ipl-logo

Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

950 Words4 Pages

Written in the Southern Gothic style, Harper Lee’s bildungsroman novel To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAM) draws attention to the themes of injustice, innocence versus prejudice and moral decay. TKAM explores various forms of stereotypical assumptions, flaws within the American judicial system, and the superiority complex embedded in people. These properties contribute to a single outcome—a decadent social system where prejudice dominates. The snowman, the bluejays and Tim Johnson are symbols of prejudice within Maycomb, while the mockingbird serves in the capacity of a metaphor for the vulnerability of innocence.
Through the extensive manipulation of symbolism, Harper Lee highlights how justice and innocence is easily demolished by aggravated prejudice. …show more content…

Initially, the construction and destruction of the snowman symbolises Maycomb’s biases, warning the reader about the perils of prejudice. Scout declares that she “ ain’t ever heard of a n* snowman,” (p.72) suggesting that stereotypical assumptions and prejudice emerges subconsciously, even at an ‘innocent’ n ‘innocent’ age. In comparison, after Scout’s comment, Jem provokes the idea of virtual equality between different ethnicities by hauling white snow over Scout’s black mud snowman foundation. The inner snowman structure remains unchanged regardless of snow coverage, signifying that everyone is equal regardless of their skin colour. Hereafter, Atticus believes that Jem will not become opinionated like the rest of Maycomb, hence he “will never have to worry[about]what’ll become of…[him]” (p.73) anymore. As the plot progresses, the snowman dismantles during Miss Maudie’s housefire, leaving nothing more than muddy residue. Through this event, the readers recognise that a thin layer of snow remains impervious to the temperature of the blazing fire. On one hand, the symbol of the snowman is significant, as Lee encourages her readers to recognise how ‘individualities’ such as ethnic appearances should never contribute to justice. On the other hand, preconceptions – prejudice – are often the culprit of misconception and hinderance of truth. Hence, the snowman highlights the perils of prejudice and vulnerability of

Show More
Related

Rhetorical Analysis Of What Is Snow Like

663 Words | 3 Pages

Doyle’s anecdotes, imagery, and varying sentence lengths allow us to interpret the physical and emotional transformation of snow. Throughout Doyle’s essay, there is the prominent use of anecdotes, allowing the audience to connect with his piece, whether or/ not they have seen snow. His opening: “I met a small girl who told me she had never seen snow.” sets a rhetorical situation. Doyle’s use of a rhetorical situation allows the audience to read from the point of view of a young and curious mind while also presenting his purpose, “snow is inarguable”

Read More

Dark Connotations In Elie Wiesel's Night

901 Words | 4 Pages

The authors words give a feeling of looming death in this scene, and puts that in a brutally cold winter

Read More

Figurative Diction In Night

941 Words | 4 Pages

The ice in this case represented the colder they were, the closer to death the person became. The snow that represented hatred did not only surround him, it became a part of him. But after he felt that coldness, it was described as “a small red flame” and coupled with the poem, “Fire and Ice”, where fire represents desire. The flame in this case represented the want to die. With death quite literally getting closer by the second.

Read More

Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

458 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys that prejudice divides communities and that persecution of innocent people is evil; furthermore; these two minor themes reinforce the major thematic idea that a simple assumption can divide people. When Tom Robinson is put on trial for supposedly raped Mayella Ewell, the racism in Maycomb surfaces and creates conflict. In the novel, a stranger says, “You know what we want,” ‘another man said.’ “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch.”(172). Some drunken men want to harm Tom Robinson for the wrong that he did.

Read More

Symbolism In How To Read Literature Like A Professor

850 Words | 4 Pages

This particular theme is symbolized by the “Frosty the Snowman” statue. Since the Kranks’ neighbors all expected everyone in the neighborhood to participate in the annual tradition of putting the holiday statue on their roofs, the statue ended up serving as a powerful representation of conformity and tradition. In the beginning, the neighbors strongly disapproved of the Kranks' decision to skip Christmas and not put up the Frosty statue on their rooftop. The neighbors even attempted public humiliation by talking to the news and allowing news reporters to take pictures of the barren house from their property across the street. Both of these acts from the neighbors were attempts to get the Kranks to conform to what they believed to be an important tradition for everyone.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Quotes

912 Words | 4 Pages

To Kill a Mocking Bird is told from the perspective of a little girl named Scout. She lives with her father Atticus, her brother Jem and their maid Calpurnia. In her novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee foreshadows a loss of innocence through the symbolic significance of a snowman, fire and camellia flowers. To begin, the symbolism of the snowman foreshadows the trial and how they converse when constructing it. “Jem, I ain’t never heard of a nigger snowman”, I said.

