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Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Prejudice and racism are two very bad things. What if there was a way to solve them? Throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird there are quite a few examples of prejudice and racism. They are all solved by one thing, empathy. In the situation of Mrs. Dubose, they hated her but once they understood the struggle she was going through they weren't as mad anymore. As well as their experience with Boo Radley, they made fun of him and were scared of him until Jem realize what Boo had been through and started respecting him. There were also many times that Scout didn't understand what was happening to Jem and disliked him for that it when Atticus tells her to look at things from his point of view she starts to understand. Racism is only slightly different. If people in Maycomb had empathy for Tom Robinson he wouldn't be in jail. All of these things show that empathy is the solution to racism. …show more content…

Dubose. At the end of part one Scout and Jem come across Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose is terrible to them and insults them every chance she gets. After she dies Atticus tells them that she had been trying to get rid of a pain killer addiction. Atticus said she was the bravest person he knew. After Jem learns this he starts to realize what she had been through and she acted the way she did. Empathy helped solve Jem and Scout’s prejudice against Mrs. Dubose because they finally understood her point of view. Scout says she saw him fingering the petals of the flower Mrs. Dubose gave him because he finally felt

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1404 Words | 6 Pages

From Scout’s perspective, she, as well as Jem, view Mrs. Dubose as an irate and racist old woman who frequently calls out insults from her front porch, “Mrs. Dubose would become bored and pick on us: ‘Jeremy Finch, I told you you’d live to regret tearing up my camellias. You regret it now, don’t you?’” (Lee 146). Nonetheless, it is only later in the novel that Mrs. Dubose’s true strength is revealed. The central conflict of the scene occurs through Jem’s punishment, and realization as well as Mrs. Dubose’s inner conflict in her fight against her own morphine addiction.

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1055 Words | 5 Pages

Jem gets in trouble by Mrs. Dubose and is forced to read to her as a consequence; Scout understands her brother’s begrudging behaviour and tries to help by withstanding the punishment with him even though she’s afraid of the old lady, “You don’t have to go with Jem, you know” (Lee 143). Scout understands why Jem was angered by Mrs. Dubose after she insulted their father since she was upset as well and decided to join her brother through his retribution. During the trial, Scout comes to realize how lonely and sad Mayella must be since she has no friends and has not future because of her father’s ways, “...it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world.” (256).

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622 Words | 3 Pages

As he is starting to grow, Jem is changing the way he acts, such as him, visiting Mrs.Dubose’s grave and being “grateful for [Scout’s] company when he read to her [Mrs.Dubose]”. Earlier, when he was small, he disliked Mrs.Dubose because she would insult him and Scout. But it went far to an extent where Mrs.Dubose insulted Atticus for defending an African American, causing Jem to kill her favorite flowers. Atticus made him go to Mrs.Dubose’s house to read to her, every day for a month. Eventually, after a month, Atticus received the news that Mrs.Dubose has died.

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1231 Words | 5 Pages

Many people go through many harsh, different obstacles in life that morph them into the kind of people they are today. In the novel,  To Kill a Mockingbird, the author, Harper Lee uses literary elements to showcase how a child grows into who they are and the contributing factors that may fall into their path and their learning experiences. Lee uses the scene where Jem destroys the flowers of Mrs. Dubose to portray a coming of age moment. He does this because she is racist and constantly nags at them about their father. His punishment is to read to her everyday for a month.

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849 Words | 4 Pages

Eventually, Scout and Jem are informed that Mrs. Dubose has passed away, battling withdrawal symptoms. Atticus, Scout and Jem’s father explains Mrs. Dubose’s circumstances, telling Jem, “...I wanted you to see something about her - I wanted you to see what real courage is... Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I know”

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630 Words | 3 Pages

‘I think that was her way of telling you-everything’s all right now, Jem, everything’s all right,” (Lee 128). Mrs. Dubose presented herself as a bad person to Jem and Scout because of her racism and said harsh things to the kids, which is why Jem thought of the flower as a symbol of torture because he was raised by a “nigger-lover” which is bad in Mrs. Dubose’s eyes. Atticus sees that the flower is Mrs. Dubose’s way of saying that everything is okay between Jem and Mrs. Dubose now because Jem helped her overcome her addiction to morphine. Atticus might think this because even though he had an understanding that Mrs. Dubose was racist and cruel, she didn’t act this way in front of Atticus, and instead acts a different way in front of Atticus. This allows him to see the deeper meaning, for example, she is not brave, and instead she is a coward.

