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How Does Harper Lee Use Racial Issues In To Kill A Mockingbird

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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.

The social codes of society make people make unjust decisions that they don’t think much about. After Tom Robinson’s trial, there was a brutal incident where Tom what killed. The text states, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (241) There is so much white-power used in Maycomb the second a Mayella accused Tom for rape, he didn’t have a chance. Throughout the book Harper lee proves how prejudice the town is. Why should white people have an advantage over others? Adding onto that, the passage continues to say that, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of …show more content…

Once again about one month after Tom Robinson's death, his widow wife Helen started her new job given to her by Mr. Link Deas at his store. Later the book goes on saying, “Calpurnia said it was hard on Helen, because she had to walk nearly a mile out of her way to avoid the Ewells, who, according to Helen, “chunked at her” the first time she tried to use the public road. (285) This just shows how a woman that had such a hardship, losing her husband is still abused. Nobody deserves to be treated that way. Especially someone still morning should be treat is the utmost respect and kindness. Why should Helen’s passed have an effect in the present she didn’t do anything

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The verdict of the Tom Robinson case helps shine the light on the morality of the Maycomb community members. The Ewell family are seated on the lowest level of the society statues pyramid and rightly so. Bob Ewell punishes Mayella, his daughter, in a violent manner and blames Tom Robinson for raping her; this is an unethical and dirty accusation. “We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left. We do know in part what Mr. Ewell did:”(Lee 272).

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To Kill a Mockingbird is a story revolving around Atticus Finch and his kid’s Jem and Scout, narrated by a much older Scout. This story was written 1960 but was set in the 1930’s. Since it took place in such a time, The story had a lot of racial inequality and prejudice during that time. The story was fictional but took after the real life occurrences of Harper Lee.

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(100), here, Atticus knows even if everyone knows Tom is innocent and Tom’s opponent is white trash and ignorant, everyone understand that he will suffer racial discrimination and will be labelled guilty no matter the proof. Racial segregation will be the main factor as to why no one will choose a black man’s side over a white’s. No matter how much evidence there is, the mindset on blacks in Maycomb is nearly impossible to discard. “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (276), it is no surprise when Tom tries to escape the prison and dies doing so, because everyone knew there was no hope for him once a white accuses him.

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Racism means hate towards another race and injustice mean unfair treatment, according to learner 's dictionary. In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, an African american lawyer, was helping people get justice for the colored community. Another book similar to Just Mercy is, To Kill a Mockingbird, which made in 1960 was written by Harper Lee. Harper Lee addressed many issues about racial injustice too. Just Mercy was written in 2014,

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To Kill a Mockingbird Essay In Harper Lee’s historical fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee pictures the Finch family in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. The town goes through trials and alarming events, crippled by race and prejudice. The Finch children, Scout and Jem, witness men on trial, stories told, but most of all learn of the “time-honored code of their society” (272). Amid the action, the children's father Atticus is there. He teaches his children that “there’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads” (295), especially around race.

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In 1931, nine Black American teenagers were falsely accused of raping two white women on a train near Scottsboro, Alabama, and were sentenced to death after being put on trial. Although there was an overwhelming amount of evidence that proved the boys’ innocence, they were still sentenced to death. These young teenagers became known as the Scottsboro Boys. This event highlighted the amount of racial injustice that was happening in the 1930s. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells the story of a court case against a young black man who is falsely accused of raping a white woman through the eyes of a young girl, Scout.

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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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Tom Robinson is a black man who is wrongfully convicted of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. This novel goes through Scout's life from when she was 6, till she is 9. She lives in the town of Maycomb Alabama, and lives an innocent life until about halfway through the story, where she begins to ask questions. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout shows the readers that racial inequality creates an unjust society through the African American community, through the people surrounding colored folks, and through Tom Robinson’s Case. The first example of the consequences of racial inequality is the African American community in Maycomb.

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Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.

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Essentially, the root of all problems stems from prejudiced situations, social inequality is created by religious, ethnic and many other forms of discrimination. Social inequality is defined as ‘the existence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social positions or statuses within a group or society’. In To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, specifically, it is created by racism, classism and gender. Inequality factors into the course of the story in very evident ways ultimately causing extreme injustice. Harper Lee’s masterful novel exposes the dark underbelly of society, a society overflowing with hate, narrow mindedness and prejudice.

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“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 30). These are the words of Atticus Finch, the wisest character in the famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. He is a fictional man that embodies human traits that all people should strive to emulate. In the novel; narrated by Atticus’ daughter Jean Louise Finch, more often referred to as Scout; Atticus defends a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white female, Mayella Ewell. The main message of the text is the prominence of racial injustice, specifically in the 1930’s, the era the novel takes place in.

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That’s one part I didn’t like about the book. The stereotypes of the black families of Maycomb. As soon as Bob Ewell turned Tom Robinson in for “raping” his daughter the whole white community believed it because he was black. He was a kind, loving father and husband. But no one bothered to get to know the real him or see past the color of his skin to really know that.

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Effects of Racism “Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics. ”-Alex Haley To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel that is greatly affected by the way others see the world. Scout, a young girl, growing up in Maycomb a place where racism is accepted.

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Racism in America Racism can be defined as a major problem in United States history, and can be dated back to the 1400’s. Racism can be viewed and defined in many ways, but most accurately is seen as the state of characterizing an individual based on his race, and or believing that one race is superior to another (Shah) . Racism is as big of a problem in the USA as anyone can think, starting way back to when the country had just began to form, when Europeans started settling into the 13 original colonies (Shah). Ever since then, it seems that the problem has only been on the rise, rather than the opposite. Racism has always been a major issue, although hundreds of years have passed since the birth of racism, the problem just seems to never go away.

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Racial injustice in To Kill a Mockingbird was malevolent due to the executing of a black man with false evidence, but today the racial injustice appears to be eliminated although it still exists. Today the legal system will not tolerate the racism like it is in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Racism is normal in Maycomb county some support it and others are against, the Finches are high in society, although they still respect the blacks. Racial injustice throughout the book is a big factor with Calpurnia as a maid, And Atticus defending Tom Robinson, but less of a factor for everyday life in modern times.

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