How Did Harper Lee Succeed In To Kill A Mockingbird

One step Forward, Two steps Back.

When most people think of intense racism, they think of the horrible ways people of color were treated many years ago. Unfortunately, many people think racism is a thing of the past, when this is, in fact, false. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, racism is shown as common practice to many and a monstrosity to very few. Unfortunately, in the small town of Maycomb County, racism wins out as an African American man named Tom Robinson is falsely accused of raping a woman and is sentenced to death. This may now seem like an anomaly, but this is in fact something that happens in the present day. Which is why it was intentional, that Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates the theme: Progress-real

She noticed something wrong with society, and wrote about it, hoping to improve it. In many ways, she did succeed. There has been a significant decrease in unfair and all white jury trials as of recent years, and there have been more and more and more people who spoke up against the evils of racism. In the article, Don’t Bury Black History’s Horrors, Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, refused to have a closed coffin funeral for her son. She stated, “I wanted the world to see what I had seen… I wanted the world to see what had happened in Mississippi. I wanted the world to see what had happened in America.” There have been many people who fought against racism in their own way throughout history: Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, etc. But a run of the mill mother, who spoke out because she lost her son to the horrors of discrimination, in a way speaks the loudest. As long as the world has people like her to speak out against an injustice, there is little possibility that the world will convert back to it’s unfair and segregating state. However, in many ways, Harper Lee failed. There are still many examples of racism long after her book was written. In the article, The Need for Change, it states, “In 1957 the town of Tuskegee gerrymandered black residents outside the city limits to make them ineligible to vote.” While it is obvious that Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, made a giant impact on today’s society, recent history says that it didn’t make enough of one. Despite everything so many inspirational people have said and done throughout history, society continues to display blatant and hidden examples of racism and discrimination. It is highly controversial whether or not Harper Lee achieved her goal when writing her novel, with valid arguments on either side. Unfortunately, that fact that any form of racism