In the book To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee she uses strong words and racism that make this look interesting. In the book Harper Lee uses and 8 year old girl to tell and narrate the story. She uses the girl so the reader can see the perspective of a kid. In Maycomb the 8 year old and her brother Jem, learn how to put up with the racism, all the hatred and grow from it. Throughout this essay we are going to talk about racism and how it affected the book To Kill a Mockingbird.
In Maycomb County, the trail of Tom Robinson vs. the Ewells began. It was a African American accused for something he didn't do. As a County, we shouldn't be hating on an African American but loving each ethnicity as one. “ I've seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ ……” Bob Ewell said, on page (173). Why is Mr. Ewell opinion wrong and rude? Because by saying nigger he is disgracing on an African American by his ethnicity and that's not right. As Mr. Ewell was questioned during the trial he stood up, angry pointing his finger at Tom Robinson. Saying words judening and lying about Tom Robinson. We need to stop hating on Tom because he didn't do anything he is innocent during the trial.
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But we shouldn't worry of what color they are but how they are as a person. “ They don’t belong anywhere, colored folks won’t have em ‘cause they’re colored…” Jem said. In this quote Jem is talking about how colored folks will never be equal to American. By him saying that tells us a lot on how African Americans were treated back then. They were disliked and seen as nothing. Just by assuming how they are as a person because of their ethnicity is cruel. In the book it Jem didn't dislike African American but seeing how they are treated made him think. Therefore we need to stop assuming and judging other people by their race and start caring for one
There were two churches in Maycomb, one for the blacks and one for the whites. This is another example of racism. They also had separate seating arrangements in the courthouse for white and black people. The trial was prejudiced because they chose the Ewells’ story over Tom Robinson because he was black.
Scout and Jem are the farthest thing from being racist or prejudiced, they are both two kids raised in a home where racism and prejudice are frowned upon. Scout’s family is completely against racism and prejudice. In the town of Maycomb, prejudice is a disease, but Jem, Scout, and Dill are immune to this illness because of the people who raise them. For example, when Cecil and Francis tell Scout that it is a disgrace for Atticus to defend Tom, even though Francis is Scouts cousin, also when Scout and Jem hear the verdict of Tom’s case they both cry and are angry about the sentence while the rest of the town is happy. Scout doesn’t want Walter Cunningham to come over for dinner because she thinks he is a disgrace.
Accused of raping a poor white girl, innocent Tom Robinson is now faced with a desperate trial. “The evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber.” (Lee 273). Atticus delivers a powerful speech to the courthouse audience highlighting the disturbing truth of the unfair society. Although there was substantial evidence proving Tom’s innocence against Mayella Ewell, Tom was convicted for the rape the Ewell’s made up to disguise their guilty faults. The stereotypical accusation of the unjustifiable verdict costed Tom his life, when he grew “tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own.” (Lee 315). There are always two sides to a story and specifically someone from the black community had their strong opinion on those of the white community. When Calpurnia brought Jem and Scout to her church, they were interrogated by an angered Lula. “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here-they got their church, we got our’n.” (Lee 158). Lula makes a stereotypical judgement, after seeing Jem and Scout she immediately labels them white, and we can infer her thoughts are pulled from her prior knowledge of the stereotypical racist white community. She has never met Jem and Scout yet is quick to group
Even though Jem is growing up and maturing he has some naive view of the community he live in. We see that in trial of Tom Robinson. Jem is convinced that the jury is going to rule in favor of Tom. But as we know Tom is convicted. This surprises Jem. He doesn‘t understand and can‘t accept it. However everybody else know that the ruling is never going to be in Toms favor. He sees the world only as black and white although he is learning that it is not that simple. Through the story Jem learns about the injustice, racism and discrimination in his
The racial prejudice exhibited in TKAM was done so by most members of the Maycomb community. Their negative and discrimatory attitudes towards African Americans could be obviously seen at Tom Robinson’s trial where Mr Ewell said “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” not only is his use of derogatory language incredibly degrading and offensive, his compares and associates Tom with an animal by
Racial prejudice is widespread in the county of Maycomb, and a prime example is the Tom Robinson case. Tom, a black man, was accused of raping Mayella, a white woman. Atticus puts forward all evidence from his witnesses that clearly proves Tom was innocent, Jem even says, ?and we?re gonna win Scout. I don?t see how we can?t? (pg 206), but Tom still received a ?Guilty? verdict. Atticus tried removing the prejudiced thoughts of the jurors by saying, ??the assumption - the evil assumption - that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings??. (pg 208). Atticus? saying insinuated the point that all of God?s children were created equal. To the jury, the only important thing was that Tom was black and the accuser was white, he never stood a chance under those conditions. These racial tensions between blacks and whites had made their way into the courtroom, a place where everyone should receive a fair trial no matter what race or colour, but an unjust verdict was reached. The prejudice that was felt towards Tom made him lose all hope of freedom, and as a result, he died upon an escape attempt. Tom was victim of racial prejudice and loss of hope.
