Examples Of Ignorance In To Kill A Mockingbird

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Through this statement Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) expresses his fear for the ignorance and stupidity of the people in society, specifically of those in the 1960’s, when this quote was said. During this time, racism and segregation in the U.S was past its zenith and slowly declining. However, it was still extremely present and society had a long way to go until it reached the state of equality that the U.S is in currently. MLK believed that racism spreads through ignorant people who are not educated nor interested in being educated on the wrongfulness of racism and the danger it causes. The more indifferent society is to the prejudice and bigotry that

All due to the fact that the people in Maycomb, the fictional town in which the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird live, are so used to discriminating against Black people that none of them think to question their beliefs, choosing to stay ignorant. A prime example of this is before Tom Robinson’s trial all of Maycomb was rooting against him, hoping that he would be ruled guilty, but no one even considered that he may be innocent. Everyone assumed that since he was Black he must have committed the crime, not taking a minute to learn the facts, or lack thereof, and decide without prejudice whether or not he deserves to be in jail. Even during the trial when all the information was released and every testimony was given, the jury still decided to rule Tom guilty simply because to them, even if it was clear as day that Tom Robinson was innocent, there was no way a Black man had done nothing wrong. Despite Atticus’s attempt to defend Tom in the best possible way he could by stating, “You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men.” (p. 232), the jury still decides to act on their prejudiced

But also like Scout, he was still affected by it in ways that destroyed his innocence. Boo Radley’s father was an ignorant and extremely racist individual, like the majority of the White inhabitants of Maycomb. When Boo was a child he had been running with the wrong crowd and got himself into some trouble with the law. He was put on trial and should have been sent to a juvenile detention center, however, the detention center was not segregated and because his father was so racist he negotiated with the judge and locked Boo in his house for his entire life, causing him to be disconnected from society and lose his innocence due to the unjust ways of his father. Although racism was a primary reasoning for the destruction of Boo Radley's innocence, ignorance still plays a major role. Boo was victim to injustice that was created by the rumors surrounding him about untrue inhumane acts that he’s allegedly done, painting him to be a monster by the town. Many people got their information about him through gossip, the main culprit being Miss Stephanie Crawford, who told Scout and her brother, “Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.” (p. 12). These