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To Kill A Mockingbird Prejudicism Analysis

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In To Kill a Mockingbird it states, “‘If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’” (Lee 39). To Kill a Mockingbird is set in small town Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s, where prejudicism is very high. Some of the main characters, Jem and Scout, are going to learn a lot about prejudicism and what it takes to fight against it, no matter the cost. Some of them that they face or encounter are racial, gender, and socioeconomical discrimination. Scout, the main character of the book and the narrator, doesn’t realize in her innocence the struggles her family …show more content…

He’s going to defend a black man. This is unheard of based on the prejudicism back then, but Atticus still does this anyway because it’s the right thing to do and he wants to send good examples and right morales to his kids. He doesn’t want “Maycomb’s usual disease” (Lee 117), to catch on to Jem and Scout, even though he may pay for it severely.
Racism is a clear factor of prejudicism in To Kill a Mockingbird. This is clearly shown throughout the novel in many different locations. The people of Maycomb suffer from racism. They have different churches for colored folk and white folk. The pay for colored people is way lower than white folk, and black’s are treated unfairly because of the white’s. It was a hard time for them. Tom Robinson, for one, is a great example of racism in the Maycomb community. He was accused of rape and is sentenced to a trial. The night before the trial, a group of men go to try to hurt Tom Robinson. If it wasn’t for little Scout, who doesn’t know that anything is wrong, for intervening, Mr. Robinson could have been killed. Scout doesn’t even understand what’s wrong and she was the only one to show kindness to the men, causing them to leave. “‘He in there, Mr. Finch?’ a man said. ‘He is,’ we heard Atticus …show more content…

Many different things are going on in this extraordinary novel, but there’s still a lot of prejudicism in this novel as well. The racial struggles that the main characters face with Tom Robinson. Their father, Atticus, sees that just because he 's black, doesn’t mean that he isn’t human. But sadly, not everyone understands this yet. Then there’s how many people think that since you’re a woman you have to do only this and since you’re a man you can only do this. If you’re a woman and you do “men’s work” then that is completely unacceptable in the 1930’s. Finally, there’s the socioeconomic struggles that the characters have to face in the novel. They get a real slap in the face when they see that just because someone is lower than you in money, doesn’t mean that there an alien. The author really does show us the struggles that Jem and Scout have to face with oppression in this

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Another way Scout has changed since the beginning of the book is she understands people have both good and bad qualities that coexist within them, as she becomes closer to an adult and encounters evil in the world. 20. Miss Gates’ lesson to the class about Hitler’s prosecution of Jew’s is ironic, because she herself came out of the courthouse after the trial ended and responded by telling Miss Stephanie Crawford that “it was about time that someone taught them a lesson” when referring to the blacks in the town. It reveals that most people during that time where racist and prejudice to some extent in Maycomb. An example that is similar in our current society portrayed in this chapter is how white males get paid the highest salary, but people of other races and women get paid lower salaries for

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The interactions between those of a different race in Maycomb is looked down upon. Therefore, many african americans are wrongly punished and treated as though they are less than human. African-Americans are often seen as inferior to caucasians.

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys that prejudice divides communities and that persecution of innocent people is evil; furthermore; these two minor themes reinforce the major thematic idea that a simple assumption can divide people. When Tom Robinson is put on trial for supposedly raped Mayella Ewell, the racism in Maycomb surfaces and creates conflict. In the novel, a stranger says, “You know what we want,” ‘another man said.’ “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch.”(172). Some drunken men want to harm Tom Robinson for the wrong that he did.

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The theme of the novel was that inequality and discrimination exist and need to be stopped. Throughout the story Scout and Jem have their innocence destroyed because their father was defending an African American in court. They slowly come to the realization that their “nice” Maycomb society is not so nice and is actually made up of a bunch of harsh, and judgmental people, some like Bob Ewell, who could only keep saying that “Some nigger’d raped his girl.” (Lee 167) The children also came to their own realization that society is not always right and that they must have individual opinions.

