Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Prejudice has been around since the beginning of time. Prejudice is one of the main reasons for conflict within stories and even in someone’s daily life. Even inside the United States, women are still fighting for their equal rights. Women were not granted equal rights all due to prejudice. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a young girl named Scout, and her brother Jem, are raised in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama by their single father, Atticus. Within Maycomb, there is a great deal of prejudice. This can be seen leading up to the main plot of the story when an African American is convicted of the capital crime of rape, despite there being no concrete evidence. The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee illustrates the theme

Gender prejudice is a type of prejudice where someone is judged and has expectations of them, just because of their gender. Gender prejudice is present when Atticus tells his son, Jem, “Don’t pay any attention to her, just hold your head high and be a gentleman.” This proves that Atticus wishes for his son to fall into the prejudice of all men being respectful to women and being “kind.” An additional time is present during Tom, the man convicted of rape, trial. When Scout questions why she does not see Miss Maudie, a neighbor, serving as a juror, Atticus explains “For one thing, Miss Maudie can’t serve on a jury because she is a woman. I guess it's to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom's.” This piece of evidence supports the presence of gender prejudice within the novel. Gender prejudice is present here because Atticus says that the reason why Miss Maudie cannot serve on the jury is that she is a woman. He then proceeds to say it is to protect her. What Atticus says falls into the prejudice of women needing to be defended by men. Gender prejudice can be seen in Atticus’ words because women do not need to be shielded from things such as a cruel man’s

Class prejudice is when someone is when people look down upon lower-class people and think they are better than them. Class prejudice is present when Scout first goes to school. When her teacher, Miss Caroline notices that a fellow student, Walter Cunningham, has no lunch or lunch money, she offers Walter money. He immediately refuses any money offered. Walter’s response causes Miss Caroline to be perplexed. Then Scout takes it upon herself to explain why Walter does not accept Miss Caroline’s money. Scout explains, “Miss Caroline, he's a cunningham.” To every student, that would be sufficient to explain why Walter does not accept the money. The people in Maycomb know that the Cunninghams are a poor farming family. The people are aware of why Walter has no money because of the class prejudice present within Maycomb. Another example of class prejudice is also involving Miss Caroline and the students. When a student named Buris Ewell presents himself with dirty clothing and poor manners, the class also then explains that he is an Ewell. This represents class prejudice because again, the last name of Ewell is associated with poor-mannered, filthy people. The people living within the town know each other's last names and associate a personality and attitude towards them. Class prejudice is most definitely present in this story. A clue is that even first graders know the last names of their