Harper Lee, in her novel To Kill A Mockingbird, explores the idea of how non-diversity in jury impacted court cases through gender diversity, differences in race, and age diversity. Gender diversity is important to ensure fairness and unbiased decision-making regarding courtrooms. Atticus speaks to the jury and shows that the jury is made up of men. “Gentlemen, a court is no better than each of you sitting before me on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up.” (Lee 205). This quote shows the importance of having a diverse jury. When gender diversity is present, it ensures that different voices are heard and other thoughts are discussed. Just like gender diversity is an example of …show more content…
Reverend Sykes says this to Scout and Jem about the jury. “I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man.” (Lee 208). This quote implies that the jury had been made up of all white men because if the jury had been diverse in terms of race the jury may have gone in favor of Tom Robinson or at least thought about it more. Just like differences in race is an example of how non-diversity impacts court cases, age diversity is another example of how it can impact court cases. Age diversity ensures that there is a variety of life experiences and perspectives on the jury. Scout talks to Jem about how she feels about Miss Gates's thoughts about Hitler and the people of their town. “Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates was -- she was goin’ down the steps in front of us, you musta not seen her -- she was talking with Miss Stephine Crowford. I heard her say it’s time somebody taught em’ a lesson, they think they can do is marry us. Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home? —” (Lee 247). This quote expresses how adults think in set ways compared to kids like Scout and
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.
Sometimes, people discriminate one thing, but strongly oppose the discrimination of another thing. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, this issue is very much expressed throughout the story. This thought-provoking story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during a time when there’s a rape trial against a falsely accused African American named Tom Robinson. There is also a discrimination, of sorts, towards a man named Boo Radley, by three young children named Jeremy “Jem” Finch, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and Charles “Dill” Baker Harris. Both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are similar in their own ways through their inherent goodness.
Why are different races and social classes treated so differently? Why was education so horrible at some points in time? Two of the characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird are Jem and Scout. When Jem and Scout are growing up, they find out that many things are not as they seem. Certain people are not treated as well as others just because of the color of their skin, how they live, educational status, or even on just urban legend. At courthouses back then, blacks had to sit in a balcony. Many people in this time were so uneducated that they couldn’t read out of hymn books at church, if they had any. Harper Lee wrote a story to express the different kinds of prejudice and educational problems in the 1930’s in Maycomb County, Alabama.
This concept of hatred spreads past, even the bounds of individuality. Notably, this collective hatred shows in the moment the mob comes by the Jailhouse to lynch Tom Robinson, for a crime that he has not even been found guilty of by a court. This attitude and contempt stemming from the collective hatred of the mob. This proves itself to be more true when looking at the definition of the collective unconscious, which “is a level of unconscious shared with other members of the human species comprising latent memories from our ancestral and evolutionary past.”(McLeod). The men who are coming by to lynch Tom are doing so because he is not like them. He is black. In the end, it takes a little girl to calm them. Atticus says “That proves something—that a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they’re still human.”(Lee 210). Their rage and anger directed collectively towards Tom Robinson is only quelled by remembering their own individual humanity. This scene incorporates the sense of bigotry that encompasses the whole mob, while having it quelled by the aspect of enlightenment through the understanding of an individual’s humanity. Ultimately this illustrates the inherent ability to grow out of groupthink and into an individual understanding and power for goodness.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”-Martin Luther King Jr. This quote shows how racism is like darkness and hate and love and light are the only way to drive racism out. The story takes place at the time of the great depression. Scout lives in a very racist and judgement city in the south. A black male is accused of raping a white woman. Scouts dad Atticus gets appointed to be the defendant's lawyer. Racism is an antagonist in To Kill A Mockingbird because the white people of Maycomb discriminate the blacks and make them feel lesser. The theme racism can be harmful to everyone is shown by many characters throughout the book.
“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.
Racism presents itself in many ways in the town of Maycomb. Some are blatant and open, but others are more insidious. One obvious way that racism presents itself is in the result of Tom Robinson’s trial. Another apparent example is the bullying Jem and Scout had to endure as a result of Atticus’s appointment as Tom Robinson’s defense attorney. A less easily discernible case is the persecution of Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who chose to live his life in close relation with the colored community.
'Democracy,' she said. 'Does anybody have a definition?' ... 'Equal rights for all, special privileges for none' (Lee 248).
are referred to in the novel. As I mentioned above, there are a lot of
America has always been a country with different cultures, races, and people. Only, not everyone has been accepting of different kinds of people. A persons thoughts on another person can differ depending on a person's race, gender, or age. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, racial equality is nonexistent. The African Americans were treated like they weren’t people, and were totally isolated from the Maycomb, Alabama society. America will never achieve true racial and social equality because people are ignorant, have a history of being prejudiced, and are unjust.
To Kill a Mockingbird: Race Relations Racism is a problem that has been around for multiple centuries. In To Kill a Mockingbird, it demonstrates how racism can affect one person even in the court of law. In this story, the case of Tom Robinson is told. It is obvious that Robinson is a victim of racist people that see him guilty only because of his race, African American. From the beginning, it seems obvious that Robinson does not have a chance of winning his case, whether he is guilty or not.
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, many minor themes are present such as gender and age. However, the largest and therefore major theme of the book is racism. All of the events and themes in the book had only one purpose, to support the theme of racism.
One of the widely recognized controversies in American history is the 1930s, which housed the Great Depression and the post-civil war, the ruling of Plessy versus Ferguson and the Jim Crow Laws, and segregation. While textbooks detail the factual aspect of the time there is only one other literature that can exhibit the emotion experienced in the era. To Kill a Mockingbird is the acclaimed novel that displays the experiences of the South, through inequality and segregation, social class differences and the right to fairness. The novel’s experiences are narrated through a grown Scout, who appears as a little girl in the novel, offering her innocent views on the happenings in Maycomb County. The most observed aspect of the novel is race and racism; with Tom Robinson’s trial being the prime focus of the novel, the issue of race is bound to be discussed throughout the novel is race, racism and segregation; with Tom Robinson’s trial being the focus of the novel, the issue of race is heavily represented throughout the novel. With Mockingbird being a common book among English Language Arts and Literatures classrooms, the topic of race is bound to surface amid a young, twenty-first century group of student of students with the inevitability of this discussion, the question remains on how to approach the conversation as an educator. As an educator, one should seek to establish the context of the times, prepare the students for the conversation and examine the other characters and situations similarly to race. Educators must also be introspective before examining their students’ feelings, so that they are not surprised by their emotions and can also express their feelings to their students. The discussion should target a goal, one of examin...
After gaining thorough understanding of the creation story in Milton’s Paradise Lost, readers are able to gain a deeper insight towards the gothic element of forbidden knowledge and its impact on the monster’s appeal for his own companion in Shelley’s Frankenstein. The monster was brought into this world alone, having to learn how to live and interact with other people all on his own. He went on a long journey, and found himself in situations in which humans got frightened and shrieked when they saw his horrific stature. At that point, he didn’t quite understand the reason behind those fearful reactions, so he isolated himself near a secluded house that he gained a habit of watching everyday. The people living in the house were the monster’s
According to the Nation Bullying Prevention Center, one out of four students report being bullied through the school year. Those children are picked on at school because of their differences from the “normal”. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, a young girl named Scout see’s certain characters shunned and made fun of because of their differences and cannot understand why these community members hold onto these prejudices. Atticus, Boo, and Tom all go through adversity brought on by the people from Maycomb. The book To Kill A Mockingbird shows how individuals are treated based of their differences.