To Kill A Mockingbird Quotes Analysis

Aaron Weiss

Mr. Labrie

English 1, Period 7

May 9, 2023

The Importance of Understanding Racism

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960 and has been awarded a Pulitzer prize.The novel is written in the first person perspective of a little girl named Scout Finch. She lives in Maycomb county, Alabama in the 1930’s. The novel is about Scout’s experiences and guidance from her father and neighbors while growing up in a racist community. A town where there is a huge battle between racial prejudice and true justice. Where there is a huge imbalance of social status, wealth, and living conditions. To Kill a Mockingbird expresses the theme of prejudice and ignorance which causes the destruction of Scout's childhood innocence. Throughout

The context of this quote is Scout is upset that Tom Robinson was given the death penalty by the jury in his trial, even with a good deal of evidence on his side. Atticus explains to them that Tom would have either been innocent or given the death penalty by the jury because the jury wanted the most brutal punishment they could give. Atticus tells Scout that even the court system, which should be the most fair thing to a problem, will be prejudiced when it is a white man's word over a black man's word. “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it— whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.” Atticus was speaking so quietly his last word crashed on our ears. I looked up, and his face was vehement. “There’s nothing more sickening to me than a low- grade white man who’ll take advantage of a Negro’s ignorance. Don’t fool yourselves—it’s all adding up and one of these days we’re going to pay the bill for it. I hope it’s not in your children’s time.” pg (220, 221) This quote shows that Scout realizes racism is extremely wrong because she starts to notice the prejudice in her town. Scout has seen first hand how racism can destroy someone's life and felt angry that

Scout was reading the editorial in the local newspaper the day after the trial of Tom Robinsons and was confused about why it said that there was “senseless killing”. She was confused because she saw the trial as fair and well fought by her father but then realized why Tom was never going to win. “Then Mr. Underwood’s meaning became clear: Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” pg (241) This is Scout's moment of realization about how the racism in her town works. She understands that her neighbors are racist and like it because they can hold power over another human. Scout can see how wrong the people around her are for being prejudiced during Tom Robinson’s trial. Scout has been told not to be racist and she has known it is wrong but has finally made a connection from her own experiences to the feeling that being racist is