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What are some examples of prejudice in to kill a mockingbird
What are some examples of prejudice in to kill a mockingbird
Incidents of prejudice in the book to kill a mockingbird
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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.
Throughout these five chapters surrounding Tom Robinson’s trial, it is apparent that the characters are victims of prejudice due to Maycomb’s race relations. Harper Lee introduces three characters that drives the main plot of To Kill a Mockingbird: Tom Robinson, Mayella Ewell, and Bob Ewell. Atticus Finch and Homer Gilmer pursued questions regarding the witnesses’ lives that are relevant to what occurred during the said incident. The questioning covered important points such as Bob Ewell being left-handed, Mayella’s inconclusive testimonies, and Tom Robinson’s reason for running away. It also included Mayella Ewell’s personal suffering that is caused by the known prejudice: “She was as sad, I thought as what Jem called a mixed child:
Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible” by Maya Angelou. When racism, sexism, and classism exist in society people are harmed by prejudice. In “to kill a Mockingbird” Harper Lee shows how education, family values, and independent thoughts can overcome those obstacles. “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences” by Audre Lorde in Our Dead Behind Us: Poems.
In the novel ¨To Kill A Mockingbird, the author belives that people show the evils prejudice. One example from ,To Kill A Mockingbird¨that proves this is when at the beginning of the novel when scout tells us her original thoughts of Boo Radley. The text states¨Boo was about six and a half feet tall judging from his tracks: he dined on raw squirrels and any catshe could catch¨.(Lee, p.13).This supports the theme because the children have a preconecved prejudiced notion about Boo because of the stories they have heard. According to¨Too Kill A Mockingbird¨,after Mr. Gilmor cross examines Tom Robinson, Dill runs our of the court crying because he does not like the way Mr.Gilmor treated Tom.
To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAMB) was written by Harper Lee in 1960 taking place in 1930s Maycomb County, Alabama. TKAMB is a recount of Lee (Scout)’s childhood, during which her father (Atticus) defended Tom Robinson who was charged with raping Mayella Ewell. Other characters include Calpurnia (their colored housekeeper) and Jem (Scout’s brother). As a result, TKAMB runs deep with gender, racial and social prejudices. These prejudices surrounded the people of Maycomb every day and influenced their outlook of the world, thus giving them such wayward views on the world.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a novel about two siblings, Scout and Jem Finch growing up in Maycomb County, a very prejudice town in the 1930’s. In the beginning of the novel, the children soon become interested in the stories of their neighbor, “Boo” Radley. Boo has been locked in his house his whole life, so the children start to believe the stories of how scary and dangerous he is. Soon after, Boo starts to leave Jem and Scout gifts in an old tree when Atticus, their father, gets assigned to defend a black man. As the trial was coming up, Atticus had to prepare to prove that the black man, Tom Robinson, didn't rape a white woman.
Prejudice causes problems for communities. Great examples of prejudice causing trouble for communities are in To Kill a Mockingbird. Everyone in the small town of Maycomb describes Boo Radley as an awful human being but n one has actually met him. When Scout wanted to know what Boo was like, she soon found out: “Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a half feet tall judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained-if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time (Lee 16).
Hate and Prejudice May Waters “When you really know somebody you can’t hate them. Or maybe it’s just that you can’t really know them until you stop hating them,” said Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead. People are hateful because they are prejudiced. That is shown in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Merchant of Venice, and the Holocaust.
Overcoming Prejudice Prejudice is like a nimbostratus cloud. It blocks the light of thinking with an open and impartial mind. However, through experiences someone can overcome prejudice and see the world through a new, benign light. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, prejudice is deeply rooted in the county of Maycomb.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee shows social, gender and racial prejudice. We see prejudice when Scout says “He ain’t company, Cal, he's just a Cunningham.”(Lee, 1960, p33). This is an example of social prejudice because Scout thinks that since Walter’s family is poorer than her’s that he’s not worthy to be called company. Another example of prejudice is “ I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that's why other people hated them.” (Lee, 1960, 54) This quote is an example of gender prejudice because Jem is saying that girls imagine things too much and that's why no one likes them.
The child is innocent and curious, fluid and thinking, rash and developing. Therefore as time goes on, a child will take on the opinions of others. Throughout To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, the children of the story, Scout, Jem, Francis, and Dill, are faced with an environment of prejudice towards others. The people of this environment spread their beliefs and change the children’s minds time and time again. Their views are molded by the people who interact with them causing their innocence and perspectives to be in constant flux.
Prejudice is the intellectual or moral bias of a race and/or group of people based upon strict opinions. It is treating someone harshly based upon a person’s overall opinion on that race. Prejudice is usually based upon stereotypes of the victimized group that others may attach to them, being true or untrue. Prejudice has been seen throughout the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee whether it was against the African-American population or perpetrated against white folks in Maycomb by blacks. Prejudice is seen throughout the novel to be wrong as certain characters in the novel are shown to be against their group's stereotypes, whether it is blacks such as Tom Robinson or n white folks such as Atticus Finch or Dolphus Raymond.
Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, reveals the truth that people do not always act respectably towards the good, but instead treat innocent people negatively because of prejudice. In the novel, a peacemaker who does not intentionally wish to inflict harm upon others symbolizes a mockingbird. On the other hand, a mad dog is someone considered as a threat to the community. Conflict should be prevented by changing one’s perspective but continually arises when mad dogs irrationally attack innocent mockingbirds.
The Penalties Of Prejudice ― Michael Crichton, said ““Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.” This quote is a very good baseline for a lot of the events that occur in Harper Lees ``To Kill A Mockingbird”. It states how by allowing these acts of injustice to occur you are making a choice to side with oppression.
“If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.” (Justice Henry Brown of Michigan) This sentence was the stated reason on why separate but equal was confirmed as constitutional. This verdict, especially where it states, “If one race is inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.”
