Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Prejudice has existed in many forms around the world for many years, be it in the form of racism, classism, or sexism. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird prejudice can be seen everywhere in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, where the protagonist Scout lives with her brother Jem. The types of prejudice found in Maycomb include: sexism against women, classism against the poor, and racism against colored people. Although prejudice has these many forms, it can be overcome through personal relationships. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the characters of Arthur “Boo" Radley, Mr. Dolphus, and Mrs. Dubose to reveal the novel’s theme of how prejudice can be overcome.

Scout’s neighbor, Arthur Radley, is an outsider who is used

Dolphus. For instance, during Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout’s friend Dill gets upset and they decide to go outside, where they meet Mr. Dolphus who tells Scout “‘Secretly, Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live”’ (200-201). When Scout had first learned of who Mr. Dolphus was, she was taught that he was an alcoholic who had mixed children. This information perpetrated him as evil within her mind. However, after she met and talked with Mr. Dolphus face to face, she forms an acquaintanceship with him. This new relationship helps her realize that he acts the way he does in order to help others rationalize his actions, and she learns that was not the terrible man she thought he was. Furthermore, after Mr. Dolphus finishes speaking, Scout thinks “I had a feeling that I shouldn’t be listening to this sinful man who had mixed children and didn’t care who knew it, but he was fascinating” (201). She had a prejudice against him, as she believed that Mr, Dolphus was a sinful man. However, after they become acquaintances, Scout realizes that he is just a normal guy who goes against the status-quo. Mr. Dolphus was an outside character, because he was a social outcast, and when he became Scout’s acquaintance, he helped her overcome her prejudice against

Dubose. For example, after Scout and Jem learn that Mrs. Dubose, their neighbor, was a morphine addict and had died, Jem asks their father “‘Did she die free”’ (111)? Both Jem and Scout held a prejudice against the older woman, and believed her to be a spiteful woman due to her fractious attitude toward them. However, when Jem destroys her flowers and is forced to read to her as punishment, he grows a reluctant bond with her, and an understanding of her personality. When she died, Jem shows concern about how she died, showing that he has gotten over his prejudice against her. In addition, after Jem received a white camellia from Mrs. Dubose after she died, he throws the box into the fireplace, and afterwards Scout narrates “ He picked up the camellia and when I went off to bed I saw him fingering the wide petals” (112). Jem’s newer understanding about Mrs. Dubose’s situation and the bond created between them helps him overcome his prejudice against her. When Jem is fingers the petals of the flower, the action shows that he grieves for her in his own way. This grief over Mrs. Dubose’s death shows that Jem no longer believed Mrs. Dubose to be such a dreadful person. Mrs. Dubose was an outsider character because she was a hostile morphine addict, and when she forms a bond with Jem, their relationship helps him to overcome his prejudice against