Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Racism and Prejudice are two things that have existed just as long as we have. So in a book written in the 60s about the 30s, racism, and prejudice are something that occurs. But not everyone in To Kill A Mockingbird shows racial prejudice. The youth in the story, Scout, Jem, and Dill all experience growing up in a town full of racism and prejudice and they learn they fall, grow, and they get back up again time after time. To Kill A Mockingbird demonstrates the idea of “As children transition into adulthood from childhood they learn that social inequality is often the result of prejudice and racism.”, by having a town full of racial prejudice and still managing to have people who see the good in people.

In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird,

Days before the trial the book shifts focus to the other townspeople and Atticus that Scout witnesses. . Atticus is set to defend Tom from a violent and angry mob, and Scout aids him in that. Scout unknowingly reminds these racist and prejudiced men of why not to kill an innocent black man, because she sees Jems fear. She doesn't know what is happening but she can sense that bad things are happening. Throughout this whole thing, the children continue to wonder about Boo. Tom Robinson's trial is one of the most prominent examples of Maycomb being racist and prejudiced. Tom's trial is unfairly ruled guilty, which leaves Jem absolutely furious and mad that something like this could happen. It does not fully sink in to her until Tom is killed. When she hears of Tom’s death she finally becomes aware of how bad her town really is. After learning about Tom’s death, Scout finally realizes that this was never going to end well, that Tom was destined to fall prey to this town's racism. At this point it is very obvious that he did not need to be treated the way that he was, they did it just because he could. “Oh yes, the guards called to him to stop. They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. They got him just as he went over the fence. They said if he’d had two good arms he'd have made it, he was moving that fast. Seventeen bullet

Although many things accumulated in Scout’s coming-of-age journey, the town's prejudice against Boo Radley was one of the main things that fueled her journey. One of the only constant things in this book is Scout’s wonder and fear about Boo and the lore surrounding him. At the end of the book, after the children get attacked by Bob Ewell, we learn that Bob Ewell was killed. We find out that the person responsible for the murder was Boo Radley. This changes a lot of what Scout and the readers think about Boo Radley. He has changed from a town lore and a myth to a real person who has an impact on the main characters in the book. “Mr. Finch, there’s just some kind of man you have to shoot before you can say hidy to ’em. Even then, they ain’t worth the bullet it takes to shoot ’em. Ewell ‘as one of ’em.”(Harper Lee Pg 309). At the very end of the story, after the attack and after Scout knows Boo killed Bob Ewell, Scout’s coming-of-age story begins to come to a close. Scout finally realizes that Boo Radley is just another person, living a normal life. Scout finally realizes how everything she thought she knew about Boo was what she had been told by her prejudiced town. “‘When they finally saw him, why hadn't he done any of those things…Atticus, he was really nice…’ His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me. ‘Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.’” Scout realizes