Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

A calm community can be turned upside down when violence becomes apparent. This is just what happens to a small community in Maycomb County in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, where the community becomes divided amongst right from wrong and racial bias. In the mad dog scene, you see Atticus defeat the mad dog that terrorized his small neighborhood. In this passage, the literary elements of conflict, character, and symbolism develop the theme of racism creates division and discomfort amongst all and must be confronted. First off, the symbolism of the mad dog representing racism shows that racism is disturbing. As the text shows, “He made two steps forward, then stopped and raised his head. We saw his body go rigid. With

The diction of “rigid” in “..his body go rigid” Scout uses when recalling the event shows how Tim Johnson acted unusual when being confronted. This shows how when injustices become evident, the ones responsible for the mistreatment become infected. By Maycomb County having the injustices of mistreating the misunderstood, kind soul of Boo Radley and the conviction of an innocent man based on stereotypes and his skin color, the mad dog reflects all of the judgemental attitudes as something sick. The mad dog “being” racism shows how a neighborhood feels unsafe when injustices face them all, regardless of one’s opinion on the injustice. With Atticus having preciseness, as stated with the diction of “..movements so swift..”, while dealing with the shot shows that confrontation is key to handling racism. Also, the novel says, ”I thought mad dogs foamed at the mouth, galloped, leaped and lunged at throats, I thought they did it in August. Had Tim Johnson behaved thus, I would have been less frightened,” (125). The imagery of how Scout perceived mad dogs to behave and her shock as to why Tim Johnson did not act the norm for a mad dog conveys how racism has an impact regardless of how it is produced. One who is verbal about

The text proves this by stating, ”Jem was paralyzed. I pinched him to get him moving..,” (128). Jem became paralyzed in shock after watching his quiet, bookworm father shoot mad dog. The children see Atticus as a man who uses his words to reason, hence him being a lawyer, therefore, seeing him shoot mad dog effortlessly allowed both Jem and Scout to recognize a new side of Atticus. This metaphorically shows Atticus confronting racism, similar to how he is defending Tom Robinson, an African American man. The metaphor to Atticus killing mad dog to him battling against injustices in court can mean that Atticus is killing racism. This can be seen later as to how Atticus will handle the Tom Robinson trial, where Atticus also fights injustices. A trial in which Atticus was picked to defend because the judge knew he would excel. The novel also shows the shock when it says, “Atticus pushed his glasses to his forehead; they slipped down, and he dropped them in the street. In silence, I heard them crack. Atticus rubbed his eyes and chin; we saw him blink hard,” (127). The suspense of Atticus taking off his glasses and focusing on the shot conveys how tedious this whole scenario is. The imagery Scout holds of Atticus’s glasses slipping to the ground is due to her disbelief in what she is seeing come to be her father. The concentration Atticus has while making this shot