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Racism And Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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In her best-selling book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee depicts the 1930s in the southern United States by delving into an abundance of different issues. Lee tells a tale about a girl named Scout Finch as she experiences her early years in the Alabama village of Maycomb. The book explores the sensitive topics of racism and injustice with the significant impacts they have on the residents of Maycomb. Events like the Tom Robinson trial, Boo Radley's treatment by society, and the different socioeconomic classes shown in the town all contribute to Lee's exploration of this issue throughout the duration of the story.
To begin, the Tom Robinson trial demonstrates the racism and iniquity that permeate Maycomb, as Robinson gets charged with raping …show more content…

Even though Boo seldom speaks and has white skin, Boo nonetheless encounters several instances of unfair treatment. When Jem Finch asserts: "I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time...it's because he wants to stay inside" (Lee 233), he is arguing about this specific issue. This quote is noteworthy because Jem implies that Boo Radley became reclusive as a result of the stories and chatter in the town, demonstrating to the reader that he has now recognized the unfairness of the community concerning Boo. There is also an instance in the story where Scout says: "Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad" (Lee 373). Even though Boo has done so much for the community, what Scout says demonstrates how the town has taken advantage of him and has not reciprocated in any way. The treatment of Boo Radley by society is a clear example of the unfairness in Maycomb, and the numerous rumours that have advanced around the community may also contribute to the town's social …show more content…

In this story, characters are treated differently based on their skin tone and the prejudices that have been attached to them, which affects how different social strata see them. According to Jem, he mentions that: "four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes" (Lee 302). The observation by Jem is significant given that it demonstrates how divided Maycomb is along racial, economic, and social lines. In addition, it illustrates how people of colour and those who live in poverty are perceived as inferior to those who live in white neighbourhoods. Scout also mentions that:" The Cunninghams never took anything they can't pay back-no church baskets and no scrips stamps. They never took anything off of anybody, they get along on what they have. They don't have much, but they get along on it"(Lee 26). The statement made by Scout indicates that the Cunninghams are a low-income family who are judged according to their social standing. It highlights the extent to which folks who are privileged look down on others who are less fortunate. As a result, the reader is made aware of the importance of racism and injustices in the novel through the story's social class

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Primary Evidence: Jem tells Scout that he thinks that Boo stays in his house because Boo knows that if he was to be seen in public he would be judged by Maycomb citizens (Lee 227). 2. Interpretation: Like a mockingbird, Boo is misjudged and people are scared that he will harm them, but he is actually innocent and loving. B. Claim: Boo radley is a loving giving man who likes to bring joy to

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In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee talks about discrimination based on gender role, age, and skin color. The characters in this book all have different personalities that influences others. Maycomb, Alabama in 1930’s is where everything happened with slavery and struggling with being poor. The characters Scout, Jem, and Dill had a strong bond and had lots of courage. Shows that justice means other things to other people.

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When readers are first introduced to Boo Radley, Jem describes him by saying; “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, [...] There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 11). Although Boo Radley is considered strange to the kids, he ended up truly caring about Scout and Jem. Later in the novel, when Scout reminisces about what she and her brother found in the oak tree from Boo Radley, she says, “Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between.

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The amazing and profound book, To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee has inspired and moved many people of many generations. Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the small town of maycomb during the time of segregation. In the duration of the book you witness a court case in which an innocent black man, Tom Robinson, being accused of raping a young white woman and having a lawyer who is willing to do anything to prove he isn’t guilty. All while finding out about the scary and mysterious Boo Radley and his longing for friendship. As you are witnessing this, it is all through the eyes of a little girl, Scout Finch.

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This behavior makes the community single out people like the Ewells and the Cunninghams. We also see how Maycomb’s society influences highly respected people like Alexandra Finch to speak and act impudent. Walter Cunningham Jr. is treated unfairly because of his social class. An example of Walter being treated unfairly would be, “He ain’t company, Cal he’s just a Cunningham” (Lee, 33).

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This excerpt shows that Scout and the rest of Maycomb County had misjudged the Radley’s, as Boo proved to be a kind-hearted and gentle man; Boo is a character meant to challenge perceived notions and prejudices, urging the reader to recognize humanity in others despite their differences. Many chapters prior to the final reveal of Boo Radley, Jem and Scout educated Dill on the old man’s appearance to which they highly exaggerated, this imaginative description of Boo’s appearance only added onto the notion of the reclusive and wicked old man that he was perceived to

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Jem has not yet learned about the prejudice that Maycomb’s people have and does not understand what Mrs. Dubose’s life is like. Not understanding Mrs. Dubose’s point of view, Jem aggressively destroys her front yard. Jem also allows rumors to cloud his view of Arthur Radley, otherwise known as Boo. Many people in Maycomb fear Boo due to his habit of staying indoors during the day. Their fear causes them to judge Boo as a malevolent person.

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(20) Jem’s exaggerated description demonstrates the community’s intense prejudice towards Boo Radley. The people are able to alienate a member based off of speculations. Scout, an innocent member of Maycomb, has grown up with the idea that Boo acts and looks like

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He knows “It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason” (Lee 268). He doesn’t ignore them and he loves the woman who has bared his children, he also shelters others from what they don’t understand. Finally Scout tries to explain to Miss Caroline why Walter will not take her quarter. Scout explains that the “Cunninghams never [take] anything they can’t pay back” (Lee 26). Scout does not yet understand how to explain things.

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For African-American men and women, being innocent is often not an option. This is exactly the situation Tom Robinson is put into in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, set in the 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama. This story is about an African American man named Tom Robinson who is being accused of raping a white female named Mayella Ewell. Mayella is a member of one of the trashiest families in Maycomb but still has higher social standing than Tom. This shows that racial injustice during this time was extreme.

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Tom Robinson is a black man who is wrongfully convicted of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. This novel goes through Scout's life from when she was 6, till she is 9. She lives in the town of Maycomb Alabama, and lives an innocent life until about halfway through the story, where she begins to ask questions. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout shows the readers that racial inequality creates an unjust society through the African American community, through the people surrounding colored folks, and through Tom Robinson’s Case. The first example of the consequences of racial inequality is the African American community in Maycomb.

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To this day, racism has been has been a huge topic during out lives. Throughout the novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," By Harper Lee, the author expresses racism through the use of characters and conflict. A point Harper is trying to represent through the extent of her novel is the influence others have on our views, and what the author focuses on is racism.

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Harper Lee's book "To Kill a Mockingbird" sheds light on racial injustice in the American South in the 1930s. The narrative is seen through the eyes of Scout Finch, a little child growing up in the Alabaman small town of Maycomb. The book examines a variety of topics, such as racism, prejudice, and having the guts to stand up for what is right. A classic work of literature, Harper Lee’s

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Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour. Racism can be seen even in the first few chapters of the book. These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they were growing up.

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For instance, lots of the people in Maycomb would avoid black people throughout the story because they were considered the lowest class of people. Lots of white people in town would make comments about black people or ignore them. The majority of white people gave them a hard time. One example of this would be when Mr. Raymond talks to Scout about how white people treat black people. The text states, “‘Cry about the simple hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to that they’re people, too’”

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