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Examples Of Distrust In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird shows the prejudice creates distrust within community with how Bob Ewell treated the Finch family after Tom Robinson’s trial. This is shown throughout the book, like after the trials Bob Ewell came up to Atticus Finch and spit in his face because he did not agree with Atticus, “Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life” (290). Bob did this because Atticus stood up for Tom Robinson and Bob did not agree with Atticus for doing so. This proves that Atticus, who was a trustworthy lawyer, had become distrusted by members of the community because he stood up against prejudice. Atticus had two children Jem Finch and Jean Louise …show more content…

Some members of the black church in Maycomb were not very accepting of the Finch children when they attended a service, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here” (184). The blacks in the community knew what it was like to not be trusted by another race because of their skin color, they felt as if they were not members of the society which created distrust within their community. Also, the blacks felt like outliers and not really members of their community, they had their own neighborhood and worked odd jobs that did not make much money, this forced them into a belief that they were less of people and did not trust the whites because of this. Tom who was put on trial as a black against a white young lady knew the amount of distrust the community had for him, “Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you’d be scared, too” (261). The fact that Tom knew what was happening in the community to be scared of what someone else did to him proves that the distrust in the community was so immense just because of a color. It is astonishing that a community that preaches love with their Christian faith could be so full of hate and distrust for a group just because they are different than the way they are. Distrust is created within the black community for the white community and vice versa, because of the clear appearance of being

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Leading up to the Civil Rights Movement, the black community was in a constant battle against law enforcement treating them unfair compared to the white community. The Scottsboro Boys and Emmett Till’s cases were one of the many times that the legal system showed to be unfair to blacks. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, the law enforcement and community were very racist against blacks and believed all blacks were criminals. In the story, Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer gets put into a very difficult situation and decides to defend a black man, who went by the name of Tom Robinson.

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the Maycomb court system is totally biased in a discriminatory way. The case of Tom Robinson, if it had not been in this court with its racist jurors, would certainly have not ended the way it did. It only ended the way it did because of peer-pressure, a scared victim being manipulated and believed, and an honest man not. Through her testimony, Mayella Ewell constantly lied.

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In society today there are those that are pushed out of the crowd because of what they look like, how they act, and what others say to be true about them. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that unselfish, kind hearted people can experience prejudice from others. Always wanting to be the better person, Atticus Finch is like the mockingbird when taking the responsibility of defending Tom Robinson, who is a black man. Once Atticus gets the news that he will be defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of rape, he is very stressed until the end of the trial. Harper Lee shows this when she says, “It’s this Tom Robinson case that’s worrying him to death...”

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys that prejudice divides communities and that persecution of innocent people is evil; furthermore; these two minor themes reinforce the major thematic idea that a simple assumption can divide people. When Tom Robinson is put on trial for supposedly raped Mayella Ewell, the racism in Maycomb surfaces and creates conflict. In the novel, a stranger says, “You know what we want,” ‘another man said.’ “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch.”(172). Some drunken men want to harm Tom Robinson for the wrong that he did.

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This image shows how the people in Maycomb based their beliefs, about Thomas Robinson, by his skin color. Most whites who were at the trial, didn’t want to hear anything that Mr. Robinson has to say, because he was black. Since he was black, the whites automatically assumed Mr. Robinson was guilty. Mr. Robinson says he didn’t mean any harm toward Miss. Mayella. “Mr. Finch, I tried.

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Integrity is about being honest and doing what’s morally right; even when no one is watching you for it. The population of people with integrity is getting smaller by the day but the people who still have this trait are the people who make this world a better place. In Harper Lee’s novel To kill A Mockingbird integrity is a common trait which very few people seem to have but for the few people who does obtain this trait are the ones making a positive change towards racism. Atticus Finch is a man of integrity. He is defending Tom Robinson because he knows the man is wrongly convicted.

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According to the Oxford DIctionary, the definition of integrity is “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles”. Obviously having integrity is a good thing, but is it easy to keep with so many bad things and people in the world? The evil within the world would challenge anyone’s morals, making it hard to stay true to them. To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic novel written in the 1930’s, and one of the bigger issues is the prejudice of Maycomb depending on a person’s race, gender, and class. Atticus Finch, the main character’s father, is one of the few in Maycomb with integrity and doesn’t hide it from others.

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Atticus’s willingness to support a black man in court is appalling to many citizens in his town and to many members of his family. However, his two children, Scout and Jem Finch, don’t understand why anyone would be upset by this.

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He is not accepted by some for defending Tom, while others praise his graciousness. Atticus has two kids, Scout and Jem, whom he’d do anything to protect. Throughout the novel, it shows that mockingbirds get shot at, and persecuted, as is Atticus Finch. In this book, To Kill A Mockingbird, the symbolism of the mockingbird is an expression of the character, Atticus Finch, and his

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Self-control is the keys to the kingdom when it comes to creating strong morals in children, and the ability to control oneself can create compassion and prevent prejudice. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Bob Ewell and Atticus each have and teach their kids different degrees of self-control and morals. Bob Ewell takes little care of himself or his children and they all display hostility towards others. In contrast, Atticus Finch teaches his children to be empathetic and understanding of others. Bob Ewell is a poor, drunken outcast of Maycomb and raises several motherless children.

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Intro “Being misunderstood doesn't mean you're the issue sometimes it's the people that misunderstand you with all the issues.” (unknown) Being misunderstood is preventing people from knowing who the person truly is and making them feel all alone and like they are the problem. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the people in Maycomb make inferences on who the misjudged are. In Maycomb, people are judged by their actions, appearances, and what everybody thinks the people have done, but in reality, these false accusations set up a barrier between the misunderstood and everyone else.

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Maycomb refuses to accept Tom Robinson’s innocence and instead uses him as a scapegoat to protect the Ewell’s pride and to justify blaming him for Mayella’s circumstances which preserves Maycomb’s power over the African American community. Maycomb’s inability to believe Tom’s innocence is because his case is a “black man’s word against the Ewells” and “the jury [can’t] possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word” because Maycomb deems ignorant, uneducated white people, like the Ewells, as more respectable, valuable, and trustworthy than black people (88, 108). Tom’s case demonstrates how Maycomb sees African Americans as expendable because of deep-rooted prejudices. Maycomb chooses to condemn a black man to death over damaging Mr. Ewell’s pride. Maycomb attempts to rationalize this verdict with stigmas about black people, falling back on their ingrained prejudices.

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Social prejudice is shown throughout Harper Lee’s award winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee powerfully analyses the theme social prejudice, and its effect on people. Such as how the Social prejudice is discrimination based on your status in society. An example of social prejudice would be the Radley family, which consists of Boo Radley, Nathan Radley and Arthur Radley. As they haven’t been out of their house in years people are lead to believe the rumours.

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Essay In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County. The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.

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The community in the town of Maycomb in To kill a Mockingbird had a big role in killing Tom Robinson and leading to the point where he had to run away from the town because they accused him of having raped a girl named Mayella. He was shamed for being a black person then he was accused of a big crime then the town was very angry about the fact of a white person was raped by a black person. In their society, the black race was shamed on and looked down on for their skin color and they were treated like trash for it. The people of Maycomb accused Tom Robinson of rape, but even with a great lawyer, he was still found guilty of rape. The society they live in looks down on the black community and shame them for everything they do and say.

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