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Class and social stratification in killa mockingbird
Class and social stratification in killa mockingbird
Social inequality to kill a mockingbird
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There were many different forms of discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird.People were judged based on their race, social status, and even gender. There were many times where people was not treated like regular people . The book was set in the south during the early to mid 1930’s. Life for black people, women, and lower level people was clearly depicted as challenging & difficult. The form of discrimination that is front and center is Aunt Alexandra to Calpurnia. Aunt Alexandra is very prejudice towards Calpurnia. She does not like it when Cal takes the kids to her Church for black people. Calpurnia is a great helper to the Finch’s and should not be treated this way. Aunt Alexandra believes that Calpurnia should not associate the kids with
They were thought to be different because they believe that you should spend your time reading the Bible. They were foot-washing Baptists. The kids would also play the game Boo Radley and imitated him and act out his life. Boo might of had a mental illness and that is maybe why he is always inside. Everybody jumps to conclusion that he is crazy such with the stabbing but it is really just all rumors.
Mr. Dolphus Raymond is another person being discriminated. He is because he is married and had kids with a black women. A lot of people think that he shouldn’t raise a child in an interracial relationship and it is evidently taking delight in corrupting a child. I do not believe there is anything wrong with this because you love who you love and you should not have that taken away from you. Now it is very common to see mixed raced kids. Back then these kids were not treated the same as other kids. One time Jem and Scout walk by Mr. Raymond and Jem says,
"They don't belong anywhere. Colored folks won't have 'em 'cause they're half white; white folks won't have 'em 'cause they're colored, so they're just in-betweens, don't belong
This highlight's how prevalent and ordinary racist discrimination was. The way Scout felt it was wrong to be talking to Mr Raymond also indicates how he was omitted from the community. Racial prejudice divides the town and allows people to be excluded and discriminated against. When Miss Maudie says, "You are too young to understand it." she is discriminating against Scout's age. The use of this cliché illustrates how common it was for adults to not explain things to children because they assumed they would not understand. It also displays how age discrimination was something that happened regularly. Scout often has different views on topics and if she was included in more conversations people within the community could see things from a different vantage point. In this way To Kill A Mockingbird outlines how gender, age and racial prejudice impacts individuals and communities in a damaging
In the town of Maycomb, a man who stands up against racism forever changes people’s views on racism. Scout, Jem and Atticus Finch all stand together against racism and prejudice in the tiny town of Maycomb. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 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 told Scout that Atticus is a disgrace to defend Tom Robinson, even though Francis is Scout’s cousin. 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 ecstatic. And finally when Scout doesn’t want Walter Cunningham to come over for dinner because she thinks that he is a disgrace. For all of these reasons, the Finch family must not be racist or prejudiced.
To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a rural southern town in the 1930s, when racism was commonly accepted. Blacks were
In To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee people were judged by unfair standards that resulted in oppression. Scout and Jem are the children of a white lawyer who has to defend a black man accused of raping a white female. In the 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama equal rights were not factors. Which says that the problems of human inequality and the divisions within society were unfair and unjust, like Boo Radley being treated unequally by others. People were judged regarding their race, economic status, or social standing. The race of Tom Robinson led to think he was guilty of a crime he didn't commit. Racism also led to Aunt Alexandra's harsh beliefs against Calpurnia.
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).
Imagine a world where anyone who was born with brown hair got to give orders to anyone born with blonde hair. If you're born with brown hair, you could have better careers and the better education whereas the blondes wouldn’t even been given a fair court trial. If something like this happened overnight, there would be a huge uproar, but what if it happened over time and generations grew to accept it? Eventually, people would start to argue that brown haired people were naturally superior to blondes. If you were living in a tiny town in the Deep South, such as Maycomb, you’d have even less of a reason to question the status quo. Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird is trying to teach his kids, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.” Furthermore, the largest forms of discrimination in the novel are racism and classism.