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719 Words | 3 Pages

“In the corner of the room was a brass bed, and in the bed was Mrs. Dubose. I wondered if Jems activities had put her there and for a moment I felt sorry for her.” The reason why Jem and Scout were at Mrs. Dubose’s house, was because Jem and Scout were walking by her house when Dubose started yelling at the kids saying that Atticus is not any better than the “niggers and trash he works for.” Jem lost his temper and takes Scouts baton he bought for her and snaps it in half. Jem destroys all of

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454 Words | 2 Pages

In chapter 11, Jem Finch is in the living room with Scout Finch when Atticus returns from Mrs. Dubose’s house and brings them news of Mrs. Dubose’s death. Atticus gives Jem a box that the old women had left him. Jem opens the box and finds a flower. Jem becomes angry, but Atticus tries to explain to him that the white flower is Mrs. Dubose’s way of saying that there is no bad blood between them. Atticus goes on to praise Mrs. Dubose and how courageous she was for fighting her drug addiction, saying that “‘I wanted you to see what real courage is,...

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691 Words | 3 Pages

To get a true understanding of racism, you need to see all perspectives, but To Kill a Mockingbird doesn’t have this. It had opportunities to show more perspectives, such as when Scout wanted to go to Calpurnia’s house, but this did not happen when Scout was denied by Aunt Alexandra (Source K). The time period and racism were being used to teach lessons instead, such as moral integrity. Atticus’ decision to try to legitimately defend Tom Robinson despite the fact that he knew the case was lost to begin with shows his moral integrity. Atticus’ decision would not have nearly as much weight under different circumstances, and the lesson would not be as effectively

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1059 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout history, people have used racism to discriminate and antagonize others, based on the belief that their own race is superior. They have also come to their own opinions or prejudices based on no reason or actual experience, but rather their individual preconceptions of a person. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. To simplify, it means being able to put yourself into someone else’s shoes. Within the first part of To Kill A Mockingbird, quite a few instances of racism and prejudice arose.

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977 Words | 4 Pages

Social prejudice is shown throughout Harper Lee’s award winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee powerfully analyses the theme social prejudice, and its effect on people. Such as how the Social prejudice is discrimination based on your status in society. An example of social prejudice would be the Radley family, which consists of Boo Radley, Nathan Radley and Arthur Radley. As they haven’t been out of their house in years people are lead to believe the rumours.

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1253 Words | 6 Pages

Cultural norms are what make and shape a society. They are the guidelines, and or patterns, that are to be followed, in order to be considered a normal, typical, everyday citizen. As such, it does not matter if the norms are right or wrong. As long as the citizen is still a part of their society, right and wrong does not matter, as far as they are concerned. In the case of To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the cultural norm, of Maycomb County, embraces the wrong, in the form of extreme prejudice behavior.

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772 Words | 4 Pages

Jem and scout see Mrs. Dubose as a horrible person while Atticus sees her as an amazing lady who had a strong will. “A lady? After all the things she said about you?” Jem says to Atticus (112). Jem is astonished when Atticus could still be so nice to Mrs. Dubose and call her lady after all the bad things she says about Atticus and his children.

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988 Words | 4 Pages

As the novel progresses, it is necessary to change perspective on those accused of crimes in order to deteriorate racial prejudice. By examining the characters in Maycomb, it becomes clear that closed-minded people are the source of prejudice because their opinion is incapable of expanding and understanding the purpose of an individual’s true personality. Early in the story, Atticus teaches Scout about having

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748 Words | 3 Pages

In the 1930s, if a black man was on trial there was a ample chance he would be convicted even if evidence proved he was innocent. Throughout history humans being prejudice and bias have affected the lives of thousands of people; some ending with favorable outcomes while others weren’t so fortunate. Within the book To Kill a Mockingbird the readers learn that prejudice and bias people outnumber the understanding and kind. One decision or in this case twelve decisions decide the fate for an unfortunate man. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee reveals that people often follow their biases and prejudices rather than the truth.

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