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To Kill A Mockingbird Prejudice Quotes

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To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee contains various examples of racism and prejudice throughout the novel. The story takes place in the 1930's, a period when racism was a part of everyday life. Prejudice and racism in this book are represented by acts of hate towards others because of the color of their skin. In this novel, prejudice and racism was dominantly pointed towards blacks. Acts of racism can be discreet to the point that you can easily miss them. Yet alongside those, there are conspicuous demonstrations of racism that would never happen in today's society. Lee illustrates many of these behaviors in her novel. Atticus, one of our main characters, is the white lawyer that decides to defend a black man (Tom Robinson) in court, despite …show more content…

He realizes that the word nigger, was hostile to the blacks during this period of time. Atticus demonstrates an appreciation and decency which was exceptionally uncommon of a wealthy white male in the south. The blacks, as a majority, live in the part of town known as the bad side, or the "slums." Even if a black person had the money, they wouldn't have bought a house in a high society neighborhood like the Finches. Blacks were viewed as unsanitary, making their presence undesirable to white home owners. They expected that it would reduce the price of their land, along with their …show more content…

Yet, there were times when whites were discriminated against, too. Many high society individuals segregated against blacks, as well as individuals of their own race due to their social stratification or relationship. Mr. Dolphus Raymond was a white man who was an outcast, because of his relationship with a lady who was black.

"Jem," I asked, "what's a mixed child?"
"Half white, half colored. You've seen 'em Scout. You know, that red-kinky-headed one that delivers for the drugstore. He's half white. They're real sad."
"Sad, how come?"
"They don't belong anywhere. Colored folks won't have 'em because they're half white; white folks won't have 'em 'cause they're colored, so they're just in-betweens, don't belong anywhere." (Ch.16, Pg.168)
Mr. Raymond acted as if he was drunk so he that he wouldn't need to explain to anyone his love for a black woman. The alcohol, he said, gave the community of Maycomb a reason to say, he didn't realize what he was doing. These kind of relations were completely unheard of during this time. Aunt Alexandra demonstrates discrimination, even against her own race, when she refused to allow Scout to have Walter Cunningham over for

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548 Words | 3 Pages

The book is wonderful source for accurate historical view of the time. During one of Scouts average 2nd grade school day, a fellow student Named Walter Cunningham, Son of a poor farmer being offered money for lunch from his teacher. “Miss Caroline went to her desk and opened her purse. “Here’s a quarter,” she said to walter. “Go and eat down-town today.

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722 Words | 3 Pages

The citizens of Maycomb criticize Tom Robinson because he differs from society's cultural norm and because he is a different race which affects how society treats him. “You know how they are. Easy come, easy go. Just shows you that Robinson bou was legally married, they say he kept himself clean, went to church and all that, but when it comes down to the line veneer’s mighty thin. Ni**er always come out in ‘em.”

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473 Words | 2 Pages

Mr. Dolphus Raymond is seen to be already drunk early in the morning. He also sits with the colored people at the courthouse square because he was said to marry with a white woman, but was caught with one of his colored woman. He also is seen in the story to be drinking out of a brown paper bag with two straws which is supposed to be whiskey. He sits with the colored people because he “married” a colored woman and had mixed children with her, which he loves, and prefers the colored people over the white people. His effect on the town makes the people question and wonder how and if white and color people mix and diffuse together.

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745 Words | 3 Pages

1)In a paragraph, describe and explain what happens at the jailhouse with Atticus and the children in Chapter 15 and why it is significant. 2) In a paragraph, describe and explain what happens with Dill and Mr. Dolphus Raymond in Chapter 16 and why this is significant. In Chapter 15, Atticus and his children go to church and the group of men, including Mr. Heck Tate and Mr.Underwood from before shows up.

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366 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel To A Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that Prejudice is evil, and affects everyone whether or not they are a victim of it. One of many quotes that supports this claim would be when, Tom Robinson, a black man actused of rape, says he felt sorry for Mayella, a white girl that was supposedly raped by Tom. The author writes, “Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em-” (Lee, p.224)

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1365 Words | 6 Pages

Hierarchy. . .racism. . .prejudice. . .these are all struggles faced throughout the world today. Unfortunately, these struggles are not unfamiliar and are exemplified in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.

