Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird was set in the southern states of America during the interwar period, a place and period of time where racism and sexism were predominant. This story highlights the plight of those that acted out against the dominant ideology. Some brave people began to speak and act upon what they believed in no matter what society said. A few women began to speak up which was very uncommon. Miss Maudie Atkinson, Calpurnia, and Scout Finch showed very strong characteristics.
In the coming-of-age novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author conveys themes of prejudice and racism. The story follows Scout, a young girl in a small town, with her older brother, Jem, and father, Atticus, who is a lawyer. Scout’s father signs on to defend a Black man, which, to many, is seen as a losing case. Scout begins to learn about the racial bias in her town, seeing how many people treat African Americans differently than whites. Lee displays themes of prejudice through Atticus and his experience defending Tom Robinson.
Racial Injustice is when you deny someone their rights based on race or background. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author uses acts of cruelty towards Tom Robinson as a way to convey the theme of racial injustice. This theme contributes to the overall meaning of the novel by supporting the statement: “That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”.(Lee 119) During the 1930’s in the South, African Americans were discriminated against due to their race.
Multiple characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are discriminated against, one that stuck out was Atticus. He was discriminated against multiple times, for example, on the way he raises his children, for defending a black man in court, and for just being a poor white person white person. Those are just a few ways that Atticus is discriminated against in the novel. Atticus is discriminated against on the way that he chooses to raise his children. In the novel several times people tell Atticus that he doesn’t raise his kids right, for example Miss Maudie says “”...erected an absolute morphodite in that yard!
Esperanza’s Perspective “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, is Esperanza’s story that is told in first person by Esperanza herself. Sandra Cisneros uses only one or two pages for each chapter and along the way we learn more about her family, friends, neighborhood and Esperanza herself. In some scenes she uses humor and other scenes sadness, these scenes are in introspection form.
I think black people have to be in control of their own image because film is a powerful medium. We can’t just sit back and let other people define our existence’’~ Spike Lee ~. Although many people may argue that Atticus received prejudice throughout the novel, it was Tom Robinson who experiences the most prejudice. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom experiences the most prejudice in this novel because he got accused of rape, a mob full of farmers tried to kill him, got shot 17 times.
A Segregating Society Martin Luther King Jr. once stated “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” In the story, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the people of the town of Maycomb, Alabama judge individuals by the color of their skin, not the content of their character and face various incidences of Social Inequality. Harper Lee demonstrates how unequal and prejudice the 1930s southern culture is when Walter Cunningham comes over for dinner and Scout does not respect him, when Aunt Alexandra does not agree Atticus defending Tom Robinson, and when Tom is falsely charged with rape because of his skin color.
One of To Kill a Mockingbird’s main themes is discrimination towards race, and there are many examples and forms of racism in the novel. However, Atticus was not a racist person and he raised his children to be the same way and to treat everyone fairly. The biggest example of discrimination is when Tom was accused of a crime that he did not commit, then he was found guilty even though Atticus had made it very clear that he has innocent. Another examples of discrimination is when Aunt Alexandra doesn’t want Calpurnia to be in the house because of her race. Discrimination does not necessarily have to involve race, but it can also involve gender.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird prejudice is a theme constantly seen throughout the novel as shown by Atticus when he says “most people are, Scout, when you finally see them” (Lee). Tom Robinson, Aunt Alexandra and Boo Radley all demonstrate this by how they are first mistaken as someone they are not, but as the novel proceeds everyone begins to see who they really are. Tom Robinson is a black man that has been accuse of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. In the beginning of the novel the people in the town of Maycomb believe that Tom has raped Mayella. During the court case against Tom Robinson, Bob Ewell everyone in the court room “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin on my Mayella”(Lee 231).
To Kill a Mockingbird Essay By Nicholas Morency My Claim is that racial injustice and prejudice meant that tragedy was inevitable Prejudice can be understood as something that can divide cultures and countries and ultimately lead to death and destruction. Prejudice has plagued humanity throughout history and has led to the despair of many cultures because of an inhumane viewpoint from another party. People's morals and kindness are destroyed the second a chance at power or currency is available.
Race has always been a part of history, from slavery to MLK, to Barack Obama. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee defines race in the south during the 1930’s. Jean “Scout” Finch, is the narrator of the story. Her brother Jeremy “Jem” and her dad, Atticus, are both main characters. Calpurnia is their house cook and helper, she is also black.
Through the eyes of Scout, a feisty six-year-old tomboy, To Kill a Mocking Bird carries us on an odyssey through prejudice and injustice in 1932 Alabama. Presenting her tale first of events from her childhood, the narrator draws near the stories of daring neighborhood exploits by her, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill. Maycomb, a tired and sleepy town, finds itself as the venue of the trial of Tom Robinson, a man falsely accused of raping a woman. Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem's father and a man, is appointed to defend Tom for who a guilty verdict from an all-white jury. Juxtaposed against the story of the trial, is the children's hit and run relationship with Boo Radley, and Dill's Aunt Rachel, suspect of insanity, and who no one has
The History Of Racism Anyone who has seen war first hand can see that minorities have been treated different during times of distress. Japanese were treated different because after the attack the Americans were prejudice towards the rest of the legal Japanese citizens. They were prejudiced towards them because they were scared that all of them were criminals waiting to cause harm. We also see this in the book To KIll A Mockingbird during the Tom Robinson trial, because the white people thought that all African Americans were dangerous criminals. After the attack on Pearl Harbor America took action by rounding up 120,000 Japanese Americans.(“Keaton”).
In the novel, ‘To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the small, imaginary town, the Maycomb County, as a place where racism and social inequality happens in the background of 1930s America. Not only the segregation between whites and blacks, but also the poor lived in a harsh state of living. As Scout, the young narrator, tells the story, Lee introduces and highlights the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb County by using various characters such as Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell. Firstly, Harper Lee portrays Boo Radley as a victim of social inequality through adjectives and metaphor in the phrase, “There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten;” ‘Long jagged scar that ran across his face’ tells us that Boo Radley has stereotype about his appearance, which forces to imagine Boo as a scary and threatening person. The phrase, ‘yellow and rotten’ make the readers think as if Boo Radley is poor and low in a social hierarchy, as he cannot afford to brush his teeth.
One of the main themes of the novel is Racism. During the time of depression, racism and poverty were a common issue. People with a dark skin tone, i.e the African- Americans were seen as derogatory and treated like dirt. Harper Lee depicts it in a very realistic way.
