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Racism in how to kill a mockingbird
To kill a mockingbird describing justice
To kill a mockingbird describing justice
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Throughout Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," Atticus Finch serves as a model of tolerance. He consistently demonstrates his conviction that others should be treated with empathy and understanding. One of the most prominent examples of Atticus' tolerance is his defense of Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Despite the community's intense racism and prejudice, Atticus maintains his belief in Tom's innocence and fights for his rights in court. This shows his tolerance and acceptance of people of different races and his refusal to be swayed by the prejudices of others.
“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Atticus uses Pathos, ethos and logos to convince Tom Robinson could never have committed this crime. Atticus is fighting the inevitable battle of racism and trying to prove a black man's innocence in court. His strength and intelligence is about to change at least one person in the jury to look past his skin color and see him as an equal. Taking this one small step forward is a major step for the equality of everyone.
The feeling of loneliness and desire is heavy enough to change a peer’s perspective on whether or not they are laudable. Humans are normally worthy of compassion, but once in a while, someone has done something so horrible that they do not deserve the satisfaction of empathy or sorrow. Mayella Ewell, a nineteen-year-old girl who demanded that Tom Robinson was guilty, and Tom Robinson, a black man innocently accused of raping a white woman, are the two most important people in the trial of 1935, in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Mayella was a perfect example of someone who did not merit benevolence.
Though “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson… in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case.” Despite being a generous man who never hesitated to help those in need – including Mayella Ewell, whose family was seen as unworthy of assistance by many – Tom Robinson was still subjected to racial prejudice and paid the price of his life, akin to killing a mockingbird because it did not serve any good purpose and is therefore an act out of pure spite and cruelty. Tom never had a fighting chance: “[he] was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed”, emphasising his helplessness in the face of danger, relating to mockingbirds as vulnerable prey animals. Tom Robinson’s death was “likened… to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children.” “Hunters and children” represent people who impose unnecessary harm onto “songbirds”, whose defencelessness is emphasised by the fact that even children are capable of killing them; this is truer for Tom Robinson, whose vulnerability stems from society’s discriminatory views, something he has no power over.
Has one ever wondered if racism will ever end because it seems no matter how many years go by, it will live on forever? Luckily there are people in this world who are willing to fight for what is right just like Atticus Finch. In the To Kill a Mockingbird passage, in which Atticus ends the court case with a powerful statement where he is defending Tom Robinson, a black man in the southern state of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s, Author Harper Lee uses irony and imagery to help develop the theme that the color of people’s skin does not define them as a person and does not automatically make them an awful and guilty person. To commence, Lee uses irony to establish the theme that one can not automatically be guilty because of the color of their
Atticus is a perfect example of tolerance in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. During his interactions with others, he consistently demonstrates his willingness to listen to differing perspectives and beliefs, without ever passing judgment based on race or background. This can be proved by three examples within the novel. The first example is that Atticus kept his ground and he didn’t make any threats when the mob came for Tom Robinson he even kept his ground when his kids showed up.
Just like respect, compassion is earned and not given. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, A young woman named Mayella Ewell who is the daughter of an alcoholic widower lives in a small town in Alabama named Maycomb behind the town’s dump during the great depression. Tom Robinson, a black man living in the same town as Mayella, is being tried for rape after being accused by Mayella and her father Bob. Mayella’s accusation has had detrimental impacts on Tom’s family and overall life which is formed on the account of a white woman’s word versus a black man’s word.
Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’ is a fictional novel written/published in the midst of the sixties that gave light to the provocative themes of prejudice and racial discrimination in the deep south of Alabama during the 1930s. The memorable quote said by Atticus Finch, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin", (Lee, 2004, p. 94), is the basic message the author is trying to get across, to get to know a person rather than to judge and discriminate someone based on their race. Harper Lee explores these themes through the construcion of events and characters that challenge and reinforce the societal ideologies at the time. An example of this is the character Atticus Finch and his values, attitudes and beliefs toward the trial of a black man charged with the rape of a white girl.
People may do atrocious things but some still deserve compassion. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mayella Ewell is a nineteen-year-old girl who frames a black man named Tom Robinson for raping her. The Ewells take this to court due to the injuries Mayella obtained. She claims that Tom raped her, but in reality, she made a move on him and he was trying to get out of the situation. Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, caught her and was furious at Mayella for her advancing a black man.
Despite the dangers of having such ideas during a volatile time period, Harper Lee decided to add a character like Atticus Finch and even portrayed characters against this idea with statements such as “Not only a Finch waiting on tables but one in the courthouse lawing for niggers! Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!”(Lee 135) Another tactic for talking about racism without preaching ideals was the trial of Tom Robinson, especially its results, “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson.” (Lee 282) Throughout the trial, the readers learn about Tom Robinson’s
Essay In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County. The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.
In this small town, racism, prejudice, and sexism are unfortunately all present. Atticus Finch is an equitable lawyer who is defending a black man named Tom Robinson during a case where he is being accused of rape. Atticus teaches his children that regardless of someone’s race, gender, or beliefs, you must treat
Lydia Maria Child, an author and rights activist, once said “We first crush people to the earth, and then claim the right of trampling on them forever, because they are prostrate.” In the past, most people have been faced with oppression. Either it was being too short, not being the “right” race or gender, or being too low in social classes. Because of this, many can see that oppression is wrong. It should not happen.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, lawyer and father Atticus Finch is a bright example of what human empathy can achieve, when he risked his reputation and career to defend the falsely accused Tom Robinson. He argues several powerful points in his closing statements: “You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women– black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and not to any particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and no man is living who has never looked upon a woman without desire'” (Lee 204).
Lee displays this through the trial of Tom Robinson, and despite the overwhelming evidence in Tom's favour, he is still found guilty due to the racist beliefs and prejudices of the jury. However, Atticus's defence of Tom is rooted in his ability to empathise with Tom's experiences and to see the world from his perspective. He notes, "The witnesses for the state have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption – the evil assumption – that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings" (Page 205). Therefore, Atticus shows how empathy can be a powerful force for justice and equality. Additionally, in the aftermath of Tom Robinson's death, the tragedy of Tom's wrongful conviction and subsequent death, suggests that his legacy lives on through the compassion and empathy of those who knew him.