Read More

Tkam Symbolism In To Kill A Mockingbird By E. Lee

1071 Words | 5 Pages

Growing up in the incredibly racist society of Maycomb County, these children are met with a massive change. Their father Atticus, who is a white lawyer, takes on the case defending Tom Robinson, who is a disabled black man accused of raping a white woman. In her novel, Lee uses the symbols of the Snowman, the snow, and the mockingbird to foreshadow events later in the book. To begin, Additionally, Lee uses the symbol of snow to symbolize the whitewashing of society, this event is used to

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Valuable Quotes

476 Words | 2 Pages

This passage encapsulates the novel's central theme of empathy, compassion, and the importance of preserving innocence. Through the symbol of the mockingbird, Lee conveys a powerful message that resonates with readers, urging them to recognize and protect the vulnerable and innocent members of society. The passage's beauty lies in its simplicity and poetic imagery. By comparing mockingbirds to innocent beings that bring joy through their songs and do no harm, Lee emphasizes their purity and their inherent goodness.

Read More

Atticus Persecution Quotes

879 Words | 4 Pages

In society, there are always those who are innocent and kind-hearted, but are, sadly, victimized and destroyed by the evil in others’ hearts. In her novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee explores the idea of persecution and prejudice against innocents using the motif of the harmless mockingbird, a symbol first coined by Atticus; his famous quote, “shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ʼem, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”, is a warning to never do wrong against respectable people. Using the stories of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, Harper Lee highlights the negative treatment “mockingbirds” receive from society and the severity of the discrimination that vulnerable members of society face on a daily basis, and comments

Read More

Examples Of Foreshadowing In To Kill A Mockingbird

1272 Words | 6 Pages

The snowman is described when the narrator

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Critical Lens Analysis

1019 Words | 5 Pages

Literature can be analyzed with many different critical lenses. While analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, one may use a critical lens to recognize the different ideas throughout the novel. Harper Lee’s novel demonstrates her perspective on intolerance and discrimination within the early twentieth century. Firstly, intolerance of people who are different is very prevalent within the novel.

Read More

How Does Harper Lee Use Irony In To Kill A Mockingbird

1131 Words | 5 Pages

Lee uses Miss Gates’s ironic views of Hitler and Tom’s trial to show how racial prejudice causes crimes against African Americans to be considered less than crimes committed against white people. A mockingbird is then used to symbolize Tom Robinson as an innocent person wrongly convicted of a crime because of his skin color. The misunderstood characterization of Arthur Radley shows how society will let prejudice guide their imaginated view on the lives of people they don't understand. All three characters provide examples of how a preconceived opinion of one person or a whole race can cause drastic misunderstandings and

Read More

Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

1146 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

Snowpiercer Analysis

1413 Words | 6 Pages

Set in a not-so-distant, yet post-apocalyptic future, Snowpiercer follows Curtis Everett, a lower-class man rebelling against an indomitable ideological regime, as humanity 's last survivors circle the frozen globe, divided by class, in one, long train. The world of Snowpiercer is built upon a society in which inequality reigns and violence is routine, and where the needs of the poor are eschewed in favor of the desires of the rich. Director Bong Joon-Ho adeptly weaves black humor with fast-paced dramatic action, and utilizes the Marxist concepts of hegemony, interpellation, and commodity as spectacle, in order to paint a cautionary picture of a continuously capitalist future. The State in Snowpiercer relies upon a deeply entrenched ruling ideology that can be summed up by Minister Mason 's 7-Minute speech beginning with "This is not a shoe."

Read More

American History Judith Ortiz Cofer Analysis

618 Words | 3 Pages

The theme elucidated throughout Cofers person story advocates nothing stays as just white snow. The quote “ Looking up at the light I could see the

Read More

More about Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Related Topics

Open Document