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Racism shown in to kill a mockingbird
Literary analysis to kill a mockingbird
Racism in the book to kill a mockingbird
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In Harper Lee's novel "To Kill A Mockingbird", the characters face adversity that develop controversial themes. Lee's application of racism is immensely represented. Especially through the actions and words of characters Atticus Finch and Aunt Alexandra. To begin, I will be discussing character Atticus Finch and how he represents racism. Father and lawyer, he lives in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s.
As stated prior, segregation and Jim Crow Laws promoted racist ideas and actions. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, examples of post Plessy v Ferguson racism is quite prevalent throughout the book. The most significant example is during the court trial scene, where Atticus proves Bob Ewell had falsely accused Tom Robinson of rape, yet still wins the trial. After the trial had been lost, Atticus states “In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins,” to explain how racial inequality was the decisive factor in the trial, and not the truth. This is a perfect example of the struggle for racial equality, and the town of Maycomb backs up that ideal.
Several people didn’t consider the colored people as humans. The whites would call the colored people certain names and if any white people interacted with them, they would be despised. Francis kept telling Scout that Atticus will ruin their family’s reputation, because he’s defending a colored man who was accused of raping a white woman. However, these were Francis’s exact words, “’… Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he’s turned out a n****r-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb agin.
Although the closing arguments in “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “A Lesson before Dying” are extremely unique from one another, they both involve racism. Causing many similarities and differences to occur in the diction, tone, and persuasive techniques used, by each lawyer. For example, in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” the lawyer, Atticus Finch, presents a trial where white is against black. The defendant has barely any chance of being found not guilty, so the lawyer’s closing argument needs to be convincing, powerful, and straight to the point. As well as, in the book “A Lesson before Dying” the lawyer takes a case where the defendant is black and the plaintiff is white.
The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written in 1960 by Harper Lee in the point of view of a young innocent girl named Scout. One of the main messages that Lee has (need a new word than – indicated or set out) is racism, it plays an important role which strongly impacts many character’s lives unfairly and changes the relationship between two. Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” shows that it is wrong to hurt someone who does no harm to you, for example, black people are innocent but no way did they have as many rights as white people did. Black people lived hard lives because society was judgemental, irrational and most importantly, racist. As Scout and Jem grow older they learn to cope, take responsibility and are introduced to new aspects of life, one of which is racism.
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the entire town of Maycomb accepts and contributes to maintaining the racial status quo. The narrator, Scout, tries to make it seem as though Maycomb, Alabama is a better place than other southern states in the United States. Although, they tolerate racism just as much as any other southern state. Some characters are aware of this, like Atticus Finch and Dolphus Raymond and others are not. Dolphus Raymond even states “Things haven’t caught up to that one’s instinct yet.
Today, there are not as many flaws in the justice system as in the 1900s; however, the criminal justice system is still far from perfect or ideal. There are many inequities within the criminal justice system because of racism, gender bias, and social class. During the Great Depression, many cases were proved to be favored white males in better social and economic classes. This problem has remained unresolved even now in the 2000s. Racism, classism, and gender bias have been a problem for centuries; however, they have yet to be fixed or even addressed in societies and politics worldwide.
The quote “this case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271) has numerous layers, let's unpack these main points. Its many meanings include; race, what it means today, and the court case. As with anything, this can have good and bad meanings. Racism, the court case, and what this means today; all of these explain the meaning behind atticus’ quote. Racism is quite prevalent in the jury and courtroom at this time.
Race has always been a part of history, from slavery to MLK, to Barack Obama. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee defines race in the south during the 1930’s. Jean “Scout” Finch, is the narrator of the story. Her brother Jeremy “Jem” and her dad, Atticus, are both main characters. Calpurnia is their house cook and helper, she is also black.
“In ones and twos, men got out of the cars. Shadows became substance as lights revealed solid shapes moving toward the jail door. Atticus remained where he was. The men hid him from view,” says the author, Harper Lee in To Kill A Mockingbird (Lee 202). Harper Lee was an author who lived during the great depression and segregation; however, To Kill A Mockingbird is the only novel she had published in 50 years until one year before her passing.
I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. was one of many movements in the extinction of racism. However, it is still everywhere in America today. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is just one example of it in the 1930’s. African American people were looked down upon and it had a huge effect on everyone in the nation, whether they were against black people or standing with them.
She is constantly learning how racism affects the community through different altercations in Maycomb. She realizes that racism shouldn’t exist due to the side effects. In To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee conveys that racism causes inequality between people, isolation, and injustice. Racism affects the individuals of maycomb by creating an unfair and non welcoming area for people.
During the Great Depression in the United States, many were left poor and with an insufficient amount of food and money. Due to such despair in the 1930’s, racial prejudice views inflicted more pain upon the people. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee places the people of Maycomb in 4 separate classes, splitting up many of the characters based upon their race and economic stance. The rich, white folks would be examples as Atticus, Miss Maudie, and Aunt Alexandra.
During the time near the start of WWII, tensions between whites and blacks were tangible. It wasn 't really tensions between the two as much as tension against the blacks. This was especially true in southern United States. Poverty, oppression, and violence was plaguing the black communities and a lot of it was from the whites. A black man could be shot in broad daylight and the perpetrator, if white, could claim self defense and get off scot free.
Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour. Racism can be seen even in the first few chapters of the book. These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they were growing up.
