It is the 1930’s in a small town in Alabama, where racism is still very prevalent. Early in life, Jem and Scout learn from their father that, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (39) Eventually, this lesson helps them see past the color of a person’s skin to see what kind of a person they really are, black or white. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee combines prejudice and racism to convey a powerful message. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Despite substantial evidence against Mayella, Tom loses the case and is shot to death. Trials like this one happened all the time in the South at this time period of racial unrest, but what is so special about this one? Atticus Finch, Jem and Scout’s father, is defending Tom. He could have turned it down, knowing he would lose defending a black man. He knows he …show more content…
They don’t climb into black people’s skins to feel or see from their perspective. This strong prejudice makes them racist towards black people. Jem and Scout were raised to have empathy for everyone. Those who weren’t raised like this in the South during this time period were most likely racist. As Atticus says, it is white versus black, not person versus person. At the end of the trial, Atticus points out the fact that Mayella’s father Bob had beat her, not Tom. This enrages him enough to swear revenge on Atticus. When Scout and Jem are walking home, Bob attacks them, breaking Jem’s arm and narrowly missing Scout with a knife. Before he can do any more harm, he falls. He is later found with a knife in him... dead. Boo had come to the rescue, saving Atticus’s children from death. Again, a testament to the good nature of Boo that had never even been considered before due to prejudice against