored people in the community. However, both demonstrate the lesson that you cannot judge someone by their skin color and race, as it is more about what kind of character is represented through their own actions and

Her teacher was always telling them “Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced. Prejudice,”(245) which shows her teacher is against persecution, then Scout over hears her teacher saying that it is good thing Tom Robinson was convicted because the blacks were getting too “high and mighty”. This meaning it is ok to persecute blacks and that she was contradicting herself. This prompts Scout to be disturbed and think a lot.

Racism in To Kill A Mockingbird In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Racism is one of the core themes found throughout the novel. In 1930, Maycomb, Alabama has the stereotype of being a sleepy town which is populated with desperately poor African Americans. In this novel, the main plot involves the father of the main character, Scout Finch, representing an African American man, Tom Robinson, in court whom is accused of abusing and raping a caucasian girl based off of fabricated charges, especially seeing as he is physically disabled. He is regularly taunted by the white people in town and is followed around and called racial slurs. In this trial, the children are exposed to the harsh reality of racism and stereotyping that were seen in that point in time.

In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author shows that Scout is self-centered through the use of indirect characterization. When Scout brings a tire for Dill, Jem, and her to play with, they start arguing about who will go first and Scout comes out and says “I’m first” (Lee 49). She doesn’t even take what the other two want into consideration. All she cares about is her going first in the tire. While Scout is leaving her classroom at the end of the day, her teacher is crying and she says that “Had her conduct been friendly toward me, I would have felt sorry for her” (Lee 29).