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How Does Harper Lee Use Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, teaches about the prejudices people faced in the 1930s. Some of the different prejudices Harper Lee mentioned in the book were racism, sexism, and classism. The book teaches the reader about these topics through the different characters in the story. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee highlights the ways people were treated throughout the 1930s based on their race, gender, or social status. Racism is the main focus of To Kill A Mockingbird. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee teaches the reader about how people are treated based on their race through the different characters. Over time, she shows how most people are racist or are desensitized to racism.. A great example of this is Scout, the main
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471 Words | 2 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Witch Hunt by Marc Aronson, prejudice is rampant. It has many forms, it can be easily seen, but yet it is rarely noticed. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus hopes that he “can get Jem and Scout through [the trial] without bitterness, and without catching Maycomb’s usual disease [racial prejudice],” similar to the Salem Witch Trials and that “Tituba’s appearance and heritage probably were not what influenced the girls [to accuse people of witchcraft and act strangely], the fact that she was Indian was enough.” Atticus explains that during the trial of Tom Robinson, racial prejudice is going to become very apparent to Jem and Scout. He doesn't want his children to go down a path of biased views of people

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935 Words | 4 Pages

It’s an awful feeling knowing that no matter how hard you work, you’ll never earn as much money as your white counterpart. Sadly, this has been the case for hundreds of years for African Americans living in the United States. To Kill a Mockingbird reveals the everyday struggles that African Americans endured during the 1930’s. Many of the events in the novel were based on the author, Harper Lee’s life. Just like Atticus, Lee’s father was also a lawyer.

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513 Words | 3 Pages

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee changed the way our society perceives minorities. To Kill a Mockingbird unveiled the idea of good and evil being present in the same person. Lee revealed that it’s the person’s ability to choose right from wrong, and good from evil. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about a single father raising a son and daughter in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, around the time of the Great Depression. Atticus decides to take a case that opens the eyes of the people who live in Maycomb.

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1012 Words | 5 Pages

'To Kill a Mockingbird' reflects the prejudice attitudes which are often influenced through the domination of injustices and intolerance within society, which is further reinforced during the 1930s and the period of the Great Depression. Lee conveys racial prejudice through the narrative voice of Scout and the characteristics of Atticus, exemplifying that societies prejudice and intolerances reflect the disfigurement of the justice system. During the novel, Scouts naivety and innocent voice whilst overlooking the trial, showcases the vast amount of courage Atticus withholds through his willingness to defend Tom Robinson. "I'm simply defending a Negro- his names Tom Robinson" The use of "simply", demonstrates Atticus's moral character despite

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1231 Words | 5 Pages

The melting pot is a failed value of american society, broken by racial segregation. Race-related discrimination hit especially hard in the south during the 1930s. Coloured people were considered insignificant to their privileged peers and nearly all whites accepted this unfair treatment. Published in 1960, Harper Lee’s american novel To Kill a Mockingbird implements bigotry through the use of the metaphor and symbolism regarding mockingbirds ; a bird representing innocence. Throughout the plot, characters such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley reveal themselves to be mockingbirds as they are victimized by the town of Maycomb despite their harmless nature.

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520 Words | 3 Pages

(Lee, 224) In conclusion, throughout her book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows us how life really was at that time. Racism was causing people to think badly of others that were different from them. She experienced segregation that divided people. She also showed us that we can overcome these things by including a character like Atticus.

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930 Words | 4 Pages

Rosa Parks once said, “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome”. Many instances within the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” relate to the topic of racism and how it is introduced to children. During the Great Depression, there was an excess amount of stigma that people of color were inferior to white people. This racism in the time period seems to have inspired Harper Lee to write a novel which encompasses this topic.

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757 Words | 4 Pages

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the story of a small town named Maycomb Located in Alabama, highlighting the adventures of the finch children and many other people in the small town. The people in this town are very judgemental and of each other and it often leads to people being labeled with stereotypes and people think they know everything about that person however that is not reality. It is not possible to know the reality of a person 's life by placing a stereotype without seeing it through their own eyes and experiencing the things they experience. This happens often throughout the story with many people in the town. People are labeled as many things such a “monster” a “nigger” and many other things that seem to put them in their

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520 Words | 3 Pages

Think to yourself have you ever been treated a way purely based only the color of your skin? In the book, To KIll A Mockingbird by Harper Lee there are many scenarios involving racial issues. In the injustice world of Maycomb made up of a majority of white people and some blacks. The book follows the lives of Atticus, Jem and Scout Finch a white not racist family, that goes through some tough times. Lee teaches her reader that racism causes people to make unjust decisions because they see blacks as half a human.

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436 Words | 2 Pages

98,395,597….that is how many more whites there were in America than African-Americans - almost 9 times more white people than colored people. Society in the 1930’s was on the verge of crumbling due to the Great Depression, but also because Americans divided themselves by race. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird demonstrates the reach and impact of racism and discrimination in America through the eyes of Maycomb, Alabama. People were discriminated against simply because of the color of their skin.

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1405 Words | 6 Pages

Innocence is a time in one’s life of carefreeness and peace. In youth, children have yet to experience the harsh realities of life, and when they do, it is often hard to cope with. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays Maycomb’s prejudiced ways through an unfair trial of an innocent man, and through the treatment of certain members of the community. The young narrator, Scout, and her older brother, Jem, experience growth and learn compassion when the trial exacerbates Maycomb’s intense intolerance. In this novel, Lee uses the characterization of the Finch children to demonstrate that innocent children who have been exposed to their community’s prejudice, often have trouble adjusting, but need a mentor figure to help them mature.

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1146 Words | 5 Pages

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells a story of racial prejudice during the Depression and how it is combated. The main development in the novel is that a Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, has been appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young white woman named Mayella. Many people in the town of Maycomb, particularly people involved with the case of Tom, have a negative attitude towards African Americans. Prejudice was a terrible issue in the South during the Depression, but Atticus Finch shows that racial injustice can be combated in two main ways, each having different levels of effectiveness.

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2565 Words | 11 Pages

“Prejudice: To Kill a Mockingbird” Why do we judge strangers so harshly? Why is it that, when we walk down the street, we look and treat ‘odd’ people differently? Instead of giving the homeless person a wide berth when he flashes you a hopeful smile, why not return the smile, just as you would for anyone else? In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the townsfolk of Maycomb treat ‘odd’ people and African Americans with no respect or kindness.

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634 Words | 3 Pages

Prejudice is something that was used to keep people down and in this novel we are shown how it looks and affects people. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a lot of racial prejudice present. The people of Maycomb County make it well known that they do not like black people and people who aren’t well off. Although prejudice isn’t limited to racial prejudice, there are other types of prejudice that include religion and gender. The novel makes it evident that they are trying to discuss racial prejudice while also talking about prejudice against those who don’t have a lot of money.

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689 Words | 3 Pages

“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible” (Maya Angelou). The famous American author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou tells the world that prejudice prevents people from treating each other as equals. Angelou’s words hold true in the Pre-Civil Rights South, where people are heavily prejudiced towards black people. Harper Lee’s literary classic To Kill a Mockingbird illustrates the grave consequences of prejudice, and its effect on the relationships between the residents of Maycomb, Alabama. In the Pre-Civil Rights South, relationships are structured based on a social hierarchy that is skewed in favor of whites, illustrating that one’s prejudice leads to intolerance of others.

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