You’re not born with prejudice; you’re taught it. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was written about the late 1930’s, and showed the perspective of a little girl, Scout, while her father defends a black man in court. The South in 1926 was a place of racial prejudice, with discrimination and inequality. Growing up in the South nearly her entire life, Harper Lee was exposed to the racist prejudice against African-Americans. Harper Lee was born on April 28th, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. During this time it was unpopular to associate with African-Americans, let alone defend them in court. It is shown in To Kill a Mockingbird, that basic human prejudice gets in the way of rational thought. In her novel Tom’s court case, Boo Radley, and the old woman were all symbols of this main theme. With Boo Radley, Scout and Jem had prejudice against him without even have seen him, though he ends up saving their lives. Then with the old woman she shows prejudice against Atticus and his children just because he is defending an African-American. …show more content…
About one third into the book Scouts dad, Atticus, decides to defend an African American falsely accused of rape. During the trial Atticus easily defends Tom and everyone knows it. This can be shown by this quote. “The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but someone in this courtroom is.” Atticus receives many threats for defending Tom. Despite Tom obviously being innocent he is