Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

People are capable of forming their impression of someone within ten seconds of meeting them. This can begin to form prejudice; an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Another factor that can influence a person’s opinion towards another is the views of their society. Atticus says, “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” (22). This quote how unfair and unjust prejudice is without solid facts to base your opinion on. In the face of experiencing prejudice, Arthur “Boo” Radley and Tom Robinson continue to be nice people and illustrate that prejudice does

Though the type of prejudice towards them is different, they are connected through the shared experience of being looked down upon. The Radley family is feared because they don’t fit into the norm of the society. Unlike many of the residents, they choose to keep to themselves. After a weird story involving a “gang,” Arthur Radley has mostly stayed in inside his house and is rumored to go outside during the night and terrorize the community. Another rumor surrounding Arthur involves him cutting items from a newspaper to put into a scrapbook and as his father walked by, “Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants and resumed his activities” (7). These rumors have caused the community to have prejudice towards him. He has been described as scary, a monster, and a rabbit eater, yet there is no evidence to support this. In this community Arthur isn’t the only person that has prejudice towards him. Also, having prejudice towards them is the whole black community and more specifically Tom Robinson, the man Atticus Finch is defending. This novel is set in the 1930s in Alabama, where racism is rampant. The black community is very looked down upon and have little rights during this time period. Atticus is in turn looked down upon because he is choosing to give Tom a fair

Arthur is finally seen by children as the magnanimous person that he truly is. Furthermore, their perception of him has drastically changed throughout the novel. The night Arthur saved the children from the crazed Mr. Ewell, Atticus is seen reading a book called The Gray Ghost. This story he is reading directly relates to the prejudice experienced by Arthur Radley. Atticus reads the story aloud. At first the main character of this story is seen as being mean and a terrible person to society, but by the end Scout says, “He was real nice,” to which Atticus responded “Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them” (238). The children are finally see Arthur for who he truly is and they appreciate him. He is now respected and the prejudice towards him is finally revealed as being unjustified. On the other hand, Tom Robinson does not experience as happy of an ending. His generosity puts him in a bad situation where he is close to a white woman; a situation many black men stay away from because this could result in them being convicted of committing a crime that never occurred. This was exactly the case for Tom Robinson. Even though he did not commit the hideous crime of rape, he was found guilty of the crime just because he was a black man. Tom is sent to prison and ultimately dies trying to escape when he was shot seventeen times. Both men showed that even in the face of