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How Does Atticus Finch Show Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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There are two different characters with opposing views of Maycomb. Bob and Mayella Ewell. They represent the racism of Maycomb and fight against Atticus and Tom Robinson in court. The Ewell’s are in the lowest social class in Maycomb, and represent the poor. “Mayella and Bob represent moral inequity…Mayella and Bob present a social threat—the perpetuation of racism” (Champion). They are a social threat, and their lack of wealth does not stop them from causing havoc. Bob Ewell accuses Tom Robinson (a black man) of raping his daughter Mayella Ewell. This represents their racism because Tom does not rape Mayella, but Bob disregards black people and attempts to ruin his life. In court Tom is pleading not guilty and giving his side of the story …show more content…

He chooses to defend Tom Robinson in his rape allegation against Bob and Mayella Ewell. Atticus knows long before the trial began that Tom had little to no chance of being proven not guilty because of the town's racism. However this does not stop Atticus from defending Tom, and doing his best to prove him not guilty. Atticus says, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what” (Lee, 112). Atticus accepts a hard trial and realizes that, but he stays persistent and sees it through doing his best to prove Tom Robinson not guilty. Atticus is a direct representation of courage because he is one of the only white citizens in Maycomb who opposes racism and stands up for what is right. “They eventually realize that Atticus possesses not only skill with a rifle, but also moral courage, intelligence, and humor, and they come to regard him as a hero in his own right” (Champion). Atticus’ children Jem and Scout ultimately recognize their dad as a hero after his efforts to prove Tom Robinson not guilty. His actions took a lot of bravery which changed his childrens image of him from a boring feeble father to a courageous hero. Atticus influences his children to get more involved in the community and stick up for the black people that have to deal with the prejudiced

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1677 Words | 7 Pages

Atticus Finch, her father and a lawyer, is defending Tom Robinson a black man who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. This is during the times of segregation and racial discrimination. The novel represents the importance of setting high moral values, as it teaches us that inequity against others often results in the occurrence of social/emotional

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541 Words | 3 Pages

Atticus shows courage by defending Tom Robinson in court and by going so far as to defend his life as he sleeps in a jail cell. Atticus’ motivation for all of this is his wanting for wanting his kids from “Catching Maycomb’s usual disease” (Lee 117) of prejudice and racism, seeing that if he doesn’t take this risk and give it everything he’s got, he can do nothing to keep his children from becoming like the rest of the town. Atticus’ devotion to keep his children with open-minds drives his courage to the point where he puts himself between a mob of Maycomb’s hateful racist folks and the man that he is

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1600 Words | 7 Pages

Atticus not only tells Scout and Jem what real courage is, but shows by defending Tom Robinson. Even though Atticus will probably lose the case, he “sees it though” anyway. Atticus attempts to teach his children the proper way to treat people as well. Atticus says, “cheatin’ a

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762 Words | 4 Pages

In society today there are those that are pushed out of the crowd because of what they look like, how they act, and what others say to be true about them. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that unselfish, kind hearted people can experience prejudice from others. Always wanting to be the better person, Atticus Finch is like the mockingbird when taking the responsibility of defending Tom Robinson, who is a black man. Once Atticus gets the news that he will be defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of rape, he is very stressed until the end of the trial. Harper Lee shows this when she says, “It’s this Tom Robinson case that’s worrying him to death...”

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579 Words | 3 Pages

Atticus shows how caring he is towards not only his children, but to the people of Maycomb in many different ways. He doesn't try to upset his children ever, he doesn't yell at them, or hit them when they misbehave. Instead he sits down and conversates with them. Another way Atticus shows how caring he is, is when he lets the people he defends in court not pay him back in money, but in food. Most of the people in Maycomb are broke and dont have enough money to repay him back for his work, so he takes a different form of payment in hickory seeds or collard greens.

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1031 Words | 5 Pages

Bob Ewell, a poor white man in Maycomb, has a negative impact on the way see Tom. In the 1930s, racism in spread through Maycomb, Alabama and the citizens were not aware of the negativity racism has. Bob Ewell’s racist personality takes over his judgement. This results in making him see Tom Robinson as a bad person, when in reality Tom Robinson is a respectful man that does not want anything to do with racism. Bob Ewell’s racism is negative, it results in

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547 Words | 3 Pages

By always looking out for them like this, the kids understand how to be cautious and take care of each other. Because of Atticus’s constant examples of taking care of each other, the kids learn to do it as

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516 Words | 3 Pages

Atticus honestly tried his best to win the case for Tom, but the town had already made their decision when they first heard of the case. It took incredible courage to defend a black man in the 1930s. He tells Scout “ Simply because we are licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” Atticus also displayed courage when he stood in front of the jail and protected Tom. He knew a mob of drunk countrymen would try to pull something and he was right.

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185 Words | 1 Pages

Atticus shows courage by defending a black man in court in his extremely racist town. Judge Taylor asked Atticus to defend the black man, Tom Robinson who was on trial for his life. The judge knew Atticus would fight for Tom fairly. Atticus accepted this challenge knowing that the citizens of Maycomb may disagree with his decision. He believed every individual was equal and Atticus felt it was his obligation to represent him to the best of his ability.

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641 Words | 3 Pages

They became children who saw the value in all people regardless of skin color or social class status. He was fair. Atticus’ fairness also shows he is a good father because he believes that everyone deserves a

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865 Words | 4 Pages

The children feel it was unfair, but then again they are naïve to the racism. Atticus appears unmoved at the verdict. Atticus, a lawyer at Maycomb, supports Tom Robinson and feels as if he is innocent. Taking on the job to help defend Tom was an act of courage, seeing how everyone else was so opposed to this man because he was black. "It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.

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844 Words | 4 Pages

Bob Ewell accuses Tom of raping his daughter, Mayella, unjustly. Unfortunately, even though the town knows Tom is innocent, he is still said to be guilty only because he is black. In Maycomb the dynamics between whites and blacks are similar to the ones in Baltimore, Maryland, in “Hairspray.” This connection shows that it was not just a made up story about inequality; racism was a real problem in the twentieth century. To Kill a Mockingbird is based in a time thirty years prior to “Hairspray,” but the same problems are

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979 Words | 4 Pages

Up until this trial, Scout and Jem have only partially understood what true courage is. They have not fully understood it until their father Atticus takes on a trial to defend a black man. Atticus tells Scout why he takes on the trial when he explains, “Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess. You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down” (Lee 86-87).

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822 Words | 4 Pages

Nevertheless, Atticus knows that Tom is innocent and that he must fight for him, since no one else will. Atticus 's strong sense of morality and justice motivates him to defend Tom with vigor and determination, giving it all he 's got with one mission in mind. He wants the people of Maycomb town, whether they believe it or not, to hear the truth about Tom, "That boy might go to the chair, but he 's not going till the truth 's told" Furthermore, Atticus showed true bravery when he went against Maycomb, a

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740 Words | 3 Pages

Jem further understood the true meaning of moral courage when he saw Atticus defending Tom Robinson, a black man. Although Atticus was hugely outnumbered and even cornered by Mr Cunningham and some other people, he did not back down from them. Instead, he seemed even more determined to win the case and prove Tom Robinson 's innocence to all of Maycomb County. Almost everyone in Maycomb County had criticised Atticus and his children for taking up the case of defending Tom Robinson and they were even called "nigger lovers" by many. At first, Jem did not understand why his father chose to defend Tom Robinson when he knew that people would whisper and gossip about it and that the possibility of him winning the case was very low.

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