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How harper lee comments on racism to kill a mockingbird
How harper lee comments on racism to kill a mockingbird
What message is Harper Lee trying to convey about prejudice in To Kill A Mockingbird? What solutions does she suggest for her audience
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In chapter 10 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, an allegory for racism, prejudice, and injustice is created through the mad dog Tim Johnson as he wanders through the small southern town of Maycomb to find a place to die. The mad dog's physical descriptions, his death by Atticus's gun, and his disposal after death all combine to shape him to be a symbol for the injustice and racism that occurred during the Great Depression. Tim Johnson plays a pivotal part in Lee's narrative and portrays the story's central themes of justice and morality. Soon after Calpurnia alerts the town that Tim Johnson has gone mad, Scout quickly feels dread from what she has seen. She describes the dog, saying that "I thought mad dogs foamed at the mouth, galloped, leaped at throats, and I thought they did it in August. Had Tim Johnson behaved thus, I would have been less frightened" (108). Just like the dog's symptoms, injustice is not always violent, obvious, or confrontational. Tim Johnson behaves unexpectedly, being lethargic and slow, but he causes harm by spreading the disease only through gentle touch. The parallel can be drawn between Tim Johnson's lumbering through Maycomb and the way in which racism creeps up on the townspeople before they realize the true danger of it. …show more content…
At first Atticus Finch refused to shoot the dog, pushing the gun to officer Heck Tate.
What convinces Atticus to be the one to take the shot is when Tate says, "'For god's sake, Mr. Finch, look where he is! Miss and you'll go straight into the Radley house! I can't shoot that well and you know
it!' 'I haven't shot a gun in thirty years-' Mr. Tate almost threw the rifle at Atticus. 'I'd feel mighty comfortable if you did now,' he said" (109) After realizing that the Radleys would get hurt if there was a mistake, Atticus feels his sharpshooting skills are required at this time. While hunting, like lawyering, is associated with brutality and selfishness, there are times when Atticus needs to use his unsavory skills even when he might not want to. Although he has to get out of his comfort zone and put himself in danger in both shooting the dog and defending a black man in court, he knows he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't do something that was completely in his power in order to prevent suffering. When the mad dog is finally dead, the town garbage collector named Zeebo arrives to dispose of the body. As he leaves, he puts as much effort as he can into making sure no one gets sick from the dog, as he "pitched the dog onto the garbage truck, then poured something from a gallon jug on and around the spot where Tim fell. 'Don't yawl come over here for a while,' he called" (112). In addition to being shot dead, extra measures are taken to make sure the mad dog does not harm anyone, such as taking him away and eliminating the stench and germs he leaves behind. By the same token, injustice can still cause pain and suffering even after the strike that brings it down, and to truly eliminate it the damage it has caused needs to be repaired. Just as the children are told by Zeebo to avoid the dog, they also become the future generation that have the responsibility to reform the wrongdoings of the past.
In the novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee some characters suffer in the hands of justice and fairness more than others. Many characters in the novel are discriminated against such as Calpurnia, Dolphus Raymond, Helen Robinson, Burris Ewell and more. However I will be focusing on the discrimination against Tom Robinson for his race, Walter Cunningham for his low socioeconomic status and Boo Radley for the rumors and supposed mental instability he holds. I chose those three because they are the most prominent and I will discuss how the discrimination against the characters therefore leads to their injustice or unfairness.
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird explores the concept of injustice and her readers are introduced to a society where the social hierarchy dominated acts of humanity. We are often put into situations where we witness member of society be inhumane to one another in order to fit into the community and to act selfishly to save yourself. Within the text, we are also commonly shown the racial discrimination that has become society’s norm. Because of the general acceptance of these behaviours, it is explicitly show to all that the major theme Lee is trying to portray is ‘Man’s inhumanity to man’.
Maycomb County came face to face with a rabid dog named Tim Johnson one afternoon. Luckily, One-Shot-Finch (Atticus) was available to shoot the dog down. In this instance, Atticus is facing a mindless threat, much like the trial of Tom Robinson. His skill with a rifle saved the town that time, but his skill with words didn’t work as well during the trial. Rabies, like prejudice, represents the known and feared. The town knows that rabies is dangerous, they know that it should be eliminated. But sometimes they both go untreated and spread like a disease. Rabies lead to the death of the Tim Johnson. Prejudice lead to the death of Tom Robinson. Coincidence? No.
Injustices There have been many famous pieces of literature, but one that stands out is the 1960's classic To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. Lee, who only wrote one book in her life time, wrote of prejudice, injustice, and racism in the 1930's. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the Deep South in the 1930's. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story in which a black mad is accused of doing something he didn't do. During the whole story some of the two of the main characters, Jem Finch and Jean Lousie Finch, grow up in there mind
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, many notable themes arise, but the most prevalent theme is undeniably the theme of man’s inhumanity to man. At the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to Scout Finch, who is naive and oblivious to the discrimination that occurs in Maycomb. However, through many events and through meeting many characters, we soon begin to realize that the world may not be so nice after all. Our suspicions are only confirmed once we witness the terrible injustices that occur during the trial.
