To Kill a Mockingbird shows Racist themes throughout the book. To demonstrate, Jem and Scout were being reprimanded by Mrs. Dubose as they walked to the store, she told Scout that of she kept wearing overalls she’d have a bad life, she also said, “Not only a Finch waiting on tables but one in the courthouse lawing for niggers!” (Lee Unknown). This shows that some people in Maycomb are very racist. As another example, they use the phrase “Nigger Lover” (Lee 94-96) as an insult multiple times. This insinuates that their society rejects people of color and anyone who converses with them. In chapter 11, the phrase “nigger lover” reappears as Mrs. Dubose calls Atticus that, Scout asks Atticus what it means and if he actually is one, he says, “I …show more content…
Racism is the most prominent form of discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird though earlier in the book Scout showed some classist biases. For example she got into trouble with Walter Cunningham because his family acted different from hers so she beat him up, she told Atticus and he said, “Try fighting with your head for a change” (Lee 87). Atticus is attempting to coerce Jem and Scout to not fall prey to societal norms of hate and bias. As another example of Justice is when Atticus tells Scout that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird so she asks Miss Maudie why, she says, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird.” (Lee Unknown). This could be symbolism of a Mockingbird as the equivalent of a black person, they do not harm us so why would we harm them. This again ties back to the theme of racism, they find it a sin to kill a mockingbird but not to kill a black person. To prove another point of justice and racism, Atticus tells Scout about his morals, he says, “This case, Tom Robinson’s case, is something that goes to the essence of a