Although Tom Robinson is innocent, he is a victim to the discriminatory views of a racist society, and this leads to him
There is no doubt that Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a famous novel known for its themes, most of them containing wise life lessons, racial inequality being an obvious and important one. Firstly, racism illustrates the lack of justice and people’s views on prejudice in Tom Robinson’s case. Secondly, the novel touches base on diction notably the racial slurs used. Finally, with racism being a theme of the novel, it affects the characters’ personalities. Harper Lee uses life lessons, diction and characters throughout the novel because it develops the main theme of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird.
These perceptions change how people treat the black community and cause a general association with crime toward the blacks. In addition, during the 1930's, the white community rejects the black community because the perceptions that the society contains which incriminate the blacks. Jem explains to Scout why the coloreds don’t belong in their society by saying, "White folks won't have 'em 'cause they're colored an' colored folks won't have 'em cause they're half white,"(Lee,215). This evidence states that the whites reject the blacks because they are black and vice versa. The whites treat them like criminals because they feel like they can when the blacks have done nothing to deserve that sort of treatment.
Also Jem was affected negatively by racism by a loss of his innocence. Jem states while he walks out of the courtroom “ It ain't right Atticus”(Lee 285). Jem now knows that Tom should have won but he didn’t just because he is a black man facing a white woman. When Jem angrily said, “ I never wanna hear about that court case again, ever, ever you hear me?”(Lee 331). This quote proves that Jem has lost his innocence because he knows that Tom Robinson should have had a fair trial but he didn't so he doesn't want to hear about it.
Jem had to witness these horrific events happening and he truly saw how the society he lived in was built off of the idea that white people are better than black
In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the prejudice and segregation that the African Americans were facing was very present throughout the book. We see those types of moments, where African Americans are found guilty before the trial even begun, or how African American had to change how they were to fit in to the society. African Americans changed the way they talked, the way they acted, even they way they looked, to make sure that it wouldn’t lead them to their death, and in a lot of cases it ended in just that. In a moment in the book the main character Scout and her
His ideals are that there is no difference between black men and white men. He also helps the children understand the circumstances of his own children, who are mixed. When describing mixed children, Jem states, “Colored folks won't have ‘em because they're half white; white folks won't have ‘em because they're colored…” (Lee 161) This description showed them how racism is a double-edged sword.
Scout narrates, “It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ’It ain’t right,’he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square” (Lee 242). This proves that Jem knows that racism is not right, he has grown up to see how some people really are. The trial of Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman, made Jem realize
Tom Robinson’s trial, and in fact his entire life, was badly affected by racism. It is truly a testament to the corruption of society when a person who has earned a bad reputation is held in higher esteem than a person who was born with it, as is the case with Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson. Even though Tom was obviously honest in his testament, the jury sided with Bob Ewell because he was white. They made this decision despite the fact that the Ewell family was widely known to be a worthless part of society. Jem, not being racially prejudiced, could not understand this mentality. As Atticus pointed out, “If you (Jem) had been on the jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man.”