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Racial parts to kill a mockingbird
Importance of racism in killing a mockingbird
Racism in the novel to kill a mockingbird
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Judgement is the act or process of forming an opinion or making a decision after careful thought. People began to judge other people based on the rumors they hear from numerous of people. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the townspeople often overlook a class or a person based on their skin color which is a form of judgement. This is relevant in today's society. Many social class view another group or a person as not important. In both cases, our society today and the novel show examples of judgment that occurs both in social class and racism. To kill a Mockingbird was set in the 1930s, but published in 1960 when judgement in different social class were crucial. Class structure exist in the novel during the 1930s from the Finches who are in the highest class in the black community who are at the bottom. Atticus Finch, a character from To kill a Mockingbird defends Tom Robinson, an African American, who is …show more content…
Although Tom Robinson is innocent, the Judge finds him guilty because Tom Robinson told the jury that “I felt sorry for her”(Lee 197). This symbolizes the judgement in social class because Tom knew he made a great mistake saying, to the town of Maycomb, that he felt sorry for a white female. This was a turning point during the trial because in Maycomb, people in a higher class viewed other lower classes as not important and no respect to them. Their judgment towards the lower classes based on their skin color or what they are wearing is how people in Maycomb divide themselves from one another. In addition, another judgmental aspect in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism. Someone who shows racism is called a racist, which is a major factor in the novel. On Jem’s birthday, Scout and Jem are
To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a rural southern town in the 1930s, when racism was commonly accepted. Blacks were
'To Kill a Mockingbird' is a novel that was written in the 1960s, but Harper Lee decided to set the novel in the Depression era of the 1930s in a small town in Alabama. Lee provided her readers with a historical background for the affairs of that time and in doing so she exposed the deeply entrenched history of the civil rights in South America. Like the main characters in this novel, Lee grew up in Alabama; this made it easier for her to relate to the characters in the novel as she would have understood what they would have experienced during the period when racism, discrimination and inequality was on the increase within the American society.
In the novel, the mockingbird represents several different characters in various ways. For example, Boo Radley is portrayed as losing his innocence in society. He has proven that he is nothing but kind and generous by helping Jem and Scout in various occasions, but him being distant from society has allowed them, especially Jem and Scout, to make up stories about his doings causing him to look like a psychopath and obtaining a negative reputation amongst society. Jem also loses his innocence as well; this occurs when Tom Robinson is found guilty. Jem is well aware of the racial segregation that exists, but he believed that all the prejudice towards blacks did not exist in the courtroom. Jem is almost one-hundred percent sure that Tom will be found innocent because of the evidence his father Atticus has shown to the jury, but when he is declared guilty Jem has a realization that a white man will always win against a black one. In this point is where Jem loses his innocence and goes from a child mindset to an adult mindset where he now understands that prejudice exists everywhere. Another character that is portrayed as a mockingbird and is surely the most important out of the whole novel is Tom Robinson. Tom is an extremely vulnerable character since he is a cripple and black. His experience was different from Boos and Jems experience. The title of the book “To kill a
In the courtroom that night it is revealed that the alleged crimes of Tom Robinson, a decent Negro man, most likely did not happen. As Atticus says in his closing argument, "The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is” (Lee 271). Showing the clear innocence of Tom Robinson due to lack of evidence, Scout thinks that the white jury will do the right thing only to find out that they still, unfairly, accuse him of being guilty. Scout and her brother, Jem, get very upset when they hear the verdict, however, it allows them both to learn the lesson that the county is unfair towards anyone who is not white. The county demonstrates this evil racism due to the social divisions in Maycomb between the whites and the blacks and because the whites see the blacks as unworthy of rights and freedoms. It was not just the trial itself that displayed evil in the world, but the comments and arguments surrounding the case did
The book, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the Early 1930’s. The 1930’s was a decade of racism,pain and struggle. However, this decade soon became the new beginning. To escape the horrendous reality of being unemployed and unable to provide for their families, many turned to entertainment to escape the hardships and realities that they were going through. Many families went to church regularly to ask for forgiveness and to hope that things would change for the better. Many churches seen about a 5 percent increase in the amount of members attending church when the Great Depression had started. Also, the 1930s was a time where there was a lot of tension between the races. Discrimination against blacks was not yet illegal, and therefore
Growing up in a prejudiced environment can cause individuals to develop biased views in regard to both gender and class. This is true in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, where such prejudices are prevalent in the way of life of 1930s Maycomb, Alabama. The novel is centered around the trial of a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. The narrator, a young girl named Scout, is able to get a close up view of the trial because her father is defending Tom Robinson, the defendant. The aura of the town divided by the trial reveals certain people’s prejudices to Scout, giving her a better perspective of her world.
A small city nestled in the state of Alabama, Maycomb has got its faults, just like any other place in the world, but one of its main faults or (pg.88) “Maycomb's usual disease,” as Atticus calls it in the book is prejudice. Jem and Scout learn a lot about prejudice when a black man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell and their father, Atticus, is called on to be his lawyer. They realize the hate that people have buried deep within their heart when they see a black man accused of doing something only because of his color. On pg.241, Scout starts understanding this and thinks, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” As the case continues, up until the death of Tom Robinson, Jem and Scout learn more and more about prejudice and how the hate that people have towards others causes them to take wrong actions. They also see how unfair it is that a white man can get treated better and think of himself better than a black man only because he was born white. This prejudice and the trial cause Jem and Scout to get in argum...
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.
The 1930’s were a time in which blacks faced many hardships. It was a time in which the Ku Klux Klan had its peak. However, most importantly, it was the time when Nelle Harper Lee, the writer of To Kill A Mockingbird, was being raised. She was raised in a world where “niggers'; were the bottom class in one of the most powerful countries in the world. She was also being raised during the Great Depression, a time when the attacks on blacks were intensified, as they were the scapegoats of the immense downfall of the US economy. However, she was only a small, innocent child who believed in equality for all. Thus, Harper Lee expressed her disapproval over the treatment of blacks in her Award-Winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, through the eyes of a fictional character called Jean Louise Finch, better known as “Scout';.
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.
Like every society they had both a middle and upper class people. The first and so-called upper class consisted of post-depression wealthy mostly white collared Caucasians. Some of the characters in the story fall into this category, those being Atticus Finch who is a highly respected lawyer in Maycomb County. Families play a very important role in To Kill a Mockingbird. Finch a father of two is a widower who has strong family beliefs. At the beginning of the story Scout expresses how important it is to have a good family connection.
Harper set To Kill A Mockingbird in the 1930’s where racial prejudice was very prominent everywhere. Segregation was a big battle. The Jim Crow laws stated that white people and black people must live separately, and the schooling must be separate. There was constant threat of violence towards black people, as well as black people constantly having to fight for freedom. Harper Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird in hopes to bring light and give a voice to the black communities during their hardships.
Today in society we all judge one another but do we deserve to be judged? In To Kill Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us that people should not judge one another based on differences, because everyone is different in their own way. Throughout the story, many characters are looked down on for their skin color or economic background by others in Maycomb County. They are treated unfairly because they are not like everyone else.
People judge people everyday. Judgement has become a part of our lives. It has become a part of society. It is not quite clear why we do this. It does not necessarily make us feel better and it certainly does not make others feel better.
In the story, prior to the trial, Jem is devastated that the jury did not do the right thing. However, the fact that the jury deliberated means more than just respect for their father. This instance shows that the societal change is slowly happening. It also means that Atticus indoctrinated the jury to view the defendant, Tom Robinson, as a human being. These happenings may have been a small impact on the racism in Maycomb County, but this symbolizes that change is going to come.