To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has a lot of forma of hypocrisy. Bob Ewell, Mrs.Merriweather, and Miss.Gates display hypocrisy at least once throughout the book. The biggest hyprorite in To Kill a Mockingbird, Bob Ewell, is a drunk who deserves the worst. Bob claims to be a great father although he beats his daughter just for trying to get the love and afection that he never gives her. Most of the black community in the book are hardworking and loyal but Bob still thinks that he sits at a higher placement in life than them even though he is lazy and an unhonest piece of trash. Bob says "I positively am not, I can use one good as the other." when Atticus asks if he can write with both hands, showing that he does not know as much as he thinks he does. Bob seems to act just like the black people act which is apparently wrong, therefore that makes him a hyprocrite. …show more content…
Merrieweather has to be the second biggest hyprocrite in To Kill a Mockingbird. Mrs.Meriweather shows hyprocrisy while at the missionary circle she starts to get softhearted and upset about the "poor Murna" tribe in Africa and does nothing about it but show her sympathy, when she knows she can do something to give back. After Mrs.Merriweather shows her sympathy to the blacks in Africa she then starts to trash talking about Sophie and about the black community in her own town. Mrs. Merriweather states "There's nothing more distracting than a sulky darky." but she can still show her sympathy to the blacks in Africa. Mrs.Merrieweather is a hyprocrite because she talks about fair rights and supporting charity, but doesn't act upon it when problems stand right in front of
The Ideas of Hypocrisy, Prejudice and Dignity in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird In Maycomb, the town in which Harper Lee's book 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is set, hypocrisy and prejudice are prevalent in most of its citizens. Although many of the characters morals are admirable, you soon realise that what people say and what people do are not always related. Mrs Grace Merriweather falls into this category. She is seen to be 'the most devout lady in Maycomb' and her eyes 'always filled with tears when she considered the oppressed' yet she is just as prejudiced to the black citizens or 'darky's' as the majority of the ladies of the 'Maycomb Alabama Methodist Episcopal Church South' are. Mrs Merriweather appears to be the most hypocritical character in this chapter.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (p.90) Miss. Maudie, one of the main protagonists in To Kill a Mockingbird, warns the young girl Scout that mockingbirds should not to be killed or hunted down because they represent those who are kind and innocent. So, on a broader spectrum, the term “to kill a mockingbird” symbolizes cruel and improper behavior towards people with good hearts and intentions. In the town of Maycomb, unethical behaviors, such as prejudice and gossip, are most commonly used against the “mockingbirds”. Three of those “mockingbirds” that are featured in this novel are Arthur “Boo” Radley, Tom Robinson, and Atticus Finch. Due to the depiction of the mockingbird symbol in the novel, the reader understands the consequences that immoral attitudes have towards those who are innocent and kindhearted.
In “To Kill a Mockingbird” there are many examples of racism. During the 1960s when the book was published, racism was acceptable and Black people were constantly dominated and ridiculed by Caucasian people. This novel written by Harper Lee is based on racism against Black people and the refusal of people to treat everyone equally.
The author behind the influential and famous novel To Kill A Mockingbird is a woman by the name of Harper Lee. This ingenious woman made magic with only her inventive mind, creative imagination, past experiences and passion for kindness and equality. She was born and raised in a time of prejudice and racism but she always found a way to keep her goodness intact. She never let herself get corrupted or influenced by frivolous and uneducated people. Harper Lee’s influences as a child and views of society as an adult inspired her to fight against the world’s prejudice outlook on life by writing To Kill A Mockingbird, a novel that argues against society’s biased views toward racism.
The colour of one’s skin does not indicate a class, it indicates a community of people. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird sets place during the 1930’s in a small rural county of Macomb, Alabama. In the novel, Atticus Finch is a civil, intelligent, and an idealistic father of the two main characters named Scout and Jem. He is a white liberal Alabama lawyer who is against racism and is not ashamed to defend Tom Robinson, an innocent African-American. In the novel, Tom Robinson is falsely accused of raping a young white woman named Mayella Ewell due to his ethnic group by Meyella herself along with her father Bob Ewell. Racial discrimination is the worst kind of prejudice in the community which has an extremely effective impact on the characters
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, many different themes come into view. One major theme that played a big role in the character’s lives is racial prejudice. Racism is an unending problem throughout the book. The song “Message from a Black Man” by The Temptations has many similarities to the theme of racial discrimination. Therefore, both the novel and the song prove that racism was a great obstacle for some people at a point.
