Prejudice In To Kill A Mocking Bird

To Kill a Mocking Bird
To kill a mocking bird by Harper Lee talks about many themes including prejudice, childhood, and society. The book tells the story of a small American town in 1930’s from the eyes of Scout. A black man named Tom Robinson allegedly raped Mayella Ewell, he was innocent but – due to racism – pled guilty. The finch family believed that Tom Robinson was innocent and faced threats from Bob Ewell because of this. Bob attempted to attack Jem and Scout on Halloween night but failed to do so, and resulted in Bob’s death. This book pushes the thought of prejudice and shows the life of townsfolk coping with a society of racism in the 1930’s. Lee uses techniques such as imagery and characterization to push these themes.
In ‘to kill a mocking bird’, Lee emphasises the social prejudices of Maycomb through Scout’s own experiences of different classes in the playground. While at school Scout has to justify the fact that the Cunningham family is poor and that they can’t afford anything. “He had none today, nor would he tomorrow, or the next day.” This quote explains that he has no money to obtain food. Lee uses the power of three to emphasise that the family is very destitute and can’t afford food in the foreseeable future.

At Tom’s trial, he commits the error of admitting to feeling sadness for Mayella Ewell. “You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?” The tone of disbelief, and the repetition of the sorry emphasises the belief that as a black man, Tom shouldn’t feel empathy for someone with a higher social standing. Here Lee successfully implies Tom has in a sense signed his own death warrant; by feeling sorry for Mayella, he has unintentionally placed himself above her in society, and will now be seen as an arrogant and egotistical man who doesn’t understand his social