During the court case, Mayella was referred to as, “Ma’am,” while Tom Robinson was asked by Mr. Gilmer, “Are you (Tom Robinson) being imprudent to me, boy?” (Document C, “Ma’am” vs. “Boy”). Both of these people are adults, yet they were addressed differently. Tom Robinson was treated like a child and Miss Mayella was treated like a proper adult. The way that this society looked at these two people is very segregated and is dependent completely on their race. Many others in this town suffered from racism and rude remarks being made towards them, like Helen. One day Scout asked Calpurnia about Helen Robinson and, “Calpurnia said it was hard on Helen because she had to walk nearly a mile out of her way to avoid the Ewells, who according to Helen, “chunked at her,” the first time she tried to use a public road.” (TKAM, pg 333). There are many individuals who are looked at as those of the lesser class due to their skin color and they often faced awful circumstances. White people automatically were set above all black people during these decades because of the strict social boundaries that were set. However, even though Miss Ewell had one advantage of being white in a southern segregated town, she still struggled with being categorized due to her class and
One subtle example of discrimination the reader sees is the treatment of Calpurnia, a black woman, the housekeeper/nanny for the Finch family. Although she is treated fairly, it is obvious that she is considered to be on a lower social level than the Finches. She calls Scout ma'am and Jem sir, although these are titles usually reserved for elders.
First of all, Bob Ewell shows discrimination against Tom Robinson through the claim of his daughter’s rape committed by Tom, which was proven to not have happened, and the use of the derogatory term “nigger”. Secondly, Miss Maudie shows racism to the African American population by referring to an African-American in Nathan Radley’s collard patch as a “negro”, a derogatory term. Thirdly, Nathan Radley shows discriminatory racism toward the same African-American in his collard patch mentioned in the previous sentence by shooting at him, which was a failed attempt, and referring to him as a “nigger”, an offensive insult directed at African-American people. Finally, Aunt Alexandra shows sexism toward Scout by implying that she isn’t a “proper lady” unless she wears and does whatever Aunt Alexandra perceives as ladylike. In conclusion, there are many, many examples of discrimination towards people of all walks of life in To Kill A Mockingbird, the most prominent of them being racism and sexism. Discrimination is a horrible thing to be inflicted with and the human race should all work together to exterminate it from its source: us. We must keep an open mind to accept people of all races, religions, genders, sexualities, cultures, and personalities to make the world a more welcoming and friendly place for
Mr. Dolphus Raymond is another character who suffered from Maycomb’s racism. He was a respected, wealthy member of the community, but then he chose to live with the black community. This was considered a felony by the inhabitants of Maycomb. He knew they would never be able to understand his choice, so he made it easier for them by pretending to be the town drunk.
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.
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.
Segregation has played a substantial role throughout American history. Many court cases and different trials in different time periods have proven that a person’s skin color can dictate many things, such as where they go to school and where they sit on public transportation. The struggle to achieve equality was made even more difficult by the legislation of the Plessy vs. Ferguson case.
In the mid 1930’s, racism, slavery and segregation was legal. Whites had domination over the Blacks and were treated with more respect. The Whites were also favoured in their decisions whether they were true or not. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel, in the mid 1950’s, written by Harper Lee. It was narrated by the main character, Scout, who reflects back to her childhood life (sparknotes). Two important characters mentioned in the novel are, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. They are both portrayed as mockingbird figures that share many similarities. These include the community’s false perspective on them and their kind gestures toward the people of Maycomb.
Discrimination played a big role in the 1930s and throughout the development of the novel, and still is not completely diminished in the 21st century. Sexism, classicism, and racism all typified the many relationships in To Kill A Mockingbird, from Aunt Alexandra wanting Scout to become a lady, to Tom Robinson's unfair court trial. Prejudices are formed because of the level of ignorance people have when they believe everything they hear from their peers without bothering to be fertilized with education, leading to a division within communities, physically and mentally.