In this world, everyone has an equal right; however, many people are getting falsely accused of acts they did not commit even though they are innocent. Mockingbirds, one of the most innocent birds, sing their heart out for people to enjoy, however, they getting killed every day. In this novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many racial prejudices going on. Finches stand near the top of the social hierarchy, with Cunningham and Ewells underneath. Black community in Maycomb is even below the Ewells, even if they were a hard worker; they were not treated equally. The “mockingbirds” represents the idea of innocence, so killing a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. Throughout the book, many characters are considered a mockingbird. Three examples are Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Mr. Dolphus Raymond. Those three characters are innocent; they are kind and were never harmful to others. However, they were destroyed through contact of evil. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the mockingbirds symbolizes the idea of innocence, and Tom, Boo, and Mr. Raymond are considered one of it.
In the novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee some characters suffer in the hands of justice and fairness more than others. Many characters in the novel are discriminated against such as Calpurnia, Dolphus Raymond, Helen Robinson, Burris Ewell and more. However I will be focusing on the discrimination against Tom Robinson for his race, Walter Cunningham for his low socioeconomic status and Boo Radley for the rumors and supposed mental instability he holds. I chose those three because they are the most prominent and I will discuss how the discrimination against the characters therefore leads to their injustice or unfairness.
If you were to look up the word “hypocrisy” in a dictionary, you would find that it is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which the person’s behavior does not follow. You can picture this as a person saying one thing that they believe but turning around and doing something that totally contradicts it. This happens in society a lot of times and we can find examples of this in the book, To Kill a Mockingbird.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a remarkable novel following the childhood of Jem and Scout, the son and daughter of Atticus Finch. Living in a small and drama filled town of Maycomb County they encounter a great deal of people who do not stand by their word. Hypocrisy occurs throughout this novel first by a man named Dolphus Raymond, then by two women Mrs. Merriweather and Miss Gates.
How would you like it if someone walked up to you and berated you based on the color of your skin? A characteristic like that isn’t even something you can control, so an insult of that nature can leave one furious and oppressed. Discrimination is inevitable in any culture, throughout history, in modern times, and even in ancient times. For example, the oppression and murder of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust, the African Slave Trade which occurred for multiple centuries, and more recently, the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar, brought on by the government of the Asian nation, all of which are tragedies doomed to happen when history repeats itself and people do not learn
What is ignorance? Ignorance is defined as, “the state of being ignorant; lack of knowledge, learning, information, etc” (Dictonary.com). When ignorance is in a novel, it gives the readers a chance to see some insight on who the characters are and the families they come from. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a reoccurring theme of ignorance, the theme of ignorance is shown between a series of racial ignorance, situational ignorance, and gender ignorance. Ignorance in the story causes many conflicts between the characters or themselves in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
The novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee has numerous accounts of racism and prejudice throughout the entire piece. The novel is set in the 1930's, a time when racism was very prevalent. Although bigotry and segregation were pointed in majority towards blacks, other accounts towards whites were also heard of, though not as commonly. There are acts that are so discreet that you almost don't catch them, but along with those, there are blatant acts of bigotry that would never occur in our time. Lee addresses many of these feelings in her novel.
Hypocrisy is as much a part of Maycomb’s society as church and community spirit. For example, Mrs. Merriweather talks about saving the poor Mruans from Africa, but she thinks black people in her community are a disgrace (p.234). The hypocrisy of this teaching is shown as soon as she mentions the word ‘persecution’. This is due to the fact that she herself is persecuting the black people of Maycomb by not raising an eyebrow at the killing of innocent black men. Furthermore, it is obvious Bob Ewell is abusive to his daughter, Mayella, and that he is the one who violated her, not Tom Robinson (p.178). Since there is such hypocrisy in Maycomb, there are excuses made for whites. The jury probably thinks that if they pronounce Tom innocent the citizens will mock them as they do to Atticus. Harper Lee uses hypocrisy to show how the people of Maycomb are so engulfed in a variety of elements that they unknowingly complete acts of unjustified discrimination.
Racism. racism is the prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race, based on the belief that one's own race is superior. This belief has been around for many years, ever since the beginning of humanity. Many experts say that racism started in the colonial era and is know starting to diminish. Nonetheless there are still people who believe in the supremacy of their race and think someone's ethnicity makes up their personality. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the people of Maycomb treat African Americans like they're second class citizens. In this Novel, Lee expresses one’s appearance doesn't change people of other ethnicities character and opinions. In which Lee means your appearance can’t change