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Examples Of Stereotypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee she is trying to suggest that the stereotypes related to specific races apply to the whole human race. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem and Scout discover the racism in their town, and discover how it can have major affects on people. In Harper Lee’s novel, there are several examples of white and black people that stick up for or go against stereotypes to show the reader race should not be viewed as a single story.

Black, white, and other people have stereotypes attributed to them, but they can apply to everyone. When Atticus was giving one of his speeches at the courthouse, he demonstrated this, “The truth is some negroes lie, some negroes are immoral, some negro men are not to be trusted around women- black …show more content…

Atticus demonstrates that stereotypes mean nothing, by talking about this to Jem and Scout. "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"(Lee 39). Stereotypes don't tell you anything about someone and you can't judge someone based on them. To understand someone or to be able to judge them you have to learn about them. Creating a single story about a race or person can take whats special about them away. People like Atticus, who fight against stereotypes show the reader that race shouldn't be viewed as a single story. When Atticus is at the trial giving his final statement, Harper Lee shows this to the reader by saying...“We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe- some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they're born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others, some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men”(Lee 274). If you stereotype someone or create a single story about them, then what makes them special is taken away. The stereotype becomes the person, and devalues him or her. Therefore, Atticus is trying show that everyone is special in there own way so a single story isnt created. This shows the reader that people like Atticus know what

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