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1212 Words | 5 Pages

Arthur Schopenhauer once said, “Compassion is the basis of all morality”. This quote is fitting to the theme of the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee. The narrative goes in depth into the brutal, harsh town that is Maycomb County. We are able to follow a family that does not comply with the prejudice ways of the rest of the town, and instead, show compassion and empathy for those around them. These actions of compassion, allow the Finches to make decisions that they know are morally right, even if everyone is telling them otherwise.

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1019 Words | 5 Pages

Literature can be analyzed with many different critical lenses. While analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, one may use a critical lens to recognize the different ideas throughout the novel. Harper Lee’s novel demonstrates her perspective on intolerance and discrimination within the early twentieth century. Firstly, intolerance of people who are different is very prevalent within the novel.

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632 Words | 3 Pages

“The air is the only place free from prejudice” The air is free from all the people that look down on others by hurting them. Society has embedded prejudice, and it is passed down from generation to generation. In our society, innocent people, known as mockingbirds, deal with prejudice every day. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee displays prejudice against being wrong through Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. To begin, because Tom Robinson is black, he was said guilty of a crime he didn’t commit.

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738 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the book people talk about how wrong it is for Atticus, one of the main characters, to defend an African American in court. The children in the book are told that their father is a disgrace and that he is ruining other people’s lives. For example, “‘...now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb agin. He’s ruinin’ the family, that’s what he’s doin’.’” (Lee 110).

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860 Words | 4 Pages

The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written in 1960 by Harper Lee in the point of view of a young innocent girl named Scout. One of the main messages that Lee has (need a new word than – indicated or set out) is racism, it plays an important role which strongly impacts many character’s lives unfairly and changes the relationship between two. Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” shows that it is wrong to hurt someone who does no harm to you, for example, black people are innocent but no way did they have as many rights as white people did. Black people lived hard lives because society was judgemental, irrational and most importantly, racist. As Scout and Jem grow older they learn to cope, take responsibility and are introduced to new aspects of life, one of which is racism.

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870 Words | 4 Pages

Atticus Finch is a father of two children, a fair lawyer, a committed community member and most importantly a good person. The setting of the story To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a small town in an era where racism is prevalent, a white person’s word will always be above a black person’s. This attitude is common among the community members of the town and time period but Atticus hasn’t caught this “disease”. Throughout the novel, Atticus stays true to himself with the same morals and characteristics, even in difficult situations. Besides not having any prejudices against the black community, Atticus is also humble, has integrity and empathetic.

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941 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the symbol of the mockingbird to show that prejudice can affect even the most selfless people. The mockingbird symbol is seen through three specific characters which include: Boo Radley, Tom Robinson and, Atticus Finch. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley is one of the first characters to be seen as a mockingbird. He is an outcast and he is judged by all the gossip that speaks differently of him, he is a mockingbird in the midst of evil.

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358 Words | 2 Pages

The testimonies reveal how deep-rooted the racism within Maycomb runs, as it is present even in court rulings and how casually present it is. The court is taking place, and the order of prosecutor’s witnesses who are: Mr. Heck Tate, the sheriff; Mr. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father; and Mayella Ewell, the one who is accusing Tom Robinson of raping her. When it’s Mr. Ewell’s turn to speak, he does so with many racial slurs and slang embedded in his accusations. When relaying what he saw to the jury, he points at Tom and yells “―I seen that black n*gger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” Mr. Ewell, who, although, has never been a part of a court case or viewed one, doesn’t truly care, or notice, that so far into the formal case, not one person has used racial slang to talk about Tom, and uses the term n*gger quite casually.

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1938 Words | 8 Pages

” They say that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, yet everyday people are judged just based on their skin color. “In this current society we see racism surrounding us, people who are mostly affected by it are Non- Whites. Discrimination Against Non- Whites, is when a minority usually gets spoken down to or not given the same opportunity to succeed just because of their skin color. When we first arrived to this country we experienced discrimination first hand; whether it was the disgusting looks my mother received from my neighbor for wearing the hijab or the racial slurs we heard as we walked by people. Discrimination against non-whites usually is caused by many Caucasian people believing they are more superior than any other race.

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