The Damage That Comes With Being a Good Man. Prejudice harms those who face it, and it continues to roam the world today like it did a hundred years back. So this begs the question, In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, set in a time where discriminative views were rampant in the South, specifically Alabama, which character is most affected by prejudice? Due to societal dislike and its impact on his family, Atticus Finch is the character most affected by prejudice. Firstly, Atticus receives broad social disapproval from the citizens of Maycomb. To start, people’s perception of Mr. Finch, as a man, begins to decline after he accepts the Tom Robinson case. For example, Ms. Dubose clearly states her mind to Scout and Jem by saying “Your father’s no better than the n*****s he trashes he works for!” -Harper Lee (p.102). …show more content…
Dubose thinks of Atticus, but what the general population thinks of him as well. The white population of Maycomb justifies their racist acts to the black population by saying that they are lesser humans than them, and once Atticus decides to defend a black man in court, they believe that he is a lesser man himself and the societal prestige he once had in the community starts to degrade. Plus, Atticus starts receiving threats from the folk of the town because of what he stands up for. In fact, Bob Ewell goes out of his way to spit on Atticus and swears that his battle with him is not over, because Bob felt that he was disrespected by Atticus in the trial. On the contrary, Atticus never meant to disrespect Bob Ewell in any way and was simply performing his professional duties as a lawyer by defending Tom Robinson in the case. Yet, Bob fails to correctly analyze Atticus’ principles and intentions, therefore, he feels the need to threaten Atticus, putting him in some potential danger from Mr. Ewell. Secondly, the hatred going against Atticus starts affecting his