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Both The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee take place in times of harsh racial inequality in the South; however, they mutually carry the idea of racial equality. Both books show effort towards change in society, which may often be perceived as being led by the whites. However, despite strong, white protagonists created by Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird and Kathryn Stockett in The Help, this is not unintentionally racist; in the societies the novels are placed in, the blacks virtually had no choice but to follow the whites, or face extreme consequences, and there was an equal respect involved. The authors strived to ensure the books were true to the time period. While the society at the time was extremely racist, neither book is, even if the whites may often appear like the leader.
To Kill a Mockingbird takes place around 1935, a time in which blacks had very few rights and white supremacy was ubiquitous; this setting becomes a major obstacle for Tom Robinson. This society is shown through Tom Robinson’s trial, and his much needed reliance on Atticus. Though it can be argued that Atticus is portrayed by Harper Lee as better than Tom Robinson, and as his savior, this is not the case. Due to the setting of the novel, Tom Robinson had no alternative but to put his faith into Atticus’s hands, or face further consequences. Atticus then proceeded to prove Tom’s innocence. Atticus may have been depicted as the leader in this struggle for Tom’s innocence, but that does not mean Tom was weak, he simply had no choice if Harper Lee was going to make the novel accurate. After Tom’s death when he was shot escaping prison, Scout realizes, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella opened her mouth and screamed” ...
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...may seem to be the strong leader, that sometimes may be true, but it does not prove to be racist. Breaking that would be unrealistic for the time period the novels are set in. The blacks are shown using that white leadership as safety, and to accomplish tasks they were not capable of doing because of the consequences in doing so. In both books, both races are shown respecting each other, and often equalizing themselves. In these ways, neither book can be proved racist. Harper Lee and Kathryn Stockett illustrated the condescending lines of racism and the wrong that existed in these societies, and in doing so accomplished the difficult task of not being racist themselves.
Works Cited
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1960. New York: Warner Books, 1999.
Stockett, Kathryn. The Help. New York: Amy Einhorn, 2009. Print.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York, New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1960. Print.
Tom Robinson was just a “respectable negro” with a kind nature who was accused in absence of wrong. Mr Robinson is immediately seen as an enemy by most in town of Maycomb. Is it because of his malicious personality? Is it because of his hair colour? Is it because he is arrogant? No, all of these are false he is instantly convicted because he is of a different ethnicity. It seems foolish but this is the reason why Maycomb has discarded a man who is of higher quality than the majority of the town. “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella opened her mouth and screamed.” As soon as the trial began Tom’s opportunity for victory grew slimmer and slimmer and Maycomb knew that Atticus was fighting an unwinnable battle. But Atticus was determined to defend the ‘ultimate mockingbird’ right up until the end; even after the court case Atticus defends Tom at the jail. A final act of Tom’s innocence to prove his mockingbird status was whilst in court, he still didn’t want to accuse Mayella because “she seemed...
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, and the Scottsboro Trial the African-American community was degraded while the rest of society would not speak of any racial tensions because of their belief that they were contributing to their own communities. In The Help the African-American women of Jackson, Mississippi would take care of the white children, to a point where the children may even consider their “help” of a part of their family than their own parents, along with trying to take care of their own families. In To Kill a Mockingbird Tom Robinson is convicted of the rape of Mayella Ewell on the assumption that all black men are evil and can do no good. In the Scottsboro Trial, nine African-American teenagers
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.
To Kill a Mockingbird tells of a little girl’s love for her family and life living in a racist community filled with judgmental people (Shackelford). This was the time were black people were treated unfairly in courts especially in Alabama (Johnson). Alabama was the most racist part of the south everything was separated and blacks were treated like dirt that the whites walked on. In the book blacks did not have many rights and had to be servants and workers for the whites.
The story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee portrays many different scenarios of racial discrimination. Discrimination occurs in the book and many people are affected by the racial slurs and other occurrences. In the story, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson are all people that are discriminated against or are affected by discrimination. Racial discrimination is a major part of To Kill a Mockingbird.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's only novel, is a fictional story of racial oppression, set in Maycomb, A.L. in 1925 to 1935, loosely based on the events of the Scottsboro trials. Unlike the story however, the racial discrimination and oppression in the novel very accurately portrays what it was like in the 1920's and 1930's in the south. Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a poor low class white girl of 19, never stood a chance of getting a fair trial. This can be supported by giving examples of racially discriminatory and oppressive events that actually took place in the south during the time period in which the novel is based. In addition to actual historical events, events and examples from the book that clearly illustrate the overpoweringly high levels of prejudice that were intertwined in the everyday thinking of the majority of the characters in the book supports the fact that Tom Robinson never stood a chance of getting a fair trial.
...tional stage with the Scottsboro trials, which became the inspiration for Harper Lee’s burning expeditionary work of fiction, To Kill a Mockingbird, in which she employs a tone critical of racism. The two cases, fictional and real, shared many stunning similarities, such as the preservation of southern womanhood and police brutality, as well as minor differences such as the attitudes of the accusers. The great tragedy of both cases is best exemplified by Atticus Finch’s declaration that “this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271).
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Reprint. New York City: Grand Central Publishing, 1982. Print
Even though extraordinary changes have been made in the past to achieve racial equality, America is still racist, especially in schools. In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is criticized for defending a black man accused of raping a white woman. During the 1930s, the time this novel took place, America was a very segregated country. At the time when Harper Lee wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird," America was fighting a civil rights movement. The events of racism in “To Kill a Mockingbird” reflect the time period.
In a nutshell, To Kill A Mockingbird is about racism and prejudice, both themes that have been very harmful to society. These elements have run through society and have been represented equally in the book also. Racism and Prejudice haunt ignorance and vice versa. By writing this novel Harper Lee fought her own battle and raised awareness not only of racial prejudice that occurred in the 20’s and 30’s but also in today’s world.
Have you ever read the book To KIll a Mockingbird by Harper Lee? The book took place in the 1930’s. It’s about a family from Maycomb County and the dad (Atticus) is defending a black man (Tom Robinson). It is important for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson even though it puts himself and his family in danger.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior, to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, and the struggle between blacks and whites. Atticus Finch, a lawyer and single parent in a small southern town in the 1930's, is appointed by the local judge to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. Friends and neighbors object when Atticus puts up a strong and spirited defense on behalf of the accused black man. Atticus renounces violence but stands up for what he believes in. He decides to defend Tom Robinson because if he did not, he would not only lose the respect of his children and the townspeople, but himself as well.
To Kill a Mockingbird novel is a warm and humorous piece of writing though it deals with critical issues such as racial inequality and rape. The novel was published in 1960 by Harper Lee and it gained immediate popularity and success becoming a modern literature in American. The plot of the novel and characters are based on Harper’s perception of her neighbors and her immediate family. Also, it is based on her observation of events that took place near her home area in 1936 at the age of ten years. To Kill a Mockingbird symbolizes killing harmless and innocent people. Tom Robinson is an example of an innocent man falsely accused of raping a White girl known as Mayella Ewell (Lee 169). Another example is Boo who is misunderstood by the society
Discrimination is prevalent in the story “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the most obvious being the excessive amount of racism (Lee). Racism is the easiest to see but there are more forms of discrimination (Lee). Boo Radley is ostracized from the community when truly nobody really knows him (Lee). People discriminate Scout for being a tomboy not a lady (Lee). The last one that no one ever thinks about is how reverse racism is seen when people threaten Atticus for defending Tom Robinson in court (Lee). Discrimination in any form is a controversial topic but everyone knows that it is not right to discriminate against people.