ipl-logo

Historical Events In To Kill A Mockingbird

627 Words3 Pages

Historical Paper
The first historical event that influenced To Kill A Mockingbird was the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws perpetuated segregation. The Jim Crow laws were very appalling (Pilgrim). The Jim Crow laws were put in place to make blacks feel less important than whites (Pilgrim). One law stated that if a black and white were both driving and they come together at an intersection then the white would always have the right away (Pilgrim). There were many reasons for the laws. One reason was because Christian ministers taught people that Whites were better than Blacks in God’s eyes (Pilgrim). Another reason was to make Blacks feel inferior to the Whites (Pilgrim). There were a lot of ways to punish people who didn’t follow the laws. …show more content…

The idea of mob mentality is complex. Mob mentality happens when a group gets together. The mob can be defined as chaotic (Edmonds). To express this idea, Edmonds states that mobs could be defined as destructive. There are many different reasons for why people act differently in mobs. I think one reason is because people don’t want to be an outlier in the group of people (Smith). Another reason is because people think they won’t get the same consequences when they are with other people instead of being by themselves (Smith). There are many different behaviors and examples of mob mentality. One behavior of mob mentality could be a group of people running in one direction (Smith). An example of mob mentality is when you see a restaurant with a long line, so you go to the restaurant because you think they are serving good food. Mob mentality can be seen in To Kill A Mockingbird in many ways. For instance, Smith states that a mob tends to follow one central person. Mob mentality shows up in To Kill A Mockingbird when the mob left because Mr. Cunningham told them to go home (Lee 205). Not only did mob mentality influence To Kill A Mockingbird, so did the Scottsboro

Show More
Related
167 Words | 1 Pages

One example of mob mentality in the book would be the jail scene(Lee 205). In this scene Atticus goes to the jail to guard Tom Robinson, and Scout and Jem follow him. Farmers and townspeople show up later to try and take Tom and kill him but as soon as things get bad Scout and Jem run into the crowd. As the argument gets heated Scout pics out Mr. Cunningham and tries to talk to him, but he ignores her.

Read More
2091 Words | 9 Pages

Despite differences in setting and time period, the conflicts impacting the adolescent characters in To Kill A Mockingbird connects to the effect of mob mentality on teenagers in modern society. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel told from the perspective of a young girl, Scout Finch, in Alabama in the 1940s. Scout grows to see her small town in a new light as they go through a very important trial. Mob mentality, also known as herd mentality, can be seen through the actions of multiple characters throughout the book. Mob mentality refers to when a person's thinking is mostly influenced by their peers and based on emotions rather than logic.

Read More
225 Words | 1 Pages

Mob Mentality is a theme seen regularly in the book, “We’re Not From Here.” Mob mentality is when several people all act together on emotions rather than logic. It is commonly seen when the Zhuri gather together in swarms to attack Lan’s family. According to Psychology Today, one of the causes of mob mentality in groups is due to emotions and deindividuation. Most times when the Zhuri formed swarms, they were angry about the humans.

Read More
1019 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the first influence is on the Jim Crow laws. There were many laws that the black people were required to follow. The Jim Crow laws were a way of life back then for Black and White people. In the article Jim Crow laws they stated that “Many Christian ministers and

Read More
788 Words | 4 Pages

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee contains various examples of racism and prejudice throughout the novel. The story takes place in the 1930's, a period when racism was a part of everyday life. Prejudice and racism in this book are represented by acts of hate towards others because of the color of their skin. In this novel, prejudice and racism was dominantly pointed towards blacks. Acts of racism can be discreet to the point that you can easily miss them.

Read More
1425 Words | 6 Pages

Unaware victims are the most dangerous type, especially when the crowd consists of mostly these people. Sometimes, it can be easier for someone to grasp onto one idea and stick with it firmly no matter what they learn, and to let others form opinions for them. This doesn’t require much thinking, which some are not very skilled in. These people are often outspoken in the group and like to claim authority. An example of this type of groupthink in

Read More
519 Words | 3 Pages

In this world, some people already know what mob mentality is, but some people don’t know what it is, so now I will tell them what is mob mentality. Mob mentality is when people get influence from a group and turn that people to violent. In a large group, people who have mob mentality usually have the same behavior and characteristic as another. Mob mentality makes people feels aggressive which means crazy and chaotic which means confuse in a group. Other people also use herd behavior and herd mentality to tell their similarity behavior.

