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Stereotypes In The Hangman's Daughter And The Dark Monk

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Why do people make an initial judgement about a person they have only seen or heard about? Without any information at all, the brain formulates an answer to the question they were pondering: who is that person? One of our greatest sins is to place people into boxes, defining them into one shape, into one dimension. Stereotypes are a very predominant part of reality as well as fictional works. In the novels The Hangman’s Daughter and The Dark Monk , by Oliver Pötzsch, one of the most prevalent themes presented is the idea that people do not necessarily reflect what society expects from them, either because of their role or position within the community. Characters and people in reality may possess some characteristics that reflect the presumptions …show more content…

One of the main characters in the novels is Jacob Kusil, the local Hangman. Throughout both novels, at many various instances, he is shown to be a big and daunting man, “a massive form with black unkempt hair and a full beard that had not been touched by a barber for a long time” ( The Hangman’s Daughter 31) who was in a way inhumane in his treatment of fellow society members. In this 17th century German society, the Hangman was associated with death, torture, and unholiness. In fact, whenever a of the town member would interact with the Hangman, they would “murmur a prayer, careful not to look into the Hangman 's eyes” (The Hangman 's Daughter 144). When we think of a hangman, the general image that is conjured is one of a large burly man with unsanitary bodily conditions and an emotionless mask. We correlate a big domineering physical character with the position of Hangman, a role that involves extensive torture and daily killings. Because of such demanding work, in society, the Hangman is the lowest in society. His only purpose is to fulfill the job that is necessary but strongly opposed by other members in society. The description of Kusil given in the book does match the perceived notion about him due to his niche in society. Additionally, those above him feel a need to justify their position in society. Humans tend to, “In an effort to be seen as superior, drag others down, painting them as inferior”

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Those examples show how people will quickly judge people based on their actions or appearances. When someone stereotypes another person it makes them feel like they are better than the other person. People could judge Lennie on his height and his appearance. The narrator states, “Behind him walked his opposite...a huge man shapeless of face with large pale eyes wide sloping shoulders.” That

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From our previous film showing, High Noon, we got a taste of how the Western genre portrayed Chicano/a characters. The late 1970’s saw a decline of the western, and “with the decline of the filmic western came the rise of the urban violence film” (Cortés 134). The 1980’s and 90’s saw film after film released portraying gang violence, and the Latino gang film was a “natural crossroads for sex, violence, and ethnicity” (Cortés 135). Some see these Latino gang members “as updated, modern variants of the Mexican bandit type” (Treviño). 1993 brought us the film Mi Vida Loca, which shows us the life of teenage Chicano/a gang members living in Echo Park, focused on the character known as Sad Girl.

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Wayne Dyer said “Judgements prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances.” This is the case in many situations, people judge others on what they look like and do not even bother to get to know the person before assuming that they are good or bad. It can damage a person when somebody judges them on what others assume them to be. For example, Carol Plum-Ucci’s book The Body of Christopher Creed demonstrates how judgement can affect people in various ways. The three main people who face judgement throughout the book is Torey, Ali, and Bo.

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People always get misjudged and want to say who or what a person is like before they even meet him or her. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, has many examples of misjudging people, and some of those people could be better, or worse, than what that person judged. Most of these characters in the book do not have the sense to meet someone before they judge them. Even if a character knows a character, they still judge, and they judge wrong most of the time. People just don’t have enough sense, or manners, to not judge.

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To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the story of a small town named Maycomb Located in Alabama, highlighting the adventures of the finch children and many other people in the small town. The people in this town are very judgemental and of each other and it often leads to people being labeled with stereotypes and people think they know everything about that person however that is not reality. It is not possible to know the reality of a person 's life by placing a stereotype without seeing it through their own eyes and experiencing the things they experience. This happens often throughout the story with many people in the town. People are labeled as many things such a “monster” a “nigger” and many other things that seem to put them in their

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Rumors. Actions. Looks. All of these are reasons why we judge one being, to think that only three factors decide how others view you. You don’t just see this type of judging in reality but in To Kill a MockingBird.

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“As if!” there are still stereotypes of women. Society has getting better with trying not to stereotype women, but after studying the movie Clueless, the stereotypes that were shown in the movie still exist today. For many years women have been told that they have to fit a certain image for our society’s needs. From a woman’s perspective, there are many expectations that are held and are impossible to be met. From a young age, girls everywhere are being told that what they’re doing is never good enough.

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In an article Menon stated, “We generally tend to judge people just by looking at their outward appearance” (Menon 1). This is true, but why is everyone so quick to judge? Nearly all the population finds it easier to establish groups before getting to know them because they don’t want to take the time to learn about a person. Outer appearance can say nothing of a person’s moral, looks can be deceiving. Menon later stated, “I find it thought provoking how someone could get so attached to another person and trust him or her so wholly after just knowing how he or she looks” (Menon 1).

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In today’s society, individuals and groups are labeled with either positive or negative stereotypes. People encounter stereotypes everyday and everywhere. It is the picture people paint in their minds when approaching a group or individual when in fact it may be different in reality. Stereotypes affect a person’s way of living and thinking either in a negative or positive way. Stereotypes are based on truth but in an exaggerated way, while misconceptions are formed from having stereotypes.

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