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“Hypocrisy is the mother of all evil and racial prejudice is her favorite child” (Don King). In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, a young girl named Scout is receiving a first hand experience of racism and its brutality. In Chapter 26, during school, Scout’s teacher, Mrs. Gates explains what a democracy is and how it differs from the events taking place in Germany with Hitler and the Jews. Using her biased opinion, Mrs. Gates shows Scout that the world can be a cruel place in more ways than one. During the scene, “Mrs. Gates,” Scout learns that hypocrisy exists in the most trusted through the character of Mrs. Gates, the internal conflict of Mrs. Gates and racism, and the settings of both the school and the Finch home.

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In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us about the town of Maycomb County in the late 1930s, where characters live in isolation and victimization. Through the perspective of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, readers will experience prejudice Maycomb brings during times where people face judgement through age, gender, skin, and class. Different types of prejudice are present throughout the story and they all contribute to how events play out in the small town. Many of those in Maycomb face and express sexism, racial discrimination, and classism their whole lives. This disables the people who fall victim from living their life comfortably in peace.

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Up until Atticus took the case, they were used to the casual racism of Maycomb and participated in it as well, referring to black people as n-words and other racist comments. At that time they didn’t know any better. However, as soon as Atticus takes the case, these beliefs are directly contradicted. When the trial first begins, Scout doesn’t consider the possibility that Tom could be innocent, saying “I know Tom Robinson’s in jail an’ he’s done somethin’ awful..” (40). She isn’t able to comprehend his innocence right away, but as the trial drags on this assumption of guilt changes.

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In Maycomb, both white people and people of color hold animosity to each other. So the children in the town with both a white and black parent are treated differently because society can’t put them in a box “‘ 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 in-betweens, don 't belong anywhere. ’”(Lee 161)

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In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the entire town of Maycomb accepts and contributes to maintaining the racial status quo. The narrator, Scout, tries to make it seem as though Maycomb, Alabama is a better place than other southern states in the United States. Although, they tolerate racism just as much as any other southern state. Some characters are aware of this, like Atticus Finch and Dolphus Raymond and others are not. Dolphus Raymond even states “Things haven’t caught up to that one’s instinct yet.

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Have you ever been in a situation where you feel pain/anger, but put on a brave face so no one will see how much pain you are in? Everyone thinks you're really happy but in reality, you are breaking down inside. This is called judgement. Judging people and being judged has happened at least once in every person's life. It's a part of human nature to judge, but do we know how to cope with it?

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She didn 't fully understand what was going on therefore can 't comprehend the miscarriages of justice. As she can 't fully compose adult commentary, the novel was shown in innocence. One advantage of reading this novel from Scout 's point of view is when she experiences something for the first time, so does the reader. Such as when she goes to Cal 's church and experiences the bitterness some black members have towards white members in

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How does Harper Lee vividly capture the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb county in ‘To kill a mockingbird’? In the novel, ‘To kill a mockingbird’, Harper Lee conveys the theme of racism and social inequality by setting up the story in Maycomb, a small community in Alabama, the U.S back in 1930s. Lee presents some of the social issues of 1930s such as segregation and poverty in the novel. These issues are observed and examined through the innocent eyes of a young girl, Scout, the narrator.

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That’s one part I didn’t like about the book. The stereotypes of the black families of Maycomb. As soon as Bob Ewell turned Tom Robinson in for “raping” his daughter the whole white community believed it because he was black. He was a kind, loving father and husband. But no one bothered to get to know the real him or see past the color of his skin to really know that.

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Atticus fears that "There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins” (Page 224) Atticus confirmed that Maycomb won’t have a just system due to white men’s words to black men. This would only make Maycomb welcoming to white people and unwelcoming for black people. Maycomb is unwelcoming and unjust for the prejudice view for black

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Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour. Racism can be seen even in the first few chapters of the book. These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they were growing up.

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