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How Does Lee Present The Change In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Racist ideas and statements have been heavily suppressed throughout the time since the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was set. Even though these ideals have not been fully suppressed, change is seen and made by colored people all around. In To Kill a Mockingbird, society promoted racist thinking, while today an abundance of people are changing these thoughts into inclusive ones. In the time of To Kill a Mockingbird, racist thoughts and words were used by children and parents constantly. An excellent example of this is when Scout and Jem see their cousin after Atticus has taken the defending side of the Tom Robinson case. Due to this Atticus’ mother tells Francis, “‘It’s bad enough he lets you run all wild, but now that he’s turned …show more content…

A similar example would be when the children on the playground started to make fun of Jem and Scout because of their father's beliefs. Scout stated in chapter 9 that “Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended the niggers.” (Lee 99). This quote shares how much children use racial slurs that they most likely learned from their parents. Because of Scout and Jem’s father’s association with a black man, they are facing backlash. Parents and adults back then would teach their kids not to accept people of different ethnicities, statuses, or the people associated with them. The use of racial slurs was promoted frequently by adults and children. The setting of the 21st century has caused my ideals and beliefs to be much different than those of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. Unlike the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird, the use of the n-word is heavily frowned upon and promoted much less. This does not mean the word isn’t still used, but the frequency has been heavily …show more content…

The use of this slur is clearly not and should not be tolerated, especially by a school employee. The firing of this teacher supports the idea that racist ideas are changing in a positive light and shows that our world is no longer tolerated this behavior. The decrease in this word is thanks to many organizations and people who have raised awareness about the hurt this word causes. One organization that has contributed to this world enlightenment is the NFL. According to The Washington Post, “the National Football League this year instructed game officials to penalize players who used the word on the field of play.” The Washington Post reports. This quote represents just one way the world contributes to this movement. By implementing this rule, the NFL is stopping its use in one of the biggest leagues in the world. Because of this, a new, more inclusive world is much closer. In today's setting, racist thinking has been abundantly and positively changed since the time To Kill a Mockingbird was

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“Are you a nigger-lover?” “I certainly am. I do my best to love everyone … I’m hard put, sometimes-baby, it’s never an insult to be called what someone thinks is a bad name.” This is just one of the APL; Atticus Power Lines, that take your breath away in Harper Lee’s prodigious novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, in this novel Jem and Scout are growing up in a time where people are tremendously racist.

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In Harper Lee's revealing novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the opinion that most Caucasians have toward African-Americans plays an important, interesting, and disturbing role in the development of the story. Although every nation has experienced some sort of hardship or injustice, the fact that racial tensions and problems existed in a highly destructive manner less than a hundred years ago disturbs me. In the selection, a young school-boy, Cecil Jacobs, attacks the protagonist Scout; he states that Scout’s father “[is] a disgrace” because he defends an African man in court (Lee 76). In addition, Cecil uses the n-word in front of other children at school as if its usage strengthened his argument. Along with the rest of the novel, this section shows the positive change that can happen in a mere century if people realize their mistakes and work to amend them.

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972 Words | 4 Pages

A part of the book where there is racism in the book was when they were at the finch's property and scout was mad that Francis was calling Atticus an n-word lover. " Scout," said Atticus, "n*****-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything—like snot-nose. It's hard to explain—ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring N****es over and above themselves. It's slipped into usage with some people like

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This also shows how racism still goes on today. People now continue to use this word to humiliate people. It has gotten to the point where it is used in some people's everyday lives. The second example is from the book "To Kill A Mockingbird".

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930 Words | 4 Pages

Atticus only wants to tell the

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418 Words | 2 Pages

1930s Alabama was an extremely racist time and place. After Atticus took on this case, everybody in town slandered his name, calling him a “n*gger-lover.” The townspeople went up to his children, Jem and Scout, and said it to them too. This environment that the kids went through at such a young age exposed them to vulgar, racist language and disrespect toward their father. Although the racist language has not yet carried over to Scout, she and Jem have lost their temper multiple times.