In life, obstacles are everywhere, but hints are given as to how to overcome those obstacles with which we are faced daily. In short, To Kill a Mockingbird is based in a small town in Alabama known as Maycomb. Just outside of Mobile, Maycomb happens to be a typical southern town where not much happens until one summer Tom Robinson is accused of rape. Tom, a black man, in the segregated south in the thirties has the odds stacked against him when going on trial. However, Tom's case has been taken on by the best lawyer in town, Atticus Finch, but proving Tom's innocence has challenges due to the strong white presence in the town. Throughout Harper Lee’s novel, Atticus’ name and the relationship between Tim Johnson and Tom Robinson, symbolize how
One of the first major symbols that emerge in the novel is Tim Johnson, a mad dog who is infected with rabies. Just as the dog is infected with rabies, the people of Maycomb County are "infected" with racism (Jones 54). When Tom Robinson is brought to trial, convicted, and ultimately murdered for a crime he did not commit, no one in the town seems to show any compassion or regret for him other than Atticus. Atticus describes the people of Maycomb as "mad dogs that he must confront" by defending Tom (Lee 103). To prove the symbol further, Atticus is the person called upon to shoot and kill Tim Johnson. This action by the people of Maycomb, show their deep trust in Atticus. As Atticus shoots and kills the mad dog, he also shots and kills racism in Maycomb as he steps up and defends Tom Robinson with all of his power. Through this action, Atticus is attempting to protect his neighbors from rabies as he wishes he coul...
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.
How would you like it if someone walked up to you and berated you based on the color of your skin? A characteristic like that isn’t even something you can control, so an insult of that nature can leave one furious and oppressed. Discrimination is inevitable in any culture, throughout history, in modern times, and even in ancient times. For example, the oppression and murder of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust, the African Slave Trade which occurred for multiple centuries, and more recently, the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar, brought on by the government of the Asian nation, all of which are tragedies doomed to happen when history repeats itself and people do not learn
The plots and themes of this classic American literature have come under consideration and review many times, but not enough readers take notice of all of the metaphors and symbolism that are intertwined with the text. While To Kill a Mockingbird has many values of equality on the surface, the hidden meanings and symbolism allow it to take a deeper stance than one might notice right away. A few notable examples are the encounter with the rabid dog, the mud-and-snow man, Atticus’s light at the prison house, and, of course, the references to mockingbirds. The rabid dog, a threat to the town of Maycomb, wandered down the street, nobody daring to confront it but Atticus. Even Heck Tate, the town sheriff, hadn’t the courage to take the shot.
In a desperate attempt to save his client, Tom Robinson, from death, Atticus Finch boldly declares, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). The gross amounts of lurid racial inequality in the early 20th century South is unfathomable to the everyday modern person. African-Americans received absolutely no equality anywhere, especially not in American court rooms. After reading accounts of the trials of nine young men accused of raping two white women, novelist Harper Lee took up her pen and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a blistering exposition of tragic inequalities suffered by African Americans told from the point of view of a young girl. Though there are a few trivial differences between the events of the Scottsboro trials and the trial of Tom Robinson portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the accusers’ attitudes towards attention, the two cases share a superabundance of similarities. Among these are the preservation of idealist views regarding southern womanhood and excessive brutality utilized by police.
But, since the case is a debate between a black man’s words against a white family’s and the setting is located in the 1930s in the racist city of Maycomb, the outcome is stacked against Tom Robinson. Leading to a countless number of racist remarks to the Finch family, especially Scout and Jem, by the local community and the growth of racism in the city. Although, both Scout and Jem are immune to the prominent racism displayed by the rest of the city since they were taken care of by Calpurnia, a black woman. Yet in this case, the local authorities, such as Sheriff Heck Tate, are not immune as they continue to do nothing and stay neutral. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the symbolic significance of the White Camellia, Mad Dog, and the Mockingbird to foreshadow later events.
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest” Ellie Wiesel. Readers may find the amount of injustice in Harper lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird a little shocking. This could be why it’s such a popular book. People like the suspense of knowing someone’s right, but still being found guilty for something they did not do. There are many times throughout the book when people are powerless to prevent injustice but they still protest it. This shows that even when people unjustly punish there should always be someone to protest it. The theme of injustice is a common one in harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, whether it be through racism, misinformation, or Arrogance.
He is reluctant to take the gun, but he is the only person that can shoot the dog in one shot. In the same way that Atticus is obligated to kill Tim, he is forced to defend Tom Robinson. Judge Taylor gives him the case because he is the only lawyer that will try his hardest to help Tom, regardless of his race. One notable statement that connects the two events comes from Atticus after he shoots the dog. Atticus tells Jem that “[the
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee there are very important themes. Including justice, don’t judge a book by its cover, and loss of innocence.