Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Everyone experiences rough patches in life. My rough patch occured when I moved to Michigan from Wisconsin in fifth grade, I became a victim of pre-judgement. Classmates bullied me because I supported the Wisconsin badgers and not the hometown spartans or wolverines. Making friends became difficult, I became known as the “new kid” and colleagues deliberately avoided me. Day after day, the distance between me and my peers only escalated, and school felt similar to solitary confinement. Although emerging as the new kid and becoming a victim of prejudice became challenging, Harper Lee shows that African Americans dealt with much worse in the south during the 20th century. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that prejudice creates many

In the novel, Mr. Dolphus Raymond acts as a drunk, which becomes his excuse to spend time with African Americans, when in reality he just enjoys their company. Mr. Dolphus Raymond alienates himself from the dwellers of Maycomb County due to their ignorance and inhuman prejudgment. Mr. Dolphus Raymond illustrates why he acts as a drunk: “‘When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutch of whiskey that's why he lives the way he does.’” (268). Dolphus Raymond purposely acting as a drunk, correctly portrays the irrationality made by a victim of prejudice. Likewise, After Tom is convicted of a crime he did not commit, he makes the absurd decision to attempt to run away from the jail and Maycomb altogether. That choice is preposterous because he makes that decision before Atticus had a chance for any appeal. After becoming a savage victim of racial discrimination, in his mind, Tom felt his options included running away from jail, or death resulting from electrocution, he knew he had to take that chance for his freedom. Unfortunately shortly after making the run, Tom passes away from seventeen gunshot wounds. Let that soak in, Tom Robinson, an innocent man in a broken town, died due to one irrational decision influenced by prejudice. Irrational decisions emerges as complication resulting from pre-judgement,

In the novel, Arthur Radley becomes a prime example of unfair treatment ensuing from prejudice. Arthur Radley makes a minor mistake while becoming friends with destructive teenage boys, the group of friends make an illegal decision and the situation worsens. The Radley family locks Arthur in his room for life. The Radley family treat Arthur unfairly after he makes one poor decision. Furthermore, The black community have to go to their own church. In the novel, Calpurnia tells the Finch children that they will go to “her” church. At that church, Jem and Scout realize that the church includes only African Americans, and the African Americans actually own the church. Scout narrates, “It is called First Purchase because it was paid for from the first earnings of freed slaves.” (157). The first earnings from freed slaves were spent on a church because blacks were not allowed to go to the “white” church. Likewise, jury finds Tom guilty of a crime he did not commit. In court, Atticus made it obvious that it was impossible for Tom to rape Mayella Ewell. It is utterly unfair for a man to get the death sentence for a crime he did not commit. Unfair treatment emerges as a significant dilemma resulting from