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1654 Words | 7 Pages

Also to a white child, or a Hispanic child, those words could be damaging.” Charles Stokes made his point, and stated his thoughts but in all reality, the word is coming back and being used all the time. Kids use it with their friends meaning the word friend. Many “black” people admit to saying the word freely with their friends not meaning as slave. In a “Teaching Tolerance” magazine, printed in 2011, there is an article called Straight Talk About the N-Word.

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514 Words | 3 Pages

The racial slurs used in the book are mostly used on African Americans for example the novel states “Do you defend niggers, Atticus?” (Lee, 85). Jem asked Atticus if he defended African Americans but he used a racial slur. If a student reading this reads the n-word too many times, he will use it on his classmates or anyone else, which can make the other person feel bad. The novel contains many racial words that students will say because they think it is

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860 Words | 4 Pages

People of the town including children refer to black people as “Niggers”, and raised to think of black people as lower class individuals. “To Kill A Mockingbird” has a strong message towards racism, this is learned from Scout & Jem as they mature throughout the novel and are constantly being exposed to demeaning segregation in Maycomb County. In giving Scout a lesson about racism, Atticus also does the same for the readers of the novel. This happens when Scout asks Atticus what the term ‘Nigger-lover” meant, after being insulted several of times and not knowing if it is an offensive word or not, but had a slight feeling it was when Atticus was being called at. A quote from the novel: "nigger-lover is

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693 Words | 3 Pages

Scout, a young, curious, intelligent tomboy is taught the moral of, “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,” which, will stick with her throughout her childhood (Lee 39). Atticus strives to make sure that his children acquire morals and values. Nobody wants to hear their family be talked about in such a disrespectful way. When Scout has trouble accepting what people claim about her father, which is, “a nigger-lover,” Atticus responds, “nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything…

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1074 Words | 5 Pages

In an article by David Gutman, a board member observed “And it never has a discussion of why that word is bad why it is hurtful or why it should not be used” (qtd. in Gutman). While the book never discusses why the word is bad, one thing that readers must keep in mind is the age and maturity of Scout. Scout is still a young child in early elementary school. If her father went in-depth and explained to her the history of the n-word, she may not have fully understood it. The n-word’s past is something that should be taught when a person is mature enough to fully understand it.

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824 Words | 4 Pages

In chapter 9 along with the Cecil Jacobs conflict, Scout also gets in a brawl with Francis; her cousin. Atticus has all their family over for Christmas. Uncle jack finch ( who the kids love ) and on the flip side Aunt Alexandra ( Atticus’s sister) and the brutal Francis ( Aunt Alexandra's Grandson and Atticus’s great nephew, and sadly Scout and Jem's cousin ) Now even though they were all family, there was clear tension about Atticus defending Tom; especially from little 10-year-old Francis. Francis has a lot to say about the fact that his great-uncle is doing what he's doing.

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828 Words | 4 Pages

For example when Scout went up to atticus to ask him a question about what somebody had said at school "nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything—like snot-nose. It's hard to explain—ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves. (Lee 108) This shows that Scout did not understand much about the subject and this is the first time that she has ever experienced racism, to a extent. In addition when Calpurnia took Jem and Scout to her church and got yelled at by another church member for bringing them.

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1765 Words | 8 Pages

The use of the “n” word is a highly problematic issue in American society. The “n” has a special and unique place in the American language. In fact, according to Sean Price in his “Dropping the N-word” article, he says that in “Metro area high schools...50 percent of the student agree on using the “n” word” (Dropping the N-Word, Price). Although the word is very modern, its roots come from the word "negro", back from the 1700 and 1800’s when it was most prevalent in wealthy American plantations. The “n” word was used by many whites as a racial slur and as a way to degrade African American descents.

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478 Words | 2 Pages

This is still used as a racist term for black people from some. Take the Ku Klux Klan for an example, they are people who claim to hate every race except for white. In Roots, there's a scene of the KKK being formed by Evan Brent. Him and a bunch of other people go to Kunta’s descendants plantation and terrorized his grandchildren. The “n” word should stop being used because it is an ugly, mean and hurtful word towards African Americans.

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