Ahead of Her Time: Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

915 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racism and literature

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is thought to have been way ahead of her time of literature and went places were books of that time did not go, and still do not go. Lee went head at the lifestyle of the 1930’s in Alabama, and talked about racism and prejudice as many others stayed away from that topic. In the novel there were many different times where Lee brought out the dark side of the “dirty thirties” she shows prejudice and racism at its worst moments. Lee has her main characters of Jem Finch, and Scout Finch experience prejudice and racism as the book goes on and mainly in the second part. In the second part of the novel the characters find racism when Calpurnia takes the kids to her church, what the find out about Mr.Dolphus Raymond, and then at the end of the trial.

In chapter 12 Calpurnia takes the children to her church as Atticus is away. As Calpurnia takes the children up to the front doors of the church most of the blacks’ part and make a pass way for them to walk up. Although there is one person who does not believe that the Finches should be allowed to be in the black church, and she will make sure that her views are known and her name is Lula. Lula said “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillum here-they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church,…”(Lee,119). To this quote the Jem, and Scout are taken back by this remark as they thought that they were welcomed everywhere. In this situation they may not see it but they are being treated like the blacks where they enter the white community. The children find out that later that Lula is the only one that does not want the children at the church and they are welcomed at the church and that only Lula is the only one of the blac...

... middle of paper ...

...ust because of their race and peoples perceived prejudice of the person. Lastly this shows the most common kind of prejudice and that is white people against the blacks.

All in all Harper Lee’s book To Kill A Mockingbird was and is still ahead of its time in the sense that it shows racism and prejudice. The examples above are only 3 of a possible hundred to pick from in the novel. What this shows is that there are many different kinds of racism and it is not always white people of the black people, there are many different kinds of prejudice and racism. This brings out that because of the fact that prejudice comes in both ways it is almost impossible to stop people from being prejudice. So in conclusion racism and prejudice comes in all forms and can come from anyone at anytime, and it has gotten into places that some people never thought it could have gone.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    1270 Words  | 3 Pages

    one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it is a sin to

    Read More

  • Challenging Racial Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960, is a novel which explores the theme of challenging racial prejudice. Within this novel, Lee has portrayed unintentional racial prejudice through the characters Atticus Finch, Link Deas and Scout Finch. With these characters, and their roles in exploring the theme of racial prejudice, Harper Lee has set unintentional boundaries for readers, as result, racial prejudicial thinking from contemporary perspective, in comparison to historical views, is challenged to a small extent.

    Read More

  • Perspective on Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

    1379 Words  | 3 Pages

    You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. You know Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was misperceived at first. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names, but after he led Santa’s sleigh, they loved him. Misperceptions like this happen all throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. As you read the novel you see original judgments made about characters transform into new conceptions and new understandings. Some characters twist your views of them on purpose, others do it involuntarily. To Kill a Mockingbird shows this happening over and over again. All you have to do is look for it.

    Read More

  • Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the principal aims of To Kill a Mockingbird is to subject the narrator to a series of

    Read More

  • Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

    1481 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main characters: Atticus, Scout and Jem were faced with many losing battles such as Tom Robinson's case, the "mad dog incident" and Mrs. Dubose's addiction to morphine. This builds on the theme of there are things in life that won't go your way. The book takes place in the 1930's or 1940's in a small town in Alabama called Maycomb. The novel takes us through the life and perils that the main characters undergo and teach us about growing up and being mature.

    Read More

  • Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    Childhood is a continuous time of learning, and of seeing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone no matter what they might look like on the outside. To Kill A Mockingbird tells a story about two young kids named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch growing up in their small, racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the years go by they learn how their town and a lot of the people in it aren’t as perfect as they may have seemed before. When Jem and Scout’s father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town’s imperfections begin to show. A sour, little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout all because of the help Atticus gave to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their appearance on the outside, or belittle someone because they are different.

    Read More

  • Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

    1461 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although most discrimination appears as white people against African American people, there is one case where the discrimination appears as African American people against white people. On a Sunday when Jem and Scout’s father, Atticus, is not home, Calpurnia, their cook, takes the two children to her church. Once there they were confronted by a woman named Lula. She is racist against white people, and shows it by saying, “‘I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillun to n***er church’” (Lee 158).

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Innocence Quotes

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird is a heroic tale of leadership and courage during racial times. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus, To, Jem and Scout are unfortunately exposed to a really racist and prejudiced society and town. Which ends up causing them to lose a case and really confuse Jem and Scout when they are young. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, it uses characterization to help show a theme of loss of innocence when people are exposed to surprising and unfair situations.

    Read More

  • Decoding Symbolism and Prejudice in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

    1551 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the novel Harper Lee explores the racism, prejudice, and the innocence that occurs throughout the book. She shows these themes through her strong use of symbolism throughout the story. Even though To Kill a Mockingbird was written in the 1960’s, the powerful symbolism this book contributes to our society is tremendous. This attribute is racist (Smykowski). To Kill a Mockingbird reveals a story about Scout’s childhood growing up with her father and brother, in an accustomed southern town that believed heavily in ethnological morals (Shackelford).

    Read More

  • Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    “To Kill A Mockingbird” is marvelous and unforgettable novel. Not only show how dramatic, sad in and old town – Maycomb be like, but through her unique writings, some big conflicts about politics and critical is going on through this tired old Southern town. Not just in general like education, friendship, neighbors but also pacific in individuals like family and the people’s characteristics themselves. In one book yet can covered with such many problems, Harper Lee must have been experienced a lot and deeply understanding that time. That is why the book lives, becoming literature and get the love from the audiences a lot. One of the problem and mostly run along with the story and interest me is racism between white people and black people socially.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Essays: Discrimination and Prejudice

    1388 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Dehumanization In To Kill A Mockingbird

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    Today, racism is a problematic situation that can break nation apart. Discrimination on one’s personal characteristics can sway a community's opinion greatly. Harper Lee was indulged in numerous racist encounters in her life, many of which transpire into her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In the novel, one is seen as an animal when enduring the venom of racism. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, racism leads to the dehumanization of both the victims and the infectors.

    Read More

  • Racism in American Schools

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the opening chapters of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Harper Lee introduces several subtle instances of racism. However, when Jem and Scout are welcomed into Cal’s Church in chapter 12, the reader really gets to travel behind the false disguise of Maycomb County’s white society to see the harsh realities of the injustices suffered by the blacks. The black community is completely separate from the whites -- in fact, Cal lives in a totally different part of town!

    Read More

  • Themes of Prejudice and Tolerance in To Kill a Mockingbird

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It is set in the 1930s, a time when racism was very prominent. Harper Lee emphasizes the themes of prejudice and tolerance in her novel through the use of her characters and their interactions within the Maycomb community. The narrator of the story, Scout, comes across many people and situations with prejudice and tolerance, as her father defends a black man.

    Read More

More about Ahead of Her Time: Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

Open Document