In Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mockingbird, discrimination is constantly present against various members of society. The two major recurring themes in the novel are tolerance and justice; these themes greatly revolve around African Americans and discrimination at the time. Harper Lee even won the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her plain-spoken, yet accurate, depiction of societal views at the time. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in a small town in the Deep South during the time of the Great Depression and is narrated through the eyes of the young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. With this approach, the reader sees Scout’s development, as well as prejudice, through her innocent eyes. Her father, Atticus, always tries to instill the value of fairness in Scout’s mind. He reminds her of this by stating, “You never really …show more content…
until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 39). The first character that receives prejudice is Tom Robinson. This character is tormented because of the color of his skin. Next, there is Arthur “Boo” Radley. There are many fabled stories of the mean and unforgiving “Boo,” and many are told firsthand by Scout. Setting plays a vital role in how each of these characters are taunted. Throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the setting of the Deep South plays a vital role in the discrimination of Tom Robinson and ostracization of Boo Radley. Setting plays a vital role in the development of the plot and the issue of discrimination in a novel. The first aspect of setting that impacts the theme of discrimination is the time period. The novel is set in the 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression. As a result, many of the people are poor. In fact, over twenty-five percent of people are