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Racism And Prejudice In The Book 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

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TKAM Essay
Do you want a look back in time? Maybe to see what was different about it? Well, the book To Kill a Mocking Bird is a great way to answer those questions you might have. In To Kill a Mockingbird, a young girl's journey to adulthood is explored, as well as the difficult issues of racism and prejudice. It shows how both good and bad can exist side-by-side in a person or a community. I think this book shows how racism and prejudice towards colored people of this time was very severe. In his book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us readers not to judge people based off of their social class. Even though racism between African Americans and white people still exists, it can be overcome if both sides put in the effort to make …show more content…

Just previously mentioned, Atticus Finch, a main character in the story, demonstrates this by not judging people based on their race or any other characteristic. Atticus shows his respect for everyone by defending Tom Robinson, even though it could be harmful to him. He does this because he believes that everyone deserves to be treated equally. I think Harper Lee was trying to give a message that you should never judge someone before getting to know them, and I think she mainly depicts this through Atticus. Atticus demonstrates the idea of treating others with respect and not judging someone on just one thing about them. Atticus conveys this idea by defending Tom Robinson, even though he was black and there was a negative schema of black people during this time, he believes that everyone deserves to be treated equally. “They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions,” said Atticus, “but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience”(140). Lee was tries to send a message to the readers that you should never judge someone before getting to know them. This message is mainly depicted through Atticus and his actions in the story. In addition to this, Atticus Finch demonstrates the importance of not judging people by not judging Tom Robinson based on his race. Harper Lee uses Atticus to show an example of how we should treat others, no matter who they may be. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, Sir? Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”(30). This demonstrates kindness and respect for those who need it don’t get it, such as colored people in this time. It shops to never judge someone, especially

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Harper Lee uses dialogue to expose racial injustice induced by traditional American views at the time when Atticus says,”Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father” (Lee 213)? Lee uses the events of the trial to challenge American views on race, because even though Tom was obviously innocent, he was voted guilty by the jury due to his skin color. Lee challenges American ideals of the time for a second time when the book quotes,”They’re just in-betweens, don’t belong anywhere” (Lee 183). The mixed race children are used as an example to prove how wrong American ideals of the time were.

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The main character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch, a middle aged man living in Maycomb Alabama. Even though he is a southerner he isn’t racist and he believes that everyone should be treated equal, Atticus teaches his children empathy and not to discriminate against other people, he does his by telling them “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.” Even though Atticus treats everyone as equals he gets affected by the town and their prejudice way of thinking. Because Atticus accepts Tom Robinsons case he gets called a “nigger lover” and him and his children get treated differently by the town.

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In society today there are those that are pushed out of the crowd because of what they look like, how they act, and what others say to be true about them. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that unselfish, kind hearted people can experience prejudice from others. Always wanting to be the better person, Atticus Finch is like the mockingbird when taking the responsibility of defending Tom Robinson, who is a black man. Once Atticus gets the news that he will be defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of rape, he is very stressed until the end of the trial. Harper Lee shows this when she says, “It’s this Tom Robinson case that’s worrying him to death...”

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Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, presents the idea that being non judgemental is demonstrated by not judging someone on one specific thing about someone even when others might judge them. Social justice requires one being non judgemental because everyone deserves being equal. The character Atticus Finch demonstrates being non judgemental by not judging people by their race, gender, and whether their an outcast or not. Atticus, a non judgemental person, because he does not not show any less respect to anyone for what color skin they have. The court appointed him to defend Tom, but, “Atticus also aims to defend him.”(163)

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Throughout Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," Atticus Finch serves as a model of tolerance. He consistently demonstrates his conviction that others should be treated with empathy and understanding. One of the most prominent examples of Atticus' tolerance is his defense of Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Despite the community's intense racism and prejudice, Atticus maintains his belief in Tom's innocence and fights for his rights in court. This shows his tolerance and acceptance of people of different races and his refusal to be swayed by the prejudices of others.

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By defending Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus demonstrates that morality overlooks social prejudices. Atticus defends Tom Robinson in spite of the criticism and opposition he and his children encounter from society. His awareness that a person's color should not determine their behavior shows that he sees African Americans as having the same values as white people. It may seem like Atticus is only defending Tom Robinson because of his sense of duty, but he is also doing it because he exhibits morality by overlooking prejudices and understands how all people deserve justice, no matter what race they are.

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The lessons Lee displays about racism make To Kill a Mockingbird relevant and extremely important to society. When Scout asks Jem, her adolescent brother, what the issue with a mixed race was, Jem replied, “Colored folks won’t have ‘em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ‘em ‘cause they’re colored, so they’re just in-betweens, don’t belong anywhere” (215). Lee put the level of racism in the 1960s on full display in this quote, and society has since become more accepting of both mixed races and other races, though without the important reminder of racism in the past, society could never become more accepting. Thus, To Kill a Mockingbird’s instruction of the issue of racism is highly important to society as a

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In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Two children Scout and Jem live in a small town called Maycomb. Mixed with tons of different people where Jem and Scout learn to not judge someone by their living style, color of their skin, what they look like etc. They also learn the importance of right and wrong and how it is important to be taught by family, peers, and even their environment. Harper Lee states that “ you really don’t understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (pg 39). This quote is very important because in this part of the novel, Atticus is teaching Scout (and Jem) that judging someone by their color of their skin, how they act, their living style, and etc is a part of “doing the right thing vs doing the wrong thing’’ Like inequality, Tom Robinson was accused of being guilty of rape because of what he looked like.

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The Scottsboro Boys Case and To Kill a Mockingbird were cases of the injustice of black men. Harper Lee was trying to point out that a person 's skin color or race does not justify the actions they done, that anyone who practices prejudice is foolish. That prejudice is an actual reality that a person experiences first hand and hurts others in the process. Like Harper Lee with her father being a lawyer she must’ve experienced it first hand. These stories teach us that you shouldn’t judge a person by their race.

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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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Atticus Finch was a lawyer that had to be exploitive if he wanted to win cases. When he gave a closing argument for the case of Tom Robinson, he had to find a way to persuade his audience. Instead of making his speech specifically about Tom Robinson, Atticus stated that some people of a race may lie, but that is true for all humans, no matter what the color of their skin is. Atticus said that, “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,” (Lee, 30). He believed that you shouldn’t judge someone’s actions until

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I personally think that racism is heavily prevalent in schools and public places, maybe not so much around the households of most Connecticut towns. All across this country, there are many different types of people that hold many different opinions about these topics, but discussing them in great detail can only be helpful to discovering the mentality of all these different personality types. In this essay, I will first identify what it means to Atticus that he do the right thing whether it's for his own pride or for his kids, Scout and Jem. Atticus Finch, a memorable character within the novel, shows many different people how he can act when provoked in certain ways. If Harper Lee’s intention was to create a masterpiece which includes both critical criticism and big contributions to the Civil rights movement, then she very much succeeded because To Kill a Mockingbird presents a compelling argument that racism is in the eyes of the beholder and people can take what they want from it and can try to not be upset over it.

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