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Theme Of Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

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People either have a firsthand experience with or an eyewitness account of the heinousness or racism. Our culture, personal lives, and communities are all divided as a result. Both Hapers Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird and Tate Taylor’s film The Help display how Skeeter and Scout experienced the division caused by racism in their communities and dealt with the damage caused by it. However, Skeeter faces criticism for writing and publishing a book detailing the unjust treatment of black maids, while Scout gets viewed differently for defying the gender norms of society.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout observes prejudiced decisions made based on Tom Robinson’s skin color. Tom Robinson appeared in court to defend himself for allegedly beating and raping Mayella Ewell, …show more content…

Even with indisputable evidence that he was innocent, Tom ultimately lost the court case. When asked about what happened when he and Mayella were in the house alone, Tom said, “So I done what she told me, an’ I was just reachin’ when the next thing I knows she—she’d grabbed me round the legs, grabbed me round th’ legs, Mr. Finch”(Lee 220). This evidence in his testimony demonstrates that he wasn’t the one attempting to initiate contact with her, and when she attempted to commence contact with him, Tom instantly retreated. Given the amount of evidence and the fact that his left hand isn’t capable of functioning properly, there was an astronomical amount of proof that it wasn’t Tom who commit the crime. Despite this, the jury concluded that Tom was the offender, but not because he was guilty, but rather due to his skin color.

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While this was occurring Tom ran out of the house because he was confused. The Ewells came up with a story stating that Tom raped Mayella and they went to court for it. Eventually, it was found out that Mayella lied to hide the embarrassment of trying to kiss an African American man along with trying to make herself feel better. Bob Ewell wanted to accuse Tom to cover his own tracks in abusing his daughter. Yet, with all this information and evidence Tom’s verdict was guilty.

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When he is in court he states to the “Naw suh, another one,Most as tall as the room. So I done what she told me, an’ I was just reachin’ when the next thing I knows she-she’d grabbed me round th’ legs, grabbed me round th’ legs, Mr. Finch she scared me so bad I hoped down an’ turned the chair over that was the only thing, only furniture, stored in that room, Mr. Finch, when I left it, I swear ‘fore God” (pg. 259). When Tom states this, everyone had already heard Mayella’s response but it was completely different because this is not what Mayella said. Also, clues from the evidence make

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871 Words | 4 Pages

In modern day society, racial injustice has a big impact in this world today, as stated in Just Mercy and To Kill a Mockingbird. Showing that they are both related in many ways. The characters from To Kill A Mockingbird deal with racial injustice first hand. Scout, the narrator and daughter of Atticus Finch, experienced racial injustice of her father’s court case with Tom Robinson, an African American.

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Rather than treating Tom as just a person he had to reference Tom’s race in his testimony. Mayella took the stand and admitted she was never examined by a medical examiner after the incident and while being questioned by Atticus, it was obvious she was lying and Mr. Ewell could of beaten her. Although all this information was brought about, the white jury still convicted Tom of rapeing Mrs. Ewell. He never had a chance of winning the trial because of his skin color and the prejudice that whites are superior to blacks.

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998 Words | 4 Pages

Mayella Ewell was the daughter of Bob Ewell, an alcoholic racist. Throughout the trial, adequate evidence was shown by Atticus Finch, Tom’s lawyer, which proved that Tom would not have been able to commit this crime. Evidence showed that Mayella was beaten by an individual who is left-handed but Tom was only able to use his right arm. Tom states, “I can't use my left hand at all. I got it caught in a cotton gin when I was twelve years old.

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574 Words | 3 Pages

Mayella Ewell states “He chunked me on the floor an’ choked me an’ took advantage of me.” (Lee 188). Mayella was just asked to tell the people what happened to her. She tells the people in the courtroom that Tom Robinson did these things to her even when he has only one good arm. In summary, Mayella's testimony says that Tom Robinson raped her.

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1092 Words | 5 Pages

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, the themes of social inequality, race relations, and perspective are shown carefully in Maycomb through the viewpoint of Jem and Scout. As the children mature and grow their understanding of the distinctive cultures in Maycomb develops and transforms. Through the progression of the novel, interactions between the different races are revealed and they allow Scout and Jem, alongside the readers to view the relationship between black and white people in Maycomb. When Scout goes to visit the “Negro” church, it allows her to view the black community from a different perspective. Furthermore, she acknowledges the ingrained bias the white citizens carry against the black citizens as well as their discriminatory

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877 Words | 4 Pages

In chapter 18 during Mayella’s testimony, the text states, “Reverend Sykes leaned across me and whispered to Jem. “He got it caught in a cotton gin, caught in Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s cotton gin when he was boy… like to bled... tore all the muscles loose from his bones” (Lee 249). This quote from the story displays the fact that Tom only has the use of one arm due to an unfortunate event in which a cotton gin tore all his muscles loose. Therefore, when Mr. Heck Tate says this in chapter 17, “I’d say they were all around, Mr. Finch” (Lee 226). He was talking about the bruise marks all around Mayella’s neck and this proves the fact that Tom could not have choked Mayella.

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The courtroom scenes show how ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a coming-of-age novel which I believe teaches young children and readers how extreme racism could be in the 1930’s-1940’s, but it also educates them on how racism is still very much real in the world

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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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1049 Words | 5 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird there are lots of racial, gender, and religious, discrimination. Which is shown a multiple amount of times throughout the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee which takes place in Maycomb Alabama, where there is a lot of racial discrimination. But there is also some gender, and religious, discrimination.

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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.

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1036 Words | 5 Pages

There are many types of cancers in the world. Each and every one of them has their own origin, for example, reproductive cancers, which can be in both males and females. In men there are multiple types of reproductive cancers. One of them is known as prostate cancer, which is located in the prostate and is a small walnut-shape that produces seminal fluid that nourishes and transports sperm, according to Fig.1 (Mayo Foundation, 2015). It is a common cancer in men and can develop in three different ways (Mayo Foundation, 2015).

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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.

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