In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee one of the essential questions is: how do our own personal stereotypes help shape how we experience the world. The stereotypes in this novel had affected the people of Maycomb’s thought process. Stereotyping is the process of generalizing people and broadly categorizing them based on narrow minded observations of characteristics that they have. Most people are stereotyped due to their race, gender, age, unknown identity, or social class.
The Great Depression was the time period in which Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was set and was a time of economic instability and unpredictability (McCabe 12). Lee used many historical events and influences in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In the book, there are direct links to the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the Scottsboro trials. The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws.
Throughout Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," Atticus Finch serves as a model of tolerance. He consistently demonstrates his conviction that others should be treated with empathy and understanding. One of the most prominent examples of Atticus' tolerance is his defense of Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Despite the community's intense racism and prejudice, Atticus maintains his belief in Tom's innocence and fights for his rights in court. This shows his tolerance and acceptance of people of different races and his refusal to be swayed by the prejudices of others.
Stereotyping in To Kill a Mockingbird Which characters in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird experience the most discrimination throughout the story? Many people would say that Tom Robinson is the obvious choice when considering the characters that are most victim to prejudice and stereotyping; however, Scout Finch is repeatedly exposed to preconceptions and biases about her gender. Tom is faced with brutal racism that eventually resulted in his death. While the consequences he suffered due to his race were far more severe than what Scout dealt with, she was still largely susceptible to inequality. Both Scout and Tom were challenged with unreasonable and unfair standards in Harper Lee’s
To Kill a Mockingbird symbol assignment The idea that the characters in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, have a fear of non-conformity show that their prejudice morals affect them in their daily life. My symbol, I have chosen to create a basket of apples, four red and one green. This shows difference in society, how although everyone is human, they all have unique traits. This shows the theme, fear of non-conformity, as many of the characters in the novel act in a way to ensure they are fitting in within society, and not associating with people that they feel do not follow social rules. Examples of this include Aunt Alexandra wanting Scout to dress and act like a young lady, Boo Radley staying inside his house because of what society
Breaking Social Norms In To Kill A Mockingbird In To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, Lee depicts the main character Scout Finch as the primary feminist who defies social norms despite several influences in Maycomb County. Scout displays her feminist qualities throughout several occurrences in the novel. She continues to stay true to herself and fights for how she desires to act, while occasionally experimenting with her femininity.
Harper Lee and Tate Taylor contend that those who do not fit into society are misunderstood and often have different realities. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in 1935 in Maycomb, a Southern American town where everyone attends church and socialises with people within their social hierarchy. However, the Radleys isolate themselves from Maycomb by not going to church and worshipping at home. Furthermore, the Radley’s house doors and shutters are always closed, which is “another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways.” As a result, the Radley’s do not fit into Maycomb societal standards.
While using stereotypes in a literary piece of work can be monotonous, it can be very effectual when getting a point across. Harper Lee accomplishes to get her moral condemnation of prejudice in a precise way by using stereotypes within the story. Lee creates the characters to be judged upon without any knowledge of what is really the truth. Arthur “Boo” Radley is a victim of the stereotype in the story. He is believed to be a crazy monster who should be feared yet his only sins are his lack of communication skills and shyness.
“Don't trade your authenticity for approval” stated an unknown author. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Scout is a young girl who breaks the social norm of wearing proper clothes such as dresses. In the town called Maycomb, the social norms are for whites to separate from African Americans along with women dressing a certain way and men dressing another. Those social norms don’t just exist in Maycom they are also in the real world. Ellen DeGeneres is a woman in the real world who breaks those social norms.
Stereotypes influenced the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird by how Scout and the members of the Maycomb community viewed themselves and others, and impact readers by creating a sense of inferiority around the stereotyped group. The stereotypes in the novel influenced the characters and plot, as members of the Finch family felt the impacts of racial, gender, and behavioral stereotypes from Atticus’ court cause and Scout’s tomboyish behavior. To begin, Atticus stated: “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway
Different stereotypes were discussed in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the stereotype of Arthur Radley, Tom Robinson and Jean Louise Finch. Arthur Radley is stereotyped as cruel when he is kind, Tom Robinson is racially stereotyped as a criminal due to his skin color and Jean Louise Finch is sexually stereotyped. Arthur Radley or Boo Radley was stereotyped as creepy and cruel, though his true personality isn’t that. For example, “As Mr Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.” (Lee, 12)
Atticus tells Scout “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” (p. 39). because he wants her to know that to understand the things Miss Caroline does, Scout must try and look at it from their perspective. Scout does this when she remarks, “She had learned not to hand something to a Cunningham, for one thing, but if Walter and I had put ourselves in her shoes we’d have seen it as an honest mistake on her part.” (p. 40). Atticus is attempting to make Scout realize Miss Caroline won’t know everything about Maycomb in a day.
Judgement is often placed on the people of Maycomb. Generally, the women of Maycomb gossip about the people in the town based on stereotypes. Subsequently, the men in the town then act on the statements that were made by the women. Because of the adults the children often join in the banter, which evidently makes the cycle continue even as they get older. People repeatedly judge others based on stereotypes.
Social divisions are what push the book forward and keep the story going, but in the real world social divisions only keep us still and motionless. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Maycomb, Alabama is split into divisions of people, some believe that each sex should act like they are apart of that gender. Most have similar beliefs about race and how one race is better than the other. Some people do not fit in anywhere because neither social division will accept them do to them being in the middle of two divisions.
Boo Radley had been kept in isolation for so long, he didn’t know how to communicate or socialise properly. He has been misunderstood as a malevolent person, when he actually is a benevolent person. He displays this when he put a blanket around Scout, whilst she and Jem watched the fire. As readers, we are shown social prejudice by the assumptions made about the Radley’s. Another example of social prejudice is the