Read More
665 Words | 3 Pages

More than 20 people were executed during the Salem Witch Trials between 1692 and 1693. The play The Crucibles written by Arthur Miller a historical fiction piece based on the Salem Witch Trials. The play shows the struggles of a small town with a big controversy with mob mentality and justice themes throughout the play. Mob Mentality or otherwise called Cult Mentality which is describing humans that have been influenced by their peers around them and move together as a whole or “herd”, they adopt such behaviors from the others apart of their group. Mob Mentality is shown in multiple parts of The Crucibles examples are when the girls are all dancing together in the woods taking part in the so called ritual which happens to be very much out

Read More
1432 Words | 6 Pages

The issue of mob mentality happens frequently as people depend too much on one another and easily get influenced by what the majority of the people think and decide. The internal or hidden pressure among the group is another factor that leads to why people follow the majority. As everyone started to change when “All at once the crowd swayed towards the island and were gone-following Jack. Even the tiny kids went and did their best among the leaves and broken branches” (Golding 38). Once Jack had become a stubborn dictator, one by one people started to follow him.

Read More
710 Words | 3 Pages

How did the time period of the novel (30’s) affect how black people were treated? One of the main themes in To Kill a Mockingbird is racial discrimination. Examples of racism and prejudice against black people can be seen throughout the novel. There are several reasons as to why people segregate dark people and they are mostly the important events happening in the 30’s. The time period of which the book was written is the 1930’s

Read More
1535 Words | 7 Pages

Group think According to Janis, who coined the term; groupthink “occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment” (1972, p. 9) further group think often leads to a decrease in the mental efficacy perception of reality and moral judgement, as personages find themselves in a group system that seeks high cohesion and unanimity which delimits the motivation of the individual to realistically appraise alternate courses of action (Janis, 1972). A common trait of a collective experiencing this phenomenon, is an inclination to take irrational decision making in addition to members of the group being similar in background and further being insulated from external insight. Comparably the singularity of groupthink is present in the film 12 Angry Men, and appears anecdotally, early on the film, present in the expected unanimous vote of ‘guilty,’ that will send the defendant to the electric chair. Invulnerability Literature surrounding the concept of group think is greatly rooted in the writings of Janis.

Read More
1150 Words | 5 Pages

Psychologist Irving Janis explained some alarmingly bad decisions made by governments and businesses coined the term "groupthink”, which he called "fiascoes.” He was particularly drawn to situations where group pressure seemed to result in a fundamental failure to think. Therefore, Janis further analyzed that it is a quick and easy way to refer to a mode of thinking people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members ' striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action. According to Janis, groupthink is referred as the psychological drive for consensus at any cost that suppresses disagreement and prevents the appraisal of alternatives in cohesive decision-making groups.

Read More
1560 Words | 7 Pages

Mob mentality was used when an individual follows a group/mob in order to fit in. "Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home-I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day! With that, I had no option but to join them" (Lee 52). In this passage Scout had two options. She could join the mob and follow them, or she could go home alone.

Read More
803 Words | 4 Pages

To Kill A Mockingbird is influential in American culture through its portrayal of themes of prejudice, racism and innocence.

Read More
1128 Words | 5 Pages

Although the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, took place in the 1930s, it ties closely into the Civil Rights Movement. This novel displayed the obvious superiority whites had over blacks. It took place during a time when colored people faced discrimination, prejudice, and racism. When the book was published in the 1960s, it made whites furious, resulting in a lot of controversy. Harper Lee had a goal when writing, she wanted to show the relation between actual events that happened during the civil rights and incorporate it into her own novel to show how cruel colored people were treated, specifically when whites accused blacks of doing sinful acts.

Read More

More about Historical Events In To Kill A Mockingbird

Related Topics

Open Document