Examples Of Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s book called Strength to Love, he explains how society should combat hate with not hate itself, but instead, with love and nonviolence. He writes, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” With the various forms of discrimination shown in her novel, Harper Lee is suggesting how we live in a society where most people face discrimination.

An evident form of discrimination that To Kill a Mockingbird portrays is racism. While Atticus was having a conversation with Uncle Jack, he is trying to explain how he doesn’t want his children, Jem and Scout, to develop discriminatory thoughts and beliefs that are widespread in Maycomb. “‘I hope and pray I can

When Scout and Jem, the children of Atticus Finch suggest that they befriend Walter Cunningham‒‒a young boy coming from a low-income family‒‒Aunt Alexandra, their aunt, says otherwise. “‘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-what. You’re enough of a problem to your father as it is.’” (Lee, 228) As Aunt Alexandra knows well how much income the Cunninghams make, she is telling Jem and Scout that they shouldn’t befriend or play with Walter. From Aunt Alexandra’s perspective, she believes that even just being near Walter Cunningham will have a bad influence on the children ‒‒ especially Scout, who is considered enough of a “problem” in her eyes. Such assumptions are made right off the bat, and it is because of a strong bias favoring those with a better income. This is considered labeling the less wealthy as people with bad habits and full of trouble, without even knowing anything beyond the surface about them and just following one’s own beliefs ‒‒ some of which can be toxic and discriminatory. As more people start to develop similar behaviors, society becomes separated. Jem shares his perspective with Scout on how society is separated into four kinds of people. “‘There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in

Because of their curiosity about Boo Radley, an infamously mysterious man in their town, the kids try to get a peek into his window. This includes Jem, Scout, and Dill, their friend. Scout ends up protesting against the idea, and Jem tells her that she can just go home and keep her mouth shut. “‘Scout, I’m telling you for the last time, shut your trap or go home ‒‒ I declare to the lord you’re getting more like a girl every day!’” (Lee, 52) Here, Jem implies that being a girl is a rather negative thing. When he says “shut your trap”, he is telling Scout to be quiet — and at the same time, stereotyping females as chatty people. The tone of Jem’s voice conveys the belief that females only hold negative traits and that males are superior or, better. This idea connects to when Scout asks Atticus why people like her and Miss Maudie cannot be on the jury. Atticus explains to her why women cannot be on the jury. “‘I do. I guess it’s to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom’s. Besides,” Atticus grinned, “I doubt if we’d ever get a complete case tried—the ladies’d be interrupting to ask questions.’” (Lee, 188) Atticus describes women as “weak”—that they require protection, especially from sordid cases such as Tom’s. This is implying that women are not capable of standing up for themselves or defending themselves. In society, this is a strong stereotype for females — and the opposite for males. He