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Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

997 Words4 Pages

“There is no greater disability in society, than the inability to see a person as more”-Robert M Hensel. The book To Kill a Mockingbird, explores the powers and prejudice of racism in the 1930s. During the Great Depression, a young girl named Scout, starts to notice more injustice within her town. Through her eyes, we witness the pervasive racism that exists in her community. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird uses conflict and characters to reveal the damaging consequences of a town that discriminates and the importance of standing up for what is right in the face of injustice.
Firstly, the southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s, illustrates the deeply ingrained racism and injustice that fills the community. Inside of Maycomb there’s …show more content…

They witness the way the townspeople treat Tom Robinson and see that he is presumed guilty because of his race, and he is denied a fair trial. Scout then says, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed…It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting.” (Lee 323) It’s after the trial that Scout and Jem begin to understand the racism throughout the town of Maycomb. They know that the verdict was a result of the injustice within their community. Although they recognize the bravery Tom Robinson showed throughout the trail. He maintained his innocence even in the courtroom with uneven odds. Later, Scout tells Mr. Raymond something Atticus tells her and Jem. She says, “Atticus says cheatin’ a colored man is ten times worse than cheatn’ a white man.” (201) Atticus is saying it’s cowardly to cheat a black man when they have no refuge in white society in the 1930s. Jem and Scout grow throughout the book and understand the effects of racism and injustice throughout the

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Additionally, from other people’s perspective, Atticus has lost, his innocence because of him defending a Negro. However, it is not true because Atticus is a lawyer and he is doing his job without criticizing him. This incident made Scout ask Atticus that if it is right to defend a Negro. By this, Scout is able to gain the ability to look from new perspectives on how the world works in very early age compared to her brother, Jem and other children. Secondly, Jem is not completely disillusion until a guilty verdict is returned to Tom Robinson at the end of his trial.

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Even though Tom Robinson was innocent, Bob Ewell, who was white, still won the case. This hit the Finch’s hard because even though they hated the racial discrimination occurring, there was nothing more that Atticus could do to change the ways of Maycomb. While all of this was going on, Scout’s perspective shifted more to her father's beliefs instead of joining the mainstream cowardness of her

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Harper Lee adds this to help the audience visualize the moral obligation and strong will Atticus has to guard Tom, who is at risk of facing an unfair trial due to his skin color. Moreover, he does not care about how defending Tom will affect his reputation, and this teaches Scout about the difference between the right and the easy decision. Later, Mr. Underwood explains to Scout, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts, Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (Lee 323).

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As the story continues, the Tom Robinson trial ends, and leaves Jem and Scout with a lot to consider. One night in their room, Jem speaks to Scout about his thoughts on racism and equality. Jem explains, “That’s what I thought,

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At the trial Tom Robinson was convicted of a crime he didn't commit. He was convicted of this crime because he was an african american. At the trial, Jem and Scout saw who Tom Robinson really was. They didn't think the trial was fair because there was standing evidence that Atticus said that prove Tom was innocent. The jury didn't see that though, they only saw that he was a black man.

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Jem, Scout, and the friend Dill attended the trial. Growing up in an non racist home did not let them see the way every other white person saw it. The white folk did not see Tom, Atticus’s defendant, deserving a fair trial because he was black. Atticus knew this that, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed”(Pg. 276). Even so, he defended him to the best of his ability for more than just a life, but for respect and understanding.

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After hours of waiting, the jury came back in. Scout explains how “A jury never looks at the defendant if it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson… Judge Taylor was polling the jury; ‘ Guilty...Guilty...Guilty’”(211) When Scout and Jem hear the verdict, they are distraught. As they were walking home, “It was Jem’s turn to cry.. ‘It’s not right, Atticus’”(212)

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem, Scout, and Dill’s innocence is destroyed causing them to lose their carefree and happy self after witnessing the ignorance and racism against the African-American citizens in their hometown of Maycomb. Prior to the traumatic events, the children believe everyone in Maycomb is friendly. They did not realize the racism occurring in their town until Tom Robinson’s trial. After spectating the Tom Robinson trial, the children’s view of some of the people in their town change because of their hatred against black and the injustice in the courtroom. Tom is a black man convicted of raping a white girl and despite the evidences that are on Robinson’s side, he is found guilty and is sentenced to

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While Scout is less knowledgeable of the trial, she sees Jem and how “... his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between them,”(282). Jem is watching his father go against the beliefs of the majority of Maycomb, while trying to prove an innocent man free of his accused actions. Jem puts himself in Tom’s situation, fully able to comprehend the importance of the case. He takes the pain Tom Robinson must be experiencing into himself, knowing how this verdict is changing someone’s life forever. Jem’s mature knowledge and awareness makes him a compassionate person, which is what Atticus had always aspired for his son to be.

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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells a story of racial prejudice during the Depression and how it is combated. The main development in the novel is that a Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, has been appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young white woman named Mayella. Many people in the town of Maycomb, particularly people involved with the case of Tom, have a negative attitude towards African Americans. Prejudice was a terrible issue in the South during the Depression, but Atticus Finch shows that racial injustice can be combated in two main ways, each having different levels of effectiveness.

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While Scout is reading Mr. Underwood's editorial she finally understands that, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (275-276). Prejudice is very difficult to overcome, and what Scout realizes is that there is nothing that her father, a very talented lawyer, can do to help a black man who is suspected of a crime. The mere fact that society was prejudiced against black men to begin with, is the verdict. Tom was guilty not because he committed a crime; Tom’s crime was that he was black.

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During the trial of Tom Robbinson, Scout and Jem both learn bad truths about racism and unfairness in the community they once thought was a joyful place. As they stand on the balcony of the courtroom and listen to the testimonies and evidence, they understand that Tom Robinson is an innocent man being falsely accused of a gruesome crime. This is a wake-up call for them,

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She learns about the prejudices of her town when her father begins to defend Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Up until the case began, Scout had been unaware of the racism that lived in her community. Atticus had been assigned the case because no other lawyer in the town would take it due to the defendant’s colored skin. Atticus uses this case to build Jem and Scout’s moral views as they become individuals. Scout asks her father if he is going to win his case and he states, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try and win.”

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Furthermore, “To Kill A Mockingbird” displays the idea of innocence, how prejudice works, and the consequences. The novel takes place in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama during the great depression era. Through the young characters; in Scout and Jem perspective, they learn to mature and grow learning that not all people are good by nature such as their father Atticus. Moreover, it is clear that people are not born prejudiced and discriminating others, but something that is shown and learned. An example of this is through the character of Cecil Jacobs.

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Though he does not realize Scout is there, Atticus shows Scout that she can fight against injustice at the end of Tom Robinson's court case with his speech. He talks about the fact that Tom Robinson is innocent, but because he is a colored man putting his word against a white man, he will probably lose. He tells people to believe Tom anyway because he is innocent. It is a powerful speech, that teaches Scout to stand up for Injustice. In his speech, Atticus makes the statement “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.

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