How Does Lee Present Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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.

The mockingbird’s symbolism echoes a strong message throughout Lee’s novel, thus holding

According to the children, Boo had “ (...) a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time”(Lee, 16). He is a recluse who never sets foot outside his house. Since Arthur does not follow the standards of the town , the people of Maycomb taunt him .His sweet and gentle nature contrasts the way in which he is treated as a member of the Maycomb community since the town bombards him with false assumption further developing the idea of an urban legend. “Boo”, a nickname given to him by the town , creates a scary , mysterious character in the children’s lives.Lee utilizes Boo’s name to represents the town’s fear of all things unknown.Through the given nickname, Lee shows how badly he is treated by the discriminatory town members. As a result of morbid curiosity and the adaptation of the town’s point of view, the children continue to further antagonize Arthur Radley based off factless accusations; they want to see him, not as their neighbor, but as a monster.Despite the negativity he faces, Arthur still persisted at reaching out to people, most notably the children.Regardless that the children saw him as a game to play, he never taunts back. Instead, he communicates by providing gifts, such as little dolls carved in soap and gum in a knot-hole of a tree for them to find (Lee 80). Furthermore,

He was being accused of raping a white women . It is essentially a death sentence from him since it was ingrained in the constitution that "when it's a white man's word over the black man's word, the white always wins"(Lee, 295). Lee insinuates that in Maycomb's society , there is no such thing as justice when race is involved. The town was blinded by their racial prejudice and judged him based on his skin colour.Even though Atticus clearly presents the accused as innocent , the public and the jurors merely see Tom as a black man ;making his skin enough of a reason to condemn him to death . They cannot fathom the idea black man could possibly win against a white women . The Maycomb folks go as far as to attempt to lynch Tom for entertainment as it the custom to lynch an African American man accused of raping a white woman.As a result of being discriminated against and being a good man he is considered to be a mockingbird. Lee characterization of Tom as a mockingbird is highlighted during the encounter with Mayella .When confronted with Mayella ,Tom does not make any effort to physically push her away for her approaches, but rather chooses to flee and not harming Mayella in any way (Lee, 260). He was a noble caring person who was concerned for Mayella Ewell despite her being a white women.However , his struggle to prove his innocence was futile